A young and sturdy "janitor" opened the door leading to the ostium, over which a magpie confined in a cage greeted them noisily with the word, "Salve!" On the way from the second antechamber, called the ostium, to the atrium itself, Vinicius said,--"Hast noticed that thee doorkeepers are without chains ?" "This is a wonderful house," answered Petronius, in an undertone.

"Of course it is known to thee that Pomponia Graecina is suspected of entertaining that Eastern superstition which consists in honoring a certain Chrestos.

It seems that Crispinilla rendered her this service,--she who cannot forgive Pomponia because one husband has sufficed her for a lifetime.

A one-man Woman! To-day, in Rome, it is easier to get a half-plate of fresh mushrooms from Noricum than to find such.

They tried her before a domestic court--" "To thy judgment this is a wonderful house.