The history of silk, cotton, linen, wool, and other fibrous ... - Cd3wd.com

SILK BY THE ANCIENTS. iio
by the soldiers of Crassus, or by others who visited the interior
of Asia about the same period.
HORACE.
Nor Coan purples, nor the blaze
Of jewels can bring back the days,
Which, fix'd by time, recorded stand,
By all, who read the Fasti, scann'd.
Od. I. iv. 13. {ad Lycen.) 13-16.
As if uncloth'd, she stands confess'd
In a translucent Coan vest.
Sat. i. 2. 101.
These passages allude to the fineness and transparency of
silken webs, which in the time of Horace were worn at Rome
only by prostitutes, or by those women who aimed at being as
attractive and luxurious as possible in their attire.
The former passage shows, that the silks manufactured in
Cos were dyed with the murex, " Cose purpuree."
The expression " Sericos pulvillos" {Epod. 8. 15.) has been
supposed to denote small cushions covered with silk. But the
epithet " Sericos" implies nothing more than that they were ob-
tained from the Seres, who supphed the Romans with skins as
well as silk*; and leather seems to have been a more proper
substance than silk for making cushions.
OVID.
Sive erit in Tjriis, Tyrios laudabis amictus,
Sive erit in Cois, Coa decere puta.
Aurata est : ipso tibi sit pretiosior auro ;
Gausapa si sumsit, gausapa sumta proba.
Whatever clothing she displays.
From Tyre or Cos, that clothing praise
If gold shows forth the artist's skill.
Call her than gold more precious still
Or if she choose a coasre attire,
E'en coarseness, worn by her, admire.
* Flin. xxxiv. cap. 24.
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Ars Amat. ii. 297-300.