Page:The history of silk, cotton, linen, wool, and other fibrous substances 2.djvu/55

 power of their opponents. The conflict here referred to took place in the year 54 B. C. In about 30 years after this date the Roman empire obtained its greatest extension. In the language of Petronius Arbiter (c. 119.),

After these words he says, that among the richest productions of distant climates the Seres sent their "new fleeces." The remotest countries thus contributed to increase the luxury of Rome, and we shall now see how silk, one of the most costly and the most admired of its recent acquisitions, was used by its poets to represent the polish of elevated life and to adorn their language with rich and beautiful allusions. The webs, which they mention, are either those still obtained from Cos, or those imported from the country of the Seres.

The latter of these two passages is remarkable as showing that the Coan women practised the elegant art of interweaving gold thread in their silken webs. The gold was no doubt displayed in transverse stripes.

In the next passage Propertius is speaking of his own Poetry, and alludes to his frequent mention of Coan garments.