Latin Texts & Translations

Varro informs us, he himself having been an eye-witness, that in the temple of Sancus, ^[Note] the wool was still preserved on the distaff and spindle of Tanaquil, ^[Note] who was also called Caia Cæ- cilia; and he says that the royal waved ^[Note] 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, ^[Note] such as our young people wear with the white toga; ^[Note] newly-married women also. Waved garments were at first the most esteemed of all: after which those composed of various colours ^[Note] came into vogue. Fenestella informs us, that togas with a smooth surface, as well

as the Phryxian togas, ^[Note] began to be used in the latter part of the reign of Augustus. Thick stuffs, in the preparation of which the poppy ^[Note] was used, are of more ancient date, being mentioned by the poet Lucilius, in his lines on Torquatus. The prætexta ^[Note] had its origin among the Etrurians. I find that the trabea ^[Note] was first worn by the kings; embroidered garments are mentioned by Homer, ^[Note] and in this class originated the triumphal robes. ^[Note] The Phrygians first used the needle for this purpose, ^[Note] 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. ^[Note] Babylon was very famous for making embroidery in different colours, and hence stuffs of this kind have obtained the name of Babylonian. ^[Note] The method of weaving cloth with more than two threads was in-

vented at Alexandria; these cloths are called polymita; ^[Note] it was in Gaul that they were first divided into chequers. ^[Note] Metellus Scipio, in the accusation which he brought against Cato, ^[Note] 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. ^[Note] The prætextæ of Servius Tullius, with which the statue of Fortune, dedicated by him, was covered, ^[Note] 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, ^[Note] or received injury from moths. I myself have seen the fleece upon the living animal dyed purple, scarlet, and violet,—a pound and a half ^[Note] of dye being used for each,—just as though they had been produced by Nature in this form, to meet the demands of luxury.