40 Pearls. 



extent was the fashion carried, that a lady's position 

 in society was. estimated by the number and 

 value of the Pearls she wore on any public occasion. 

 Hence the Margaritaria, or Pearl merchants, drove 

 a flourishing trade by the loan of Pearls. The 

 relics of females exhumed from the ashes of Pompeii, 

 have in some cases been found decorated with 

 Pearl ear-rings. 



Various sumptuary laws were issued under suc- 

 cessive emperors for the purpose of stemming the 

 tide of extravagance which threatened to ruin all 

 classes. Julius Csesar issued an edict, prohibiting 

 the use of purple and of Pearls to all persons who 

 were not of a certain rank, and these were only to 

 wear them on occasions of public ceremonies. Un- 

 married women were forbidden to wear precious 

 stones, gems or Pearls — an edict which led to a 

 great increase in the number of marriages in every 

 city throughout the empire. 



The last of the sumptuary laws was passed by 

 the Emperor Leo, in the year 460 A.D., and for- 

 bade all persons of whatever quality, to enrich 

 their baldrics, or the bridles and saddles of their 

 horses with Pearls, emeralds, or hyacinths. 



In the dark ages which followed the ruin of 

 the Roman Empire, the Oriental trade in Pearls, 



