[68] The true value of the talent cannot well be ascertained, but it is known that it was different among different nations. The Attic talent, the weight, contained 60 Attic minæ, or 6000 Attic drachmæ, equal to 56 pounds, 11 ounces, English troy weight. The mina being reckoned equal to £3 4_s._ 7_d._ sterling, or $14 33 cents; the talent was of the value of £193 15_s._ sterling, about $861. Other computations make it £225 sterling. The Romans had the great talent and the little talent; the great talent is computed to be equal to £99 6_s._ 8_d._ sterling, and the little talent to £75 sterling. 2. _Talent_, among the Hebrews, was also a gold coin, the same with a shekel of gold; called also stater, and weighing only four drachmas. But the Hebrew talent of silver, called _cicar_, was equivalent to three thousand shekels, or one hundred and thirteen pounds, ten ounces, and a fraction, troy weight.--_Arbuthnot._ CHAPTER IV. HISTORY OF THE SILK MANUFACTURE CONTINUED FROM THE INTRODUCTION OF SILK-WORMS INTO EUROPE, A.D. 530, TO THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY. A. D. 530.--Introduction of silk-worms into Europe--Mode by which it was effected--The Serinda of Procopius the same with the modern Khotan--The silk-worm never bred in Sir-hind--Silk shawls of Tyre and Berytus--Tyrannical conduct of Justinian--Ruin of the silk manufactures--Oppressive conduct of Peter Barsames--Menander Protector--Surprise of Maniak the Sogdian ambassador--Conduct of Chosroes, king of Persia--Union of the Chinese and Persians against the Turks--The Turks in self-defence seek an alliance with the Romans--Mortification of the Turkish ambassador--Reception of the Byzantine ambassador by Disabul, king of the Sogdiani--Display of silk textures--Paul the Silentiary’s account of silk--Isidorus Hispalensis. Mention of silk by authors in the seventh century--Dorotheus, Archimandrite of Palestine--Introduction of silk-worms into Chubdan, or Khotan--Theophylactus Simocatta--Silk manufactures of Turfan--Silk known in England in this century--First worn by Ethelbert, king of Kent--Use of by the French kings--Aldhelmus’s beautiful description of the silk-worm--Simile between weaving and virtue. Silk in the eighth century--Bede. In the tenth century--Use of silk by the English, Welsh, and Scotch kings. Twelfth century--Theodorus Prodromus--Figured shawls of the Seres--Ingulphus describes vestments of silk interwoven with eagles and flowers of gold--Great value of silk about this time--Silk manufactures of Sicily--Its introduction into Spain. Fourteenth century--Nicholas Tegrini--Extension of the Silk manufacture through Europe, illustrated by etymology--Extraordinary beauty of silk and golden textures used in the decoration of churches in the middle ages--Silk rarely mentioned in the ninth, eleventh, or thirteenth centuries.