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CHAP. 74.—DIFFERENT KINDS OF CLOTHS.

Varro informs us, he himself having been an eye-witness, that in the temple of Sancus,1 the wool was still preserved on the distaff and spindle of Tanaquil,2 who was also called Caia Cæ- cilia; and he says that the royal waved3 toga, formerly worn by Servius Tullius, and now in the temple of Fortune, was made by her. Hence was derived the custom, on the marriage of a young woman, of carrying in the procession a dressed distaff and a spindle, with the thread arranged upon it. Tanaquil was the first who wove the straight tunic,4 such as our young people wear with the white toga;5 newly-married women also. Waved garments were at first the most esteemed of all: after which those composed of various colours6 came into vogue. Fenestella informs us, that togas with a smooth surface, as well as the Phryxian togas,7 began to be used in the latter part of the reign of Augustus. Thick stuffs, in the preparation of which the poppy8 was used, are of more ancient date, being mentioned by the poet Lucilius, in his lines on Torquatus. The prætexta9 had its origin among the Etrurians. I find that the trabea10 was first worn by the kings; embroidered garments are mentioned by Homer,11 and in this class originated the triumphal robes.12 The Phrygians first used the needle for this purpose,13 and hence this kind of garment obtained the name of Phrygionian. King Attalus, who also lived in Asia, invented the art of embroidering with gold, from which these garments have been called Attalic.14 Babylon was very famous for making embroidery in different colours, and hence stuffs of this kind have obtained the name of Babylonian.15 The method of weaving cloth with more than two threads was in- vented at Alexandria; these cloths are called polymita;16 it was in Gaul that they were first divided into chequers.17 Metellus Scipio, in the accusation which he brought against Cato,18 stated that even in his time Babylonian covers for couches were selling for eight hundred thousand sesterces, and these of late, in the time of the Emperor Nero, had risen to four millions.19 The prætextæ of Servius Tullius, with which the statue of Fortune, dedicated by him, was covered,20 lasted until the death of Sejanus; and it is a remarkable fact, that, during a period of five hundred and sixty years, they had never become tattered,21 or received injury from moths. I myself have seen the fleece upon the living animal dyed purple, scarlet, and violet,—a pound and a half22 of dye being used for each,—just as though they had been produced by Nature in this form, to meet the demands of luxury.

1 This deity was also called Sangus, or Semo Sancus; and Ovid, Fasti, B. vi. c. 216, et seq., gives us much information concerning him. He was of Sabine origin, and identical with Hercules and Dius Fidius. If we may judge from the derivation of the name, it is not improbable that he presided over the sanctity of oaths. His temple at Rome was on the Quirinal, opposite to that of Quirinus, and near the gate which from him derived the name of "Sanqualis porta." He was said to have been the father of the Sabine hero Sabus.

2 According to the commonly received account, Tanaquil was the wife of Tarquinius Priscus, and a native of Etruria; when she removed to Rome, and her husband became king, her name was changed to Caia Cæcilia.—B.

3 "Undulata;" it has been suggested that this means the same as our stuffs which we term "watered."—B.

4 "Tunica recta;" according to Festus, it was "so called from being woven perpendicularly by people standing."—B. It probably means woven from top to bottom and cross-wise in straight lines.

5 Toga pura;" so called from being white, without a mixture of any other colour.

6 "Sororiculata;" there is much uncertainty respecting the derivation of this word and its meaning, but it is generally supposed to signify some kind of stuff, composed of a mixture of different ingredients or of different colours.—B. "Orbiculata," "with round spots," is one reading, and probably the correct one.

7 According to Hardouin, these were cloths which imitated the crisp and prominent hair of the Phryxian fleece, Lemaire, vol. iii. p. 529. Some editions read "Phrygianas."

8 "Papaverata;" there is considerable difficulty in ascertaining the meaning of this word, as applied to garments. Pliny, in two other passages, speaks of a certain species of poppy—"from this, linens receive a peculiar whiteness," B. xix. "From this, linens receive a brilliant whiteness in time," B. xx. c. 78. It would appear, in these cases, that the fibres of the stem of the poppy were mixed with the flax; though, perhaps, this would be scarcely practicable with wool.—B.

9 The prætexta is described by Varro as a white toga, with a purple band; it was worn by males, until their seventeenth year, and by young women until their marriage.—B.

10 The trabea differed from the prætexta, in being ornamented with stripes (trabes) of purple, whence its name.—B.

11 Helen is introduced, Il. B. iii. 1. 125, weaving an embroidered garz ment, in which were figured the battles of the Greeks and Trojans. It was probably somewhat of the nature of modern tapestry.—B.

12 See B. ix. c. 60.

13 This passage, in which the needle is said to have been used, proves that when the word I "pictæ" is applied to garments, it is equivalent to our term "embroidered."—B.

14 Pliny refers to the "Attalica tunica," B. xxxiii. c. 29, and to the "Attalica vestis," B. xxxvi. c. 20, and B. xxxvii. c. 6; Propertius speaks of "Attalica aulæa," B. ii. c. 32, 1. 12, "Attalicas torus," B. ii. c. 13, 122, and B. iv. c. 5, 1. 24, and "Attalicæ vestes," B. iii. c. 18, 1. 19.—B.

15 Plautus, Stich. A. ii. s. 2, 1. 54, speaks of "Babylonica peristromata, consuta tapetia," "Babylonian hangings, and embroidered tapestry;" and Martial, B. viii. Ep. 28, 1. 17, 18, of "Babylonica texta," "Babylonian textures."—B.

16 From Martial's epigram, entitled "Cubicularia polymita," B. xiv. Ep. 150, we may conclude that the Egyptian polymita were formed in a loom, and of the nature of tapestry, while the Babylonian were embroidered with the needle. Plautus probably refers to the Egyptian tapestry, in the Pseud. A. i. s. 2, 1. 14, "Neque Alexandrina belluata conchyliata tapetia" —"Nor yet the Alexandrine tapestries, figured over with beasts and shells."

17 "Scutulis divider." This term may mean "squares," "diamonds," or "lozenges," something like the segments into which a spider's web is divided. It is not improbable that he alludes here to the plaids of the Gallic nations.

18 We have an account of this contention in Plutarch, and we may presume that this accusation was produced at that time.—B.

19 The first sum amounts to about £4,600 sterling, the latter to £23,000.—B.

20 The following lines in Ovid, Fasti, B. vi. 1. 509, et seq., have been supposed to refer to this temple, and prove that the account of it is correct. "Lux eadem, Fortuna, tuaque est, auctorque, locusque.
"Sed superinjectis quis latet æde togis?
"Servius est ..."
"The same day is thine, O Fortune; the same the builder, the same the site. But who is this that lies hid beneath the garments covering him? It is Servius."

21 Perhaps "changed their colour" may be a better translation of "do— fluxisse."

22 "Sesquipedalibus libris." It seems impossible to translate this literally. Hardouin explains it by supposing that the fleeces were dyed in strips of three colours, each strip being half a foot in breadth, and that three of these required a pound of the dyeing materials.—B.

The Natural History. Pliny the Elder. John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S. H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A. London. Taylor and Francis, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street. 1855.

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