Etymologies & Works 19

ON SHIPS, BUILDINGS, AND GARMENTS. I. ON SHIPS. I have taken pains next to note, in part, the terms of certain arts by which something is fabricated, or the instruments of craftsmen, or the things that furnish service, and anything of this kind. 'Craftsman' (artifex) is a general name, for one who practices an art (artem faciat), just as a goldsmith (aurifex) is one who [makes] gold. For the ancients used to say 'faxo' for 'facio' (I make). The 'nauclerus' is the master of the ship, so named because the ship is in his lot; for 'kleros' in Greek means 'lot' (sors). But the others in the ship are in a share (contribution). The 'gubernio,' who is also the helmsman (gubernator), as it were 'coibernator,' because by his prudence he restrains (coibeat) the winter storms (hiberna), that is, the tempests of the sea. The sailor (nauta) is named from the ship (navis) by derivation.

'Navita' is used for 'nauta' (sailor) poetically, just as 'Mavors' for 'Mars'; for the correct form is 'nauta.' The oarsman (remex) is so called because he plies the oar (remum gerit); and 'remex' is formed in the nominative case just as 'tubex' is. The 'epibata' is called by a Greek name, one who in Latin is called 'superveniens' (a passenger coming aboard). He has no business of his own, but having paid his fare (naulum) arranges to cross over to other lands. Some hold that a ship (navis) is so called because it seeks a diligent (navum) helmsman, that is, one skilled, wise, and energetic, who knows how to hold and steer it because of the perils and mishaps of the sea. Whence that saying of Solomon (Prov 1:5): 'The man of understanding shall possess governance.' The Lydians first built a ship, and seeking the uncertainties of the deep, made the sea passable for the use of men.

The raft (rates) is the first and most ancient kind of vessel, fashioned from rough beams and planks joined together; ships built in its likeness were called 'ratariae.' Now already ships are improperly called 'rates'; for properly 'rates' are beams joined to one another. The 'trieris' is a large ship, which the Greeks call 'durco.' Concerning which it is said in Isaiah (33:21): 'The great trireme shall not pass through it.' The Carpasian ship is named from the island Carpathos, just as the Rhodian from Rhodes, and the Alexandrian from Alexandria. The Liburnians (Liburnae) are named from the Libyans; for they are merchants' ships. Of which Horace (Epod 1,1): 'You will go among the Liburnians amid the tall ships.' Beaked ships (rostratae) are so called because on their prow they have bronze beaks (rostra) on account of the rocks, lest they be struck and dashed to pieces.

Long ships are those which we call 'dromones,' so named because they are longer than the rest: their opposite is the 'musculus,' a short vessel. The 'dromo' is named from running down (decurrendo); for the Greeks call running 'dromos.' The fleet (classis) is named from a Greek phrase, 'apo tōn kalōn,' that is, from timbers; whence also 'calones' are the little boats which carry timber for the soldiers. The 'ancyromachus' is so called because by its swiftness it is fit for carrying anchors and the other tackle of ships. The 'phaselus' is a vessel which we corruptly call 'baselus.' Of which Virgil (Georg 4,289): 'And with painted phaseli.' The 'scapha,' which is also 'kataskopos,' a vessel which in Latin is called 'speculatorium' (a scout-boat); for 'skopos' in Latin means to watch. The barque (barca) is that which carries all the ship's merchandise to the shore.

This ship, on the open sea because of the excessive waves, receives it into its lap: but when it has drawn near the harbor, the barque renders back its service to the ship which received it on the open sea. The 'paro' is a vessel suited to pirates, and so named from them. Cicero (Mar 3): 'Then he gives and entrusts himself to the wave-bearing paro.' And elsewhere (Com pall inc 21): 'He plays at the shore with swift little paros.' The 'mioparo' is as it were the smallest paro. For it is a skiff made of wicker, which, covered with raw hide, provides a kind of vessel; such as the German pirates use on the shores or marshes of the Ocean because of its nimbleness.

