"]
Juvenal mentions an Umbrella as a present:--
"En cui tu viridem umbellam cui succina mittas"
--_Juv._, ix., 50.
[Footnote: "See to whom it is sent a green umbrella and amber
ornaments"]
Ovid advises a lover to make himself agreeable
by holding his mistress's Parasol:--
"Ipse tene distenta suis umbracula virgis"
_Ov. Ars._ Am., ii., 209.
[Footnote: "Yourself hold up the umbrella spread out by its rods"]
This shows that the Umbrella was of much the same construction as
ours.
A very common use for it was in the theatre, whenever, from wind or
other cause, the _velarium_ or huge awning stretched over the
building (always open to the air) could not be put up:--
"Accipe qu? nimios vincant umbracula soles,
Sit licet, et ventus, te tua vela tegont."
--_Mart.,_ lib. xiv., Ep. 28.
[Footnote: "Take this, which may shield you from the sun's excessive
rays. So may your own sail shield you, even should the breeze blow."]
By _tua vela_ is to be understood "your own Umbrella." And
elsewhere the same writer gives the advice:--
"Ingrediare viam coelo licet usque sereno
Ad subitas nunquam scortea desit aquas."
--Man'., lib. xiv. Ep. 130.
[Footnote: "Though with a bright sky you begin your journey, let
this cloak ever be at hand in case of unexpected showers."]
It will be noticed from the above extracts that the Umbrella does
not appear to have been used among the Romans as a defence from rain;
and this is curious enough, for we know that the theatres were
protected by the _velarium_ or awning, which was drawn across
the arena whenever a sudden shower came on; strange that this
self-evident application of the Umbrella should not have occurred to a
nation generally so ingenious in the invention of every possible
luxury.
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