widely accepted from Song Dynasty. Under the influence of petty-farmer consciousness, the patriarchal system, lack of books, and other factors, "hiding book" thinking was dominant then. Not all private libraries in ancient China were unavailable to the public. Some owners made their collection open to the public. Mostly to young men who were studying for civil service examinations, these became known as "academy" libraries. Ancient Rome The earliest libraries to appear in Rome were of the private type and were most often procured as spoils of war. For example, when the Roman general Aemilius defeated the Macedonian king Perseus in 168 BC, the only plunder he wished to possess was the king's private library. Likewise, in 86 BC, the Roman general Sulla appropriated the library of the infamous Greek bibliophile and kleptobibliophile Apellicon of Teos. Finally, around 73 BC, Lucullus removed and brought back to Rome the private library of King Mithridates VI of the Pontus region. Nearly every house of nobility had a library, and virtually every one was split into two rooms: one for Latin texts and one for Greek texts. Rome may very well have been the birthplace of specialized libraries, with evidence of early medical and legal libraries. In Rome, one can see the beginnings of book preservation. One author proposed that a library is better suited if it meets the rising sun in the east in order to ensure that it does not succumb to bookworms and decomposition. Some examples of Roman-period private libraries include the Villa of the Papyri, the House of Menander, the House of Augustus, and the Domus Aurea. In the 5th century BC, on the island of Cos outside the city of Pergamum, a medical school complex with a library was built in the sanctuary of Asclepius. This is the first medical school known to have existed, and consequently can be credited as the first specialized library. Small private libraries called bibliothecae were responsible for advancing the larger public libraries of the Roman world. The design of these libraries was rather a novelty, and became the archetype of later institutions, in particular libraries of imperial estates. The form of private libraries during the late Republic Period and early Empire Period imitated Greek architectural characteristics. The library itself was a repository of diminutive proportions whose purpose was to accommodate books. The books were supported on wooden shelving units or were kept in