Chap. 63.] WHEN PUEPLE WAS FIEST USED AT KOME. 
447 
From this combination is produced the admirable tint known 
as amethyst colour. To produce the Tyrian hue the wool is 
soaked in the juice of the pelagiae 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." ^"^ 
CHAP. 63. (39.) WHEI^ PIJKPLE WAS FIEST USED AT EOME I WHEJ?" 
THE LATICLAYE VESTMENT AND THE PE^TEXTA WEEE FIRST 
WOEN. 
I find that, from the very first, purple has been in use at 
Eome, but that Eomulus employed it for the trabea.^® As to 
the toga prsetexta and the laticlave^^ 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^ red was all the fashion. This last was 
So called from the gem of that name ; see B. xxxvii. c. 40. 
Aijuari 7rop(pvp8({). 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, and 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 Eomulus. 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. 
