The History of Silk, Cotton, Linen, Wool, and Other Fibrous Substances;: Including Observations on Spinning, Dyeing, and Weaving.Gilroy, Clinton G.
History
The History of Silk, Cotton, Linen, Wool, and Other Fibrous Substances;: Including Observations on Spinning, Dyeing, and Weaving.
Gilroy, Clinton G.
History, Ancient; Textile fabrics -- History
The first Apulia’s; next is Parma’s boast;
And the third fleece Altinum has engrost.
_Elphinston’s Translation._
Also in the following lines Martial alludes to the large and numerous
flocks of Apulia, and to the whiteness of their wool.
Of white thou hast to clothe a tribe sufficient stock,
The produce fair of more than one Apulian flock.
L. ii. _Ep._ 46. _l._ 5, 6.
On the other hand the wool from the vicinity of Canusium was no less
esteemed for its dark colors, whether inclining to brown or to red.
These saved the expense of dyeing. The testimony of Pliny to their
value has been already produced. In the two following Epigrams (_l._
xiv. 127 _and_ 129.) Martial alludes to the peculiar recommendations
and uses, first of the brown, and secondly of the reddish variety.
This Canusine lacerna, it is true,
Looks muddy: but it will not change its hue[333].
Rome in the brown delights, gay Gaul in red:
This pleases boys, and whose is blood to shed.
[333] It appears from this epigram that, when shaken, it had the
color of the brown wool of Canusium, a kind of drab. The lacerna
was a mantle, which the Romans wore out of doors over their white
toga, with which it was well contrasted, whether it was purple,
scarlet, or brown; but the last color, though less showy at first,
must have had the advantage of durability. See Appendix A.
On referring to the passages produced from Pliny, Columella, and
Martial, it will be seen that the Romans ascribed a very high value
to the white wool of Gallia Cisalpina, i. e. of North Italy, or the
region about the Po. Parma was considered second only to Apulia for
the whiteness of its wool. Besides the two epigrams of Martial already
cited, he refers to Parma as a great place for sheep-breeding in the
following passage, addressed to the wealthy Callistratus:
And Gallic Parma shears thy num’rous flocks.
L. v. _ep._ 13.
Columella speaks moreover (_l. c._) of the superiority of the wool
of Mutina, now Modena; and Martial (_l._ v. _ep._ 105.) mentions
the circumstance of a _fuller_, or _clothier_, in that city having
exhibited a show to the public, which is a presumptive evidence that he
had a great business in manufacturing the produce of the surrounding
country.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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