Latin Texts & Translations

The most esteemed wool of all is that of Apulia, and that which in Italy is called Grecian wool, in other countries Italian. The fleeces of Miletus hold the third rank. ^[Note] The Apulian wool is shorter in the hair, and only owes its high character to the cloaks ^[Note] that are made of it. That which comes from the vicinity of Tarentum and Canusium is the most celebrated; and there is a wool from Laodicea, in Asia, of a similar quality. ^[Note] There is no white wool superior to that of the countries bordering on the Padus, ^[Note] nor up to the present day has any wool exceeded the price of one hundred sesterces per pound. ^[Note] The sheep are not shorn in all countries; in some places it is still the custom to pull off the wool. ^[Note] There are various colours of wool; so much so, indeed, that we want terms to express them all. Several kinds, which are called

native, ^[Note] are found in Spain; Pollentia, in the vicinity of the Alps, ^[Note] produces black fleeces of the best quality; Asia, as well as Bætica, ^[Note] the red fleeces, which are called Erythræan; those of Canusium are of a tawny colour; ^[Note] and those of Tarentum have their peculiar dark tint. ^[Note] All kinds of wool, when not freed from the grease, ^[Note] possess certain medicinal properties. The wool of Istria is much more like hair than wool, and is not suitable for the fabrication of stuffs that have a long nap; ^[Note] so too is that which Salacia, ^[Note] in Lusitania, finds the most useful for making its chequered cloths. There is a similar wool, too, found about Piscenæ, ^[Note] in the province of Narbonensis, as also in Egypt; a garment, when it has been worn for some time, is often embroidered with this wool, and will last for a considerable time.

The thick, flocky wool has been esteemed for the manufacture of carpets from the very earliest times; it is quite clear, from what we read in Homer, that they were in use in his time. ^[Note] The Gauls embroider them in a different manner from that which is practised by the Parthians. ^[Note] Wool is

compressed also for making a felt, ^[Note] which, if soaked in vinegar, ^[Note] is capable of resisting iron even; and, what is still more, after having gone through the last process, ^[Note] wool will even resist fire; the refuse, too, when taken out of the vat of the scourer, is used for making mattresses, ^[Note] an invention, I fancy, of the Gauls. At all events, it is by Gallic names that we distinguish the different sort of mattresses ^[Note] at the present day; but I am not well able to say at what period wool began to be employed for this purpose. Our ancestors made use of straw ^[Note] for the purpose of sleeping upon, just as they do at present when in camp. The gausapa ^[Note] has been brought into use in my father's memory, and I myself recollect the amphimalla ^[Note] and the long shaggy apron ^[Note] being introduced; but at the present day, the laticlave tunic ^[Note] is beginning to be manufactured, in imitation of the gausapa. ^[Note] Black wool will take no colour.

I shall describe the mode of dyeing the other kinds of wool when speaking of the sea-purple, ^[Note] or of the nature of various plants. ^[Note]