[44]Mannert (Geogr. iv. 6. 7. p. 517.) attributes the excessive dearness of silk in the third century to the victories of the Persians, which at that time cut off all direct communication between Serica and the western world.
[44]Mannert (Geogr. iv. 6. 7. p. 517.) attributes the excessive dearness of silk in the third century to the victories of the Persians, which at that time cut off all direct communication between Serica and the western world.
[44]Mannert (Geogr. iv. 6. 7. p. 517.) attributes the excessive dearness of silk in the third century to the victories of the Persians, which at that time cut off all direct communication between Serica and the western world.
Ælius Lampridiussays (c. 26.), that the profligate and effeminate emperor Heliogabalus was the first Roman, who wore cloth made wholly of silk, the silk having been formerly combined with other less valuable materials, and, in consequence of his example, the custom of wearing silk soon became general among the wealthy citizens of Rome. He mentions (c. 33) among the innumerable extravagances of this emperor, that he had prepared a silken rope of purple and scarlet colors to hang himself with.
Of the emperor Alexander Severus he says (c. 40), that he himself had few garments of silk, that he never wore a tunic made wholly of silk, and that he never gave away cloth made of silk mixed with less valuable materials.
The following is the testimony of Flavius Vopiscus in his life of the emperor Aurelian.
Aurelian neither had himself in his wardrobe a garment wholly of silk, nor gave one to be worn by another. When his own wife begged him to allow her to have a single shawl of purple silk, he replied, Far be it from us to permit thread to be reckoned worth its weight in gold. For a pound of gold was then the price of a pound of silk. c. 45.
Aurelian neither had himself in his wardrobe a garment wholly of silk, nor gave one to be worn by another. When his own wife begged him to allow her to have a single shawl of purple silk, he replied, Far be it from us to permit thread to be reckoned worth its weight in gold. For a pound of gold was then the price of a pound of silk. c. 45.
Although the above mentioned restrictions in the use of silk may be partly accounted for from the usual severity of Aurelian’s character, yet the facts here stated abundantly show the rarity and high value of this material in that age.
Flavius Vopiscus further states, that the emperor Tacitus made it unlawful for men to wear silk unmixed with cheaper materials. Carinus, on the other hand, made presents of silken garments, as well as of gold and silver, to Greek artificers, and to wrestlers, players, and musicians.
Trebellius Pollio, in his life of Claudius II. (c. 14and17.), twice mentions white garments of silk mixed with cheaper materials, which were destined for that emperor.
Bishop of Carthage in the third century, inveighs in the following terms against the use of silk:
Tu licet indumenta peregrina et vestes sericas induas, nuda es. Auro te licet et margaritis gemmisque condecores, sine Christi decore deformis es.De Lapsis,p.135.ed. Fell.Although thou shouldest put on a tunic of foreign silk, thou art naked; although thou shouldest beautify thyself with gold, and pearls, and gems, without the beauty of Christ thou art unadorned.
Tu licet indumenta peregrina et vestes sericas induas, nuda es. Auro te licet et margaritis gemmisque condecores, sine Christi decore deformis es.De Lapsis,p.135.ed. Fell.
Although thou shouldest put on a tunic of foreign silk, thou art naked; although thou shouldest beautify thyself with gold, and pearls, and gems, without the beauty of Christ thou art unadorned.
Also in his treatise on the dress of Virgins he says,
Sericum et purpuram indutæ, Christum induere non possunt: auro et margaritis et monilibus adornatæ, ornamenta cordis et pectoris perdiderunt.Those who put on silk and purple, cannot put on Christ: women, adorned with gold and pearls and necklaces, have lost the ornaments of the heart and of the breast.
Sericum et purpuram indutæ, Christum induere non possunt: auro et margaritis et monilibus adornatæ, ornamenta cordis et pectoris perdiderunt.
Those who put on silk and purple, cannot put on Christ: women, adorned with gold and pearls and necklaces, have lost the ornaments of the heart and of the breast.
In the same place he gives us a translation of the well-known passage of Isaiah enumerating the luxuries of female attire among the Jews: “In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their cauls, and their round tires like the moon, the chains, and the bracelets, and the mufflers, the bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the head-bands, and the tablets, and the ear-rings, the rings, and nose-jewels, the changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crisping pins, the glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the veils.” Isaiah in. 18-23.
Primos hominum Seres cognoscimus, qui, aquarum aspergine inundatis frondibus, vellera arborum adminiculo depectunt liquoris, et lanuginis teneram subtilitatem humore domant ad obsequium. Hoc illud est sericum, in quo ostentare potius corpora quàm vestire, primò feminis, nunc etiam viris persuasit luxuriæ libido.Cap.1.The Seres first, having inundated the foliage with aspersions of water, combed down fleeces from trees by the aid of a fluid, and subdued to their purposes the tender and subtile down by the use of moisture. The substance so prepared is silk; that material in which at first women, but now even men, have been persuaded by the eagerness of luxury rather to display their bodies, than to clothe them.
