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every kind of foppery and debauchery was indulged in as
a mask to deep schemes of ambition, of course shaved; *
and having done so, shaving continued to be the imperial
fashion down to the time of Hadrian, (whose bold Roman
head I exhibited, as the first restorer of manly beauty.)
From his time most of the Emperorsf wore it till Constan-
tine, who shaved out of superstition. His father had a
noble Beard.
Even after the custom of shaving was introduced, the
first appearance of the Beard was hailed with joy, and
usually about the time of assuming the toga; the " first
fruits " of hair were solemnly consecrated—relict of pre-
vious respect—to some god, as in the case of Nero,| who
* Suetonius says, "he was excessively nice about his hody,
that he was not only sheered and shaved, hut plucked."
f Pagenstecher says, " one of the Emperors of Koine refused to
admit to an audience certain Ambassadors of the Veueti, "because
they had no Beards."
I The branch of the Roman family to which Nero belonged
was called Enobarbus, copper-coloured or red Beard; and the
legend of the family was, that the Dioscuri announced to one of
then ancestors a victory, and to confirm the truth of what was said,
stroked his black hair and Beard , and turned them red. Cn.
Domitius, who was Censor with L. Crassus the orator, " took " says
Pagenstecher, "too much pride in his," and Crassus fired away the
following epigram upon it. " Quid mirum si bai'bam hahet aeneam
Domitius cum et os ferreum et cor habet plumbeum." (Where's
the wonder Domitius has a brazen Beard, when he has bones of
iron and a heart of lead.) Shakspeare (the unlearned!) who never
loses a characteristic, makes Ms Enobarbus, (who was great grand-
father of Nero, wore a Beard, as seen on his medals, and was a fine
