ankets, and other
additional blankets, so as to soften the couch. The whole was covered
with linen sheets. The light blankets served to cover the sleeper, who
sometimes used his own dress for this purpose; sometimes they
consisted of woolen blankets woven for the purpose. After Homer's
time, when Asiatic luxury had been introduced into Greece, a mattress
was placed immediately on the bed-straps. It was stuffed with plucked
wool or feathers, and covered with some linen or woolen material.
Pillows, like the mattresses stuffed with wool or feathers, were added
to complete the bedding, at least in more luxurious times. (The cut on
page 78 gives a good idea of the looks of an ancient Roman and Grecian
bed.) Of a similar kind were the klinai placed in the sitting-rooms,
lying on which, in a half-reclining position, people used to read,
write and take their meals. They were covered with soft blankets of
gorgeous colors, while one or more cushions served to support the body
in its half-sitting position, or to prop the left arm.

Tables were used by the ancients chiefly at meals, not for reading and
writing. The antique tables, either square with four legs, or circular
or oval with three connected legs, afterwards with one leg, resemble
our modern ones, but for their being lower. Mostly their slabs did not
reach higher than the kline; higher tables would have been
inconvenient for the reclining person. In Homeric and even in later
times, a small table stood before each thronos. The use of separate
dishes for each guest is comparatively new. Originally the meats were
brought in on large platters, divided by the steward, and each portion
put on the bare table. In want of knives and forks the fingers were
used. The pastry was put in baskets by the tables. Whether the Homeric
tables were as low as the later ones, when lying instead of sitting
had become the custom, we must leave undecided, in want of sculptural
evidence. The legs of the tables were carefully finished, particularly
those of the tripods, which frequently imitated the legs of animals,
or at least had claws at their ends. The four-legged tables were more
simple in design. The material was wood, particularly maple; later on,
bronze, precious metals, and ivory were introduced.

For the keeping of articles of dress, valuable utensils, ornaments,
bottles of ointment, and documents, larger or smaller drawers and
boxes were used. Chests of drawers and upright cupboards with