Page:Afterglow; pastels of Greek Egypt, 69 B.C. (IA afterglowpastels00buck).pdf/85

Rh right hand, Quintus Secundus, from the Roman Republic, at his left Nargases, HightHigh [sic] Priest of Amon. His idle hand caressed the head of a tamed lioness of whom he was passionately fond and who stretched her neck over the edge of the couch, with half closed eyes. At his feet, behind him, stood a group of slave girls, attentive, of selected beauty, nude except for their conventional girdles.

All about, a host of slaves ministered to the guests with a profusion of meats and viands, oysters, lampreys, quails, roasted swans, wild boar, sauces and relishes, cakes of various grains mingled with honey, fruits and sherbets: all that the caprices of taste could suggest, was present in abundance. Kraters of rich wine, cooled in snow brought laboriously from great distances, were wheeled about, emptied and refilled.

The guests ate and drank copiously, fur-