Chap. 63.] WHEN PTJEPLE WAS FIRST USED AT ROME. 447 



From this combination is produced the admirable tint known 

 as amethyst colour. 96 To produce the Tyrian hue the wool is 

 soaked in the juice of the pelagise while the mixture is in an 

 uncooked and raw state ; after which its tint is- changed by 

 being dipped in the juice of the buccinum. It is considered of 

 the best quality when it has exactly the colour of clotted blood, 

 and is of a blackish hue to the sight, but of a shining ap- 

 pearance when held up to the light ; hence it is that we find 

 Homer speaking of " purple blood." m 



CHAP. 63. (39.) WHEN PURPLE WAS FIRST USED AT ROME I WHEN 

 THE LATICLAVE VESTMENT AND THE PRETEXT A WERE FIRST 

 WORN. 



I find that, from the very first, purple has been in use at 

 Rome, but that Romulus employed it for the trabea. 98 As to 

 the toga praetexta and the laticlave 99 vestment, it is a fact well 

 ascertained, that Tullus Hostilius was the first king who made 

 use of them, and that after the conquest of the Etruscans. Cor- 

 nelius Nepos, who died in the reign of the late Emperor 

 Augustus, has left the following remarks : " In the days of 

 my youth," says he, " the violet purple was in favour, a pound 

 of which used to sell at one hundred denarii ; and not long 

 after, the Tarentine 1 red was all the fashion. This last was 



96 So called from the gem of that name ; see B. xxxvii. c. 40. 



97 A'ifjiari iropfyvptq). II. P. 1. 360, for instance. 



98 The " trabea " was similar in cut to the toga, but was ornamented 

 with purple horizontal stripes. Servius mentions three kinds of trabea ; 

 one wholly of purple, which was sacred to the gods, another of purple and 

 white, ana another of purple and saffron, which belonged to the augurs. 

 The purple and white trabea was the royal robe, worn by the early kings, 

 and the introduction of which was assigned to Romulus. The trabea was 

 worn by the consuls in public solemnities, such as opening the temple of 

 Janus. The equites also wore it on particular occasions ; and it is some- 

 times spoken of as the badge of the equestrian order. 



99 The latus clavus, or laticlave, was originally worn on the tunic, and 

 was a distinctive badge of the senatorian order. It consisted of a single 

 broad band of purple colour, extending perpendicularly from the neck down 

 the centre of the tunic. The right of wearing the laticlave was given to 

 children of the equestrian order, at least, as we learn from Ovid, in the 

 reign of Augustus. 



1 Hardouin says, that in his time there were still to be seen the remains 

 of the ancient dyeing houses at Tarentum, the modern Otranto, and that 

 vast heaps of the shells of the murex had been discovered there. 



