_Plut. Therm., c. 16_ (p. 120),
[Footnote: "Sitting under a golden canopy."]

and of Cleopatra in like manner--

"_upo skiadi chrysopasto._"
_Plut. Anton., c. 26_ (p. 927).
[Footnote: "Under a gold-wrought canopy."]

From Greece it is probable that the use of the Parasol passed to
Rome, where it seems to have been commonly used by women, while it
was the custom even for effeminate men to defend themselves from the
heat by means of the _Umbraculum_, formed of skin or leather,
and capable of being lowered at will. We find frequent reference to
the Umbrella in the Roman Classics, and it appears that it was, not
unlikely, a post of honour among maid-servants to bear it over their
mistresses. Allusions to it are tolerably frequent in the poets.
Virgil's "Munimen ad imbres" [Footnote: "A shelter for the shower."]
probably has nothing to do with Umbrellas, but more definite mention
of them is not wanting. Ovid speaks of Hercules carrying the Parasol
of Omphale:--

"Aurea pellebant rapidos umbracula soles,
Quæ tamen Herculeæ sustinuere manus."
--_Ov. Fast._, lib. ii., 1. 31 I.
[Footnote: "A golden umbrella warded off the keen sun, which even
the hands of Hercules have borne."]

Martial speaks of a servant carrying the Parasol:--