[Latin] magnorum artificum frangebat pocula miles, ut phaleris gauderet equus: (when) the soldier would break goblets wrought by great craftsmen to make cheek-straps for his horse. (Juvenal, Satires, 11.102); the poet refers to the days before the Romans had developed a taste for Greek art.
[Latin]: nec cessabat luxuria id agere, ut quam plurimum incendiis perdat: luxury strove endlessly to ensure as much might be destroyed if a fire broke out. (Pliny, Natural History 35, Ch.1); the historian speaks of the excessive luxury which characterised the Roman empire.