Primos hominum Seres cognoscimus, qui, aquarum aspergine inundatis frondibus, vellera arborum adminiculo depectunt liquoris, et lanuginis teneram subtilitatem humore domant ad obsequium. Hoc illud est sericum, in quo ostentare potius corpora quàm vestire, primò feminis, nunc etiam viris persuasit luxuriæ libido.Cap.1.
The Seres first, having inundated the foliage with aspersions of water, combed down fleeces from trees by the aid of a fluid, and subdued to their purposes the tender and subtile down by the use of moisture. The substance so prepared is silk; that material in which at first women, but now even men, have been persuaded by the eagerness of luxury rather to display their bodies, than to clothe them.
This historian describes the Seres as “a quiet and inoffensive people who, avoiding all quarrels with their neighbors, are exempt from the distresses and alarms of war, and not being under the necessity of using offensive arms, do not even know their use, and occupy a fertile country under a delicious and healthy climate. He represents them as passing their happy life in the most perfect tranquillity and the most delicious repose amidst shady thickets refreshed by pleasant zephyrs, and where the soil furnishes so soft a wool, that after having been sprinkled with water and combed, it forms cloths resembling silk.”
Marcellinus proceeds to describe the Seres as being content with their own felicitous condition, and so reserved in their intercourse with the rest of mankind, that when foreigners venture within their boundaries for wrought and unwrought silk, and other valuable articles, they consider the price offered in silence, and transact their business without exchanging a word; a mode of traffic which is still practised in some eastern countries.
Macpherson, in the Annals of Commerce, a very valuable work, thinks that according to all appearances, the Seres were themselves the authors of this story, in order to make strangers believe that their country enjoyed all these benefits by the peculiar blessing of heaven, and that no other nation could participate in them.
The remarks of Solinus and Ammianus conspire to show, how much more common silk had become about the end of the third century, being then worn, at least with a warp of cheaper materials, by men as well as by women, and not being confined to the noble and the wealthy. These authors likewise dilate upon the use of showers of water to detach silk from the trees on which it was found. According to Pliny and Solinus, water was also employed after the silk was gathered from the trees[45]: and probably the fact was so. Silk, as itcomes from the worm, contains a strong gum, which would be dissolved by the showers of water dashed against the trees, and thus the cocoons, being loosened from the leaves and twigs, would be easily collected. In the subsequent processes, water would be further useful in enabling the women to spin the silk or to wind it upon bobbins.
[45]“The remaining shores are occupied by savage nations, as the Melanchlæni and Coraxi, Dioscurias, a City of the Colchians, near the river Anthemus, being now deserted, although formerly so illustrious, that Timosthenes has recorded thatthree hundred nationsused to resort to itspeaking different languages; and that business was afterwards transacted on our part through the medium ofone hundred and thirtyinterpreters.”
[45]“The remaining shores are occupied by savage nations, as the Melanchlæni and Coraxi, Dioscurias, a City of the Colchians, near the river Anthemus, being now deserted, although formerly so illustrious, that Timosthenes has recorded thatthree hundred nationsused to resort to itspeaking different languages; and that business was afterwards transacted on our part through the medium ofone hundred and thirtyinterpreters.”
[45]“The remaining shores are occupied by savage nations, as the Melanchlæni and Coraxi, Dioscurias, a City of the Colchians, near the river Anthemus, being now deserted, although formerly so illustrious, that Timosthenes has recorded thatthree hundred nationsused to resort to itspeaking different languages; and that business was afterwards transacted on our part through the medium ofone hundred and thirtyinterpreters.”
It may be observed that in this use of water art only follows nature. When the moth is ready to leave its cell, it always softens the extremity of it by emitting a drop of fluid, and thus easily obtains for itself a passage. In the third volume of the Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society (p. 543.), Colonel Sykes gives the following account of the process by which the moth of the Kolisurra silk-worm liberates itself from confinement. “It discharges from its mouth a liquor, which dissolves or loosens that part of the cocoon adjoining to the cord which attaches it to the branch, causing a hole, and admitting of the passage of the moth. The solvent property of this liquid is very remarkable; for that part of the cocoon, against which it is directed, although previously as hard as a piece of wood, becomes soft and pervious as wetted brown paper.”
In the seventh volume of the Linnæan Transactions, is an account by Dr. Roxburgh of the Tusseh silk-worm. Both species are natives of Bengal. The cocoons require to be immersed in cold water before the silk can be obtained from them. In the latter species it is too delicate to be wound from the cocoons, and is therefore spun like cotton. Thus manufactured it is so durable, that the life of one person is seldom sufficient to wear out a garment made of it, and the same piece descends from mother to daughter. (SeeChap. VIII.of this Part.)