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
Maria, the daughter of the above-mentioned Stilicho, was bestowed
by him upon Honorius, but died shortly after, about A. D. 400. In
February, 1544, the marble coffin, containing her remains, was
discovered at Rome. In it were preserved a garment and a pall,
which, on being burnt, yielded 36 _pounds of gold_. There were also
found a great number of glass vessels, jewels, and ornaments of all
kinds, which Stilicho had given as a dowry to his daughter[50]. We
may conclude, that the garments discovered in the tomb of Maria
were _woven_ by the hands of her mother Serena, since the epigram
of Claudian proves that she wove robes of a similar description for
Honorius, and probably on the same occasion. Anastasius Bibliothecarius
says, that when Pope Paschal was intent on finding the body of St.
Cæcilia, having performed mass with a view to obtain the favor of a
revelation on the subject, he was directed A. D. 821 to a cemetery on
the Appian Way near Rome, and there found the body enveloped in cloth
of gold[51]. Although there is _no_ reason to believe, that the body
found by Paschal was the body of the saint pretended, yet it may have
been the body of a Roman lady who had lived some centuries before, and
probably about the time of Honorius and Maria.
[50] Surii Comment. Rerum Gest. ab anno 1500, &c.
[51] “Aureis vestitum indumentis.” DE VITIS ROM. Pontificum Mogunt.
1602, p. 222.
Pisander, who belonged to the same period (900 B. C.) with Homer,
speaks of the _Lydians_ as _wearing tunics adorned with gold_. Lydus
observes, that the Lydians were supplied with gold from the sands of
the Pactolus and the Hermus[52].
[52] De Magistratibus Rom. L. iii. § 64.
Virgil also represents the use of gold in weaving, as if it had existed
in Trojan times. One of the garments so adorned was manufactured by
_Dido_, the _Sidonian_, one by Andromache, and another was in the
possession of Anchises[53]. In all these instances the reference is to
the habits of Phœnice, Lycia, or other parts of Asia.
[53] Æn. iii. 483.; iv. 264.; viii. 167.; xi. 75.
He describes an ape ludicrously attired in a silk jacket; and,
inveighing against the progress of luxury, he speaks of some to whom
even silk garments were a burthen. In elaborate descriptions of the
figured consular robes (the Trabeæ) of Honorius and Stilicho, he
mentions the _reins and other trappings of horses_, as being wrought in
silk[54].
[54] Rubra Serica, De VI. Cons. Honor. I. 577. Serica Fræna. In I.
Cons. Stilichonis 1. ii. V. 350.
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