II. Among the ancient Greeks and Romans, the beard was scarcely less venerated than among the eastern nations. Homer speaks in high praise of the snow beards of Nestor and king Priam ; and Virgil celebrates that of Mezentius, which was so long and thick as to cover all his breast. Pliny the younger mentions the white beard of Euphrates, a Syrian phi losopher, which, he says, inspired the people with respect, mingled with fear ; and Plutarch speaks of the long white beard of an old Laconian, who, being asked why he allowed it to grow so luxuriantly, re plied, " In order that, having my white beard con tinually in view, I may do nothing unworthy of its whiteness." The Greek philosophers distinguished themselves from the vulgar by the length of their beards : a practice, according to Laertius, first intro duced by Antisthenes, (1. 6.) The Roman philoso phers affected the same distinction, as we find in Ho race : Tempore quo meSolatusjuseit 8apientenz pascere harbour.
iloa. 1. D. sat. in. v. 31, The Greeks continued to wear their beards till the time of Alexander the Great, as Athermus informs us, from Chrysippus ; adding, that the first who cut his beard at Athens, ever after bore the appellation of xeceriss, or shaven. The Macedonians, however, appear to have cut their beards before this period ; as Philip, the father of Alexander, and Amyntas and Archelaus, his predecessors, are represented on me dals without beards. The reason assigned by Plu tarch, for Alexander commanding the Macedonians to be shaven, was, that their beards might not give a handle to their enemies in the day of battle. Before one of Alexander's battles, we are told, when Par menio presented himself, to give an account of his arrangements, and to inquire, whether any thing re mained to be done ? " Nothing," said Alexander, " but that the men should shave." " Shave!" cried Parmenio " Yes," replied the king, " do you not consider what a handle a long beard affords to the enemy ?" (Dornay. Amphith. Sapientiw.) The Greeks continued to shave the beard till the time of Justinian, under whose empire long beards came again into fashion, and so continued till Constanti nople was taken by the Turks. .
The Romans anciently wore long beards and hair, as we find by a variety of authorities. Thus Livy, speaking of the senators who remained in Rome, af ter the entrance of the Gauls, mentions, that they wore a long beard : ut tuns omnibus promissa erat, (lib. v.) ; and Cicero, in his oration for Cxlius, men tions the Garin: horrida quam in stetuis antiquis ct imaginibus videmus. According to Pliny, the Ro mans knew nothing of shaving till the year of Rome 45-•, when P. Ticinius brought over a number of barbers from S;tily ; and he adds, that Scipio Afri canus was the first that introduced the mode of sha ving every day. The first fourteen Roman empe
rors shaved ; but Adrian wore his beard, in order, as Plutarch informs us, to hide the scars on his face. .Antoninus Pins, and Marcus Aurelius, wore a beard, under the character of philosophers.
The first shaving of the heard was a matter of great solemnity among the Romans, and was generally per formed when the toga virilis was assumed. The first growth of the chin was consecrated to some god, usually to the Lares ; visits of ceremony were paid on the occasion ; and persons of quality had their chil dren shaved, for the first time, by others of the same, or of greater quality ; who, in this manner, became the adoptive fathers of the children. Nero consecra ted his beard, when first shaved, to Jupiter Capitoli nus, in a gold box set with pearls. For the sake of distinction, the Roman slaves wore their beard and hair long ; and, when manumitted, they shaved the bead in the temple of Feronia, and put on a cap, or pilens, as a badge of liberty. The Roman soldiers, however, seem to have worn their beards short, and frizzled, as we find upon ancient monuments.
In time of grief and affliction, the Romans suffered their beard and hair to grow ; whereas the Greeks, in time of sorrow, shaved themselves, and cut their hair, (Senec. Benef. v. 6.) ; which was also the cus tom among some barbarous nations. On like prin ciples, the custom of letting the beard grow is a to ken of mourning in some countries, as that of shaving is in others.
III. Among the inhabitants of modern Europe, the fashion of wearing the beard, like all other fashions, has undergone a variety of vicissitudes. Most of our Gothic ancestors shaved, or wore hair only on the upper lip, or in the form of mustaches. The Lombards, however, who invaded Italy, were remarkable for the length of their beards ; and hence their name of Longobardi. Among the Franks, who wrested Gaul from the Romans, a long beard became a characteristic of nobility ; as, under the Roman authority in that country, none but nobles and Christian priests were permitted to wear it. The Merovingian, or first race of kings in France, were, on this account, particularly solicitous of copious beards and flowing hair. They are described by Eginhard, the secretary of Charlemagne, as coming to the assemblies of the people, in the field of Mars, seated on a throne, in a carriage, or waggon, drawn by oxen, with long beards and dishevelled hair : trine propeso, barba submissa, solio residerent, et speczem dominanter eingcrent.