Roman furniture was exceedingly costly and decorative. Marble, gold, silver and bronze were used as well as woods. Furniture was enriched by damascened work and inlaid with ivory, metal and sometimes even precious stones. Like the Assyrians, Egyptians and Greeks, the Romans carved the arms and legs of chairs, tables and couches to represent the legs and feet of animals. Maple, beech, holly, olive, cedar, pine, ash and elm were the chosen woods, and cheaper woods were veneered with costly woods for the sake of the decorative effect. One of the luxuries of the day was a wood called thyine, a kind of aloe that grew in Africa, and which was valued for its beauty, hardness, sweet odor, and, not least, for the good luck it was supposed to bring. Thyine was used by the priests for incense, and the Arabs held it in such high estimation that they made the ceiling and floor of the famous Mosque of Cordova of this precious wood. Pliny speaks of the mania for this kind of wood, and says when husbands scolded their wives for their extravagance in pearls, the latter charged them with their extravagance for tables of thyine wood. Cicero had one of these tables that cost a million sesterces (about $45,000).

Roman Couch Of Bronze