bombycinum discrimen ponit Ulpianus, l. xxiii. de aur. arg. leg. 'Vestimentorum sunt omnia lanea, lineaque, vel serica, vel bombycina.'" JULIUS POLLUX. The Bombyces are worms, which emit from themselves threads, like the spider. Some say, that the Seres collect their webs from animals of this kind. L. vii. 76. p. 741.—Kühn
JUSTIN
evidently refers to the use of silken garments in his account of the customs of the Parthians, where he says,
They formerly dressed after their own fashion. After they became rich, they
adopted the pellucid and flowing garments of the Medes. L. xli. c. 2.
All doubt, whether the transparent garments, mentioned by
Justin, were of silk, must be removed by the authority of Procopius,
from whom we shall hereafter cite ample and important
testimony in reference to the time when he lived, and who in
the two following passages expressly states, that the webs,
called by the Greeks in his time Seric, were more anciently denominated
Median.
Among the valuable and curious effects of the emperor Commodus, which after his death (A. D. 192.) were sold by his successor Pertinax, was a garment with a woof of silk, of a bright yellow color, the appearance of which was more beautiful than if the material had been interwoven with threads of gold[1].
THIRD CENTURY.
The authorities now quoted supply evidence respecting the use of silk among the Greeks and Romans down to the end of the second century. It is rarely mentioned by any writer belonging to the following century[2]; so far as we have discovered,
- ↑ Vestis subtegmine serico, aureis filis insignior.—Jul. Capitolini Pertinax, c. 8. in Scrip. Hist. Augustæ.
- ↑ 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.
