appearance somewhat similar to that of the extravagantly decorated
travelling-coach of the fourteenth century. The ordinary man of modest
means would be satisfied with his mule or horse, and with his one or
two slaves to attend him. On the less frequented stretches of road,
where there was no proper accommodation for the night, his slaves
would unpack the luggage and bring out a plain meal of wine, bread,
cheese, and fruits. They would then lay a sort of bedding on the
ground and cover it with a rug or blanket. The rich folk might bring
their tents or have a bunk made up in their coaches.

Where there was some sort of lodging for man and horse the average
wayfarer would make the best of it. In the better parts of the empire
and in the larger places of resort there were houses corresponding in
some measure to the old coaching-inns of the eighteenth century; in
the East there were the well-known caravanserais; but for the most
part the ancient hostelries must have afforded but undesirable
quarters. They were neither select nor clean. You journeyed along till
you came to a building half wine-shop and store, half lodging-house.
Outside you might be told by an inscription and a sign that it was the
"Cock" Inn, or the "Eagle," or the "Elephant," and that there was
"good accommodation." Its keeper might either be its proprietor, or
merely a slave or other tenant put into it by the owner of a
neighbouring estate and country-seat. Your horses or mules would be
put up--with a reasonable suspicion on your part that the poor beasts
would be cheated in the matter of their fodder--and you would be shown
into a room which you might or might not have to share with someone
else. In any case you would have to share it with the fleas, if not
with worse.

Perhaps you base brought your food with you, perhaps you send out a