GALLUS had for some time past kept as much as possible aloof from the disquieting labours of public life, and had been accustomed to divide his time between the pleasures of the table and of love, the society of friends, and the pursuit of his studies, serious as well as cheerful. On the present occasion also, after his friends had departed, he withdrew into the chamber, where he used daily to spend the later hours of the morning, in converse with the great spirits of ancient Greece—a pursuit animating and refreshing alike to heart and soul—or to yield himself up to the sport of his own muse. For this reason, this apartment lay far removed from the noisy din of the street, so that neither the rattling of the creaking wains and the stimulating cry of the mule-driver, nor the clarions and dirge of the pompous funeral, and the brawlings of the slaves hurrying busily along, could penetrate it. A lofty window, through which shone the light of the early morning sun, pleasantly illuminated from above the moderate-sized apartment, the walls of which were adorned with elegant arabesques in light colours, and between them, on darker grounds, the luxurious forms of attractive dancing girls were seen sweeping spirit-like along.