book-rooms

Updated: July 28, 2026

Before the republic came to an end, it was so fashionable to have a book-room that ignorant persons who might not be able to read even the titles of their own books endeavored to give themselves the appearance of erudition by building book-rooms in their houses and furnishing them with elegance. As wealth and luxury increased, the Romans added the bath-room to their other apartments.

Arthur Gilman - The Story of Rome from the Earliest Times to the End of the Republic