41.  The  vessel  was  constructed  with  twenty  banks  of  oars
and  three  entrances.    The  lowest  entrance  led  to  the  hold,  to
which  the  descent  was  by  two  ladders  of  many  steps^each ;  and  the
next  was  contrived  for  those  who  wished  to  go  down  to  the  living
rooms ;   and  the  third  was  for  the  armed  men.    On  each  side  of
the  middle  entrance  were  apartments  for  the  men,  each  with  four
couches  in  them,  thirty  in  niunber.    The  apartment  for  the  sailors
was  capable  of  holding  fifteen  couches,  and  it  had  within,  three
chambers  each  containing  three  couches;    and  the  kitchen  was
toward  the  stem  of  the  ship.     All  these  rooms  had  floors  of  mosaic
work,  of  all  kinds  of  stones  tesselated.    On  this  mosaic  the  whole
story  of  the  Iliad  was  presented  in  a  marvellous  manner.    In  all
the  furniture  and  in  the  ceilings  and  doors  everything  was  executed
in  the  same  admirable  way.    Along  the  uppermost  passage  were  a
gymnasium  and  walks,  with  their  appointments  in  all  respects  cor-
responding to  the  size  of  the  vessel.    In  them  were  gardens  of  all
sorts  of  most  wonderful  beauty,  enriched  with  all  varieties  of  plants
and  shaded  by  roofs  of  lead  or  tiles.    In  addition  there  were  tents
roofed  with  boughs  of  white  ivy  and  of  the  vine,  the  roots  of  which
derived  their  moisture  from  casks  full  of  earth,  and  were  watered  in


644  SCIENCE  AND   INVENTIONS

the  same  maimer  as  were  the  gardens.  The  tents  themselves  hd^
to  shade  the  walks.  Near  these  objects  was  a  temple  devoted  li
Aphrodite,  containing  three  couches  with  a  floor  of  agate  and  otkt
most  beautiful  stones  of  every  kind  that  the  island  afforded.  Ik
walls  and  roof  were  made  of  Cyprus  wood,  and  its  doors  of  ivnj
and  citron  wood.  It  was  furnished  exquisitely  with  pictures  aii
statues  and  with  goblets  and  vases  of  every  form  and  shape  imap-
nable.
