The thick, flocky wool has been esteemed for the manufacture of carpets from the very earliest times; it is quite clear, from what we read in Homer, that they were in use in his time.[2000] The Gauls embroider them in a different manner from that which is practised by the Parthians.[2001] Wool is compressed also for making a felt,[2002] which, if soaked in vinegar,[2003] is capable of resisting iron even; and, what is still more, after having gone through the last process,[2004] wool will even resist fire; the refuse, too, when taken out of the vat of the scourer, is used for making mattresses,[2005] an invention, I fancy, of the Gauls. At all events, it is by Gallic names that we distinguish the different sort of mattresses[2006] at the present day; but I am not well able to say at what period wool began to be employed for this purpose. Our ancestors made use of straw[2007] for the purpose of sleeping upon, just as they do at present when in camp. The gausapa[2008] has been brought into use in my father’s memory, and I myself recollect the amphimalla[2009] and the long shaggy apron[2010] being introduced; but at the present day, the laticlave tunic[2011] is beginning to be manufactured, in imitation of the gausapa.[2012] Black wool will take no colour. I shall describe the mode of dyeing the other kinds of wool when speaking of the sea-purple,[2013] or of the nature of various plants.[2014] CHAP. 74.—DIFFERENT KINDS OF CLOTHS. Varro informs us, he himself having been an eye-witness, that in the temple of Sancus,[2015] the wool was still preserved on the distaff and spindle of Tanaquil,[2016] who was also called Caia Cæcilia; and he says that the royal waved[2017] 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,[2018] such as our young people wear with the white toga;[2019] newly-married women also. Waved garments were at first the most esteemed of all: after which those composed of various colours[2020] came into vogue. Fenestella informs us, that togas with a smooth surface, as well as the Phryxian togas,[2021] began to be used in the latter part of the reign of Augustus. Thick stuffs, in the preparation of which the poppy[2022] was used, are of more ancient date, being mentioned by the poet Lucilius, in his lines on Torquatus. The prætexta[2023] had its origin among the Etrurians. I find that the trabea[2024] was first worn by the kings; embroidered garments are mentioned by Homer,[2025] and in this class originated the triumphal robes.[2026] The Phrygians first used the needle for this purpose,[2027] 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