Concerning which History says: 'The nation of the Saxons relies on light vessels (mioparones), not on strength, being ready rather for flight than for battle.' The 'celoces,' which the Greeks call 'keletes,' that is, swift biremes or triremes, nimble and fit for the service of the fleet. Ennius (Ann 478): 'The oiled keel of the celox glides over the white waters.' Biremes are ships having a double bank of oars. Triremes and quadriremes have three and four banks. So too the penteres and hexeres, having five or six banks. Actuary ships (actuariae) are those which are driven at once by sails and oars. The 'hippagogus,' in which it was customary to transport horses. The 'pontonium' is a river vessel, slow and heavy, which can advance only by rowing. This is also called 'traiectus,' that is, 'stretched out':

for it is broad; whence also a stretched-out rope is called 'transenna.' The 'lembus' is a short little boat, which by another name is called both 'cumba' and 'caupulus,' as also 'lintris,' that is, 'carabus,' which they use on the Po and in marshes. The 'carabus' is a small skiff made of wicker, which, covered with raw hide, provides a kind of vessel. The 'portemia' is a boat of the Syrian type, broad and without a keel, named from carrying (portando). They use these in Pannonia. The 'trabariae' are river ships which are hollowed out of single beams, which by another name are called 'litorariae.' These are also 'caudicae,' made of a single hollowed piece of wood; and hence 'caudicae' because they hold from four up to ten men. II. ON THE PARTS OF SHIPS AND THEIR RIGGING. The stern (puppis) is the rear part of the ship, as it were 'after' (post);

the prow (prora) is the front part, as it were 'foremost' (priora). The bilge (cumba) is the lowest place of the ship, because it lies upon the waters (aquis incumbat). The keel (carina) is named from running (currendo), as it were 'currina.' The gangways (fori) are the hollow sides of the ships, named from bearing (ferendo) a load; or they are the decks of ships that are laid down, so named because they bear the passage or project outward (foris). Of which Virgil (Aen 6,412): '[and he loosens the gangways].' The 'columbaria' are hollow places on the topmost sides of the ships through which the oars project; so named, I believe, because they are similar to the hiding-places of doves (columbae) in which they nest. The 'agea' are passageways, places in the ship through which the exhorter (hortator) goes to the oarsmen. Of which Ennius (Ann 492): 'He sets much down on the gangway, and the long passage (agea) is filled.' The thwarts (transtra) are the boards where the oarsmen sit, so called because they are set crosswise (in transverso); which Virgil (Aen

6,411) calls them 'yokes' (iuga). Oars (remi) are named from removing (removendis) and beating down the waves (and the 'tonsae' from clipping), just as barbers (tonsores) are named from clipping and cutting down the hair. The 'palmula' is the outermost breadth of the oar, named from the palm (palma), by which the sea is driven. The yardarms (antemnae) are so called because they are set before the stream (ante amnem); for the stream flows past them. The 'cornua' (horns) are the outermost parts of the yardarms, so called by a figure of speech. The mast (malus) is the 'tree' (arbor) of the ship by which the sails are held up. And the mast is called 'malus' because it has the likeness of an apple (malum) at its top, or because it is girded as it were with certain little wooden hammers (malleoli), by whose turning the sails are more easily raised. The 'modius' is that upon which the mast stands, so named from the likeness of a measuring vessel.

The 'carchesia' are pulleys (trochleae) at the top of the mast, shaped like the letter F, through which the ropes are drawn. Cinna (4): 'The bright carchesia of the tall mast gleam.' Pulleys are called 'trochleae' because they have little wheels; for 'trochos' in Greek means a wheel. The 'parastatae' are equal upright posts by which the mast is supported. Cato (inc 18): 'The mast fastened, the parastatae bound.' The 'clavus' (tiller) is that by which the rudder is guided. Of which Ennius (Ann 483): 'That I may hold the tiller straight and steer the ship.' The 'porticulus' is a mallet carried in the hand, by which somehow a signal is given to the rowers. Of which Plautus (Asin 518): 'For speaking and for keeping silent you yourself have the porticulus.' The 'tonsilia' is an iron or wooden hook to which, when fixed on the shore, the ships' ropes are tied.

Of which Ennius (Ann 499): 'They seize the mooring-hooks (tonsillae), they fix the hooked ones into the shore.' The anchor (anchora), an iron tooth, takes its name from Greek etymology, because it grasps as it were with a man's hand either the rocks or the sands. For 'hand' in Greek is called 'kura' (cheir): among the Greeks, however, it does not have the aspiration, for it is called 'agkura'; whence too among our ancestors it was pronounced without the aspiration. The 'pulvini' are the machines by which ships are launched and drawn down into harbor. The 'pons' is the ship's ladder (gangplank). III. ON SAILS. The Greeks call sails 'armena,' because they are moved by air; but among the Latins, sails (vela) are named from flight (volatu). Whence is that verse (Virgil Aen 3,520): 'We spread the wings of our sails.' Kinds of sails: 'acation,' 'epidromos,' 'dolo,' 'artemo,' 'siparum,' 'mendicum.'

