The walls were bright with splendid mythological scenes by really good artists; the furniture itself was plated with silver; the rugs were magnificent.

The mistress of this palatial abode was sitting in a low easy-chair, holding before her a fairly large silver mirror.

She wore a loose gown of silken texture, edged to an ostentatious extent with purple.

Around her hovered Arsinoe and Semiramis, two handsome Greek slave-girls, who were far better looking than their owner, inasmuch as their complexions had never been ruined by paints and ointments.

They were expert hairdressers, and Valeria had paid twenty-five thousand sesterces for each of them, on the strength of their proficiency in that art, and because they were said to speak with a pure Attic Greek accent.