Of jewels can bring back the days,
Which, fix’d by time, recorded stand,
By all, who read the Fasti, scann’d.
Od. l. iv. 13. (ad Lycen.) 13-16.
As if uncloth’d, she stands confess’d
In a translucent Coan vest.
Sat. i. 2. 101.
These passages allude to the fineness and transparency of silken webs, which in the time of Horace were worn at Rome only by prostitutes, or by those women who aimed at being as attractive and luxurious as possible in their attire.
The former passage shows, that the silks manufactured in Cos were dyed with the murex, “Coæ purpuræ.”
The expression “Sericos pulvillos” (Epod. 8. 15.) has been supposed to denote small cushions covered with silk. But the epithet “Sericos” implies nothing more than that they were obtained from the Seres, who supplied the Romans with skins as well as silk[26]; and leather seems to have been a more proper substance than silk for making cushions.