and adding to his personal possessions.

The scene in Camalodunum was a familiar one to Beric. The streets
were thronged with people. Traders from Gaul and Italy, Roman
artisans and workmen, haughty legionaries with shield and helmet,
civil officials, Greek players, artists and decorators, native
tribesmen, with the products of their fields or the spoils of the
chase, walking with humble mien; and shopkeepers sitting at the open
fronts of their houses, while their slaves called the attention of
passersby to the merits of the goods. Here were the rich products
of Eastern looms, there the cloths and linen of Rome, further on a
smith's shop in full work, beyond that a silversmith's, next door
to which was a thriving trader who sold unguents and perfumes, dyes
for the ladies' cheeks and pigments for their eyebrows, dainty
requisites for the toilette, and perfumed soap. Bakers and butchers,
vendors of fish and game, of fruit, of Eastern spices and flavourings
abounded.

Druggists and dealers in dyes for clothing and in the pigments used
in wall decorations and paintings were also to be found; and, in
fact, this Roman capital of a scarcely subjugated country contained
all the appliances for luxury and comfort that could be found in
the cities of the civilized provinces.

The only shops at which Beric paused were those of the armourers
and of the scribes, at some of which were exhibited vellums with
the writings of the Greek and Roman poets and historians; and
Beric muttered to himself, "If I am ever present at the sack of
Camalodunum these shall be my share of the spoil, and I fancy that
no one is likely to dispute their possession with me."