CHAP. 72. (47.)—SHEEP, AND THEIR PROPAGATION.[1971]
Many thanks, too, do we owe to the sheep, both for appeasing the gods, and for giving us the use of its fleece. As oxen cultivate the fields which yield food for man, so to sheep are we indebted for the defence of our bodies. The generative power lasts in both sexes from the second to the ninth year, sometimes to the tenth.[1972] The lambs produced at the first birth are but small. The season for coupling, in all of them, is from the setting of Arcturus, that is to say, the third day before the ides of May,[1973] to the setting of Aquila, the tenth day before the calends of August.[1974] The period of gestation is one hundred and fifty days. The lambs that are produced after this time are feeble; the ancients called those that were born after it, cordi.[1975] Many persons prefer the lambs that are born in the winter to those of the spring, because it is of much more consequence that they should have gained strength before the summer solstice than before the winter one; consequently, the sheep is the only animal that is benefitted by being born in the middle of winter. It is the nature of the ram to reject the young and prefer the old ones, and he himself is more serviceable when old,[1976] and when deprived of his horns.[1977] He is also rendered less violent by having one horn pierced towards the ear. If the right testicle is tied up, the ram will generate females, and if the left, males.[1978] The noise of thunder produces abortion in sheep, if they are left alone; to prevent such accidents, they are brought together into flocks, that they may be rendered less timid by being in company. When the north-east wind blows, males are said to be conceived; and when the south wind, females. In this kind of animal, the mouth of the ram is especially looked to, for whatever may be the colour of the veins under the tongue, the wool of the young one will be of a similar colour.[1979] If these veins are many in number, it will be mottled. Any change, too, in their water or drink, will render them mottled.[1980]
There are two principal kinds of sheep, the covered[1981] and the colonic,[1982] or common sheep; the former is the more tender animal, but the latter is more nice about its pastures, for the covered sheep will feed on brambles even. The best coverings for sheep are brought from Arabia.[1983]
CHAP. 73. (43.)—THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF WOOL, AND THEIR COLOURS.[1984]
The most esteemed wool of all is that of Apulia, and that which in Italy is called Grecian wool, in other countries Italian. The fleeces of Miletus hold the third rank.[1985] The Apulian wool is shorter in the hair, and only owes its high character to the cloaks[1986] that are made of it. That which comes from the vicinity of Tarentum and Canusium is the most celebrated; and there is a wool from Laodicea, in Asia, of a similar quality.[1987] There is no white wool superior to that of the countries bordering on the Padus,[1988] nor up to the present day has any wool exceeded the price of one hundred sesterces per pound.[1989] The sheep are not shorn in all countries; in some places it is still the custom to pull off the wool.[1990] There are various colours of wool; so much so, indeed, that we want terms to express them all. Several kinds, which are called native,[1991] are found in Spain; Pollentia, in the vicinity of the Alps,[1992] produces black fleeces of the best quality; Asia, as well as Bætica,[1993] the red fleeces, which are called Erythræan; those of Canusium are of a tawny colour;[1994] and those of Tarentum have their peculiar dark tint.[1995] All kinds of wool, when not freed from the grease,[1996] possess certain medicinal properties. The wool of Istria is much more like hair than wool, and is not suitable for the fabrication of stuffs that have a long nap;[1997] so too is that which Salacia,[1998] in Lusitania, finds the most useful for making its chequered cloths. There is a similar wool, too, found about Piscenæ,[1999] in the province of Narbonensis, as also in Egypt; a garment, when it has been worn for some time, is often embroidered with this wool, and will last for a considerable time.
The thick, flocky wool has been esteemed for the manufacture of carpets from the very earliest times; it is quite clear, from what we read in Homer, that they were in use in his time.[2000] The Gauls embroider them in a different manner from that which is practised by the Parthians.[2001] Wool is compressed also for making a felt,[2002] which, if soaked in vinegar,[2003] is capable of resisting iron even; and, what is still more, after having gone through the last process,[2004] wool will even resist fire; the refuse, too, when taken out of the vat of the scourer, is used for making mattresses,[2005] an invention, I fancy, of the Gauls. At all events, it is by Gallic names that we distinguish the different sort of mattresses[2006] at the present day; but I am not well able to say at what period wool began to be employed for this purpose. Our ancestors made use of straw[2007] for the purpose of sleeping upon, just as they do at present when in camp. The gausapa[2008] has been brought into use in my father’s memory, and I myself recollect the amphimalla[2009] and the long shaggy apron[2010] being introduced; but at the present day, the laticlave tunic[2011] is beginning to be manufactured, in imitation of the gausapa.[2012] Black wool will take no colour. I shall describe the mode of dyeing the other kinds of wool when speaking of the sea-purple,[2013] or of the nature of various plants.[2014]
CHAP. 74.—DIFFERENT KINDS OF CLOTHS.
Varro informs us, he himself having been an eye-witness, that in the temple of Sancus,[2015] the wool was still preserved on the distaff and spindle of Tanaquil,[2016] who was also called Caia Cæcilia; and he says that the royal waved[2017] toga, formerly worn by Servius Tullius, and now in the temple of Fortune, was made by her. Hence was derived the custom, on the marriage of a young woman, of carrying in the procession a dressed distaff and a spindle, with the thread arranged upon it. Tanaquil was the first who wove the straight tunic,[2018] such as our young people wear with the white toga;[2019] newly-married women also. Waved garments were at first the most esteemed of all: after which those composed of various colours[2020] came into vogue. Fenestella informs us, that togas with a smooth surface, as well as the Phryxian togas,[2021] began to be used in the latter part of the reign of Augustus. Thick stuffs, in the preparation of which the poppy[2022] was used, are of more ancient date, being mentioned by the poet Lucilius, in his lines on Torquatus. The prætexta[2023] had its origin among the Etrurians. I find that the trabea[2024] was first worn by the kings; embroidered garments are mentioned by Homer,[2025] and in this class originated the triumphal robes.[2026] The Phrygians first used the needle for this purpose,[2027] and hence this kind of garment obtained the name of Phrygionian. King Attalus, who also lived in Asia, invented the art of embroidering with gold, from which these garments have been called Attalic.[2028] Babylon was very famous for making embroidery in different colours, and hence stuffs of this kind have obtained the name of Babylonian.[2029] The method of weaving cloth with more than two threads was invented at Alexandria; these cloths are called polymita;[2030] it was in Gaul that they were first divided into chequers.[2031] Metellus Scipio, in the accusation which he brought against Cato,[2032] stated that even in his time Babylonian covers for couches were selling for eight hundred thousand sesterces, and these of late, in the time of the Emperor Nero, had risen to four millions.[2033] The prætextæ of Servius Tullius, with which the statue of Fortune, dedicated by him, was covered,[2034] lasted until the death of Sejanus; and it is a remarkable fact, that, during a period of five hundred and sixty years, they had never become tattered,[2035] or received injury from moths. I myself have seen the fleece upon the living animal dyed purple, scarlet, and violet,—a pound and a half[2036] of dye being used for each,—just as though they had been produced by Nature in this form, to meet the demands of luxury.
CHAP. 75.—THE DIFFERENT SHAPES OF SHEEP; THE MUSMON.
In the sheep, it is considered a proof of its being of a very fair breed, when the legs are short, and the belly is covered with wool; when this part is bare, they used to be called apicæ, and were looked upon as worthless.[2037] The tail of the Syrian sheep is a cubit in length,[2038] and it is upon that part that most of the wool is found. It is considered too early to castrate lambs before they are five months old.