"Umbellam lusca, Lygde feras Dominæ."
--_Mart._, lib. xi., ch. 73.
[Footnote: "Mayst thou, Lygde, be parasol-carrier for a publind
mistress."]

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 quæ 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