Of these the 'acation' is the largest sail, and is set in the middle of the ship. The 'epidromos' is of the second size, but toward the stern. The 'dolon' is the smallest sail, and is fixed at the prow. The 'artemo' is contrived rather for directing the ship than for speed. The 'siparum' is a kind of sail having a single foot, by which ships are wont to be aided in sailing whenever the force of the wind slackens. Of which Lucan (5,428): 'And spreading the topmost topsails (sipara) of the sails he gathers the perishing breezes'; which they think is named from separation (separatione). The 'pes' (sheet) is the outermost corner of the sail, which the sailors so call. IV. ON ROPES. Ropes (funes) are so called because formerly they were wrapped with wax for use as a light (lumen); whence also 'funalia' (torches). The 'restes' (cables), either because they hold rafts (rates) together, or because with them nets (retes) are stretched.

The 'rudentes' are ship's ropes so called from their excessive creaking (stridore). The 'spirae' are ropes which they use in storms; which sailors in their own fashion call 'cucurbae.' The 'spirae' are named from esparto grass (spartum). The 'propes' is the rope by which the foot of the sail is tied, as it were 'for the foot' (pro pedes). Of which Turpilius (215): 'As when a favorable wind bears the ship out to sea, if someone lets out the propes ... the left of the sail.' The 'tormentum' is a long rope in ships, which is stretched from prow to stern so that they may be bound the tighter. And 'tormenta,' ropes and cables, are named from twisting (tortu). The 'scaphon' is a rope set at the prow. Of which Caecilius (256): 'I came with a Venus-course, with the sheet let out all the way to the scaphon.' The 'opisphora' are ropes which are stretched to the horns of the yardarm on the right and left, drawn backward.

The 'prosnesium' is the rope by which a ship is tied to a stake on the shore. The 'mitra' is the rope by which the middle of the ship is bound. The 'anquina' is that by which the yardarm is bound fast to the mast. Of which Cinna (5): 'And may the strongest anquina guide the steady course.' The tow-rope (remulcum) is the rope by which a bound ship is drawn in place of an oar. Of which Valgius (4): 'Here, coming close with a long tow-rope on my prow, he sets me rejoicing amid welcome hospitality.' The 'struppi' are bindings made of thong or flax by which the oars are tied to the thole-pins (scalmi). Of which Livius (10): 'And then he ordered the oars to be tied fast with struppi.' The 'catapirates' (sounding-line) is a line with a leaden weight, by which the depth of the sea is tested. Lucilius (1191): 'Let the boy swallow down this greased sounding-line, a very little lump of lead and the thread of a line.' V. ON NETS.

Nets (retes) are so called either from retaining (retinendis) fish, or from the ropes (restes) by which they are stretched. A smaller net is called 'synplagium' from the meshes (plagae); for properly 'plagae' are those ropes by which the nets are held around the lowest and highest part. The 'funda' is a kind of fishing net, so called because it is cast into the depth (fundum). The same is also called 'iaculum' from throwing. Plautus (frag 175): 'Indeed before this you were a good thrower (iaculator).' The 'tragum' is a kind of net named from the fact that it is dragged (trahitur). The same is also the 'verriculum'; for 'verrere' means to drag. The 'nassa.' The 'cassis' is a kind of hunting net, because it catches (capiat). Hence it is that we say 'in vain' (incassum), that is, 'without cause'; as it were 'without nets' (sine cassibus), without which the hunt is empty. The 'conopia' are nets by which gnats are shut out in the manner of a tent;

which the Alexandrians use the more, because there gnats are born plentifully from the Nile. Whence also it is called 'conopeum'; for Canopus is in Egypt. VI. ON THE FORGE OF SMITHS. The smith (faber) has his name imposed from working (faciendo) iron. Hence the name is derived to other materials of the arts, so as to call them 'fabri' or 'fabricae'; but with an addition, as 'faber lignarius' (carpenter) and the rest, namely because of the firmness of the work. In the forge of smiths the gentiles say Vulcan is the author, figuratively signifying fire by Vulcan, without which no kind of metal can be melted and drawn out. For there is almost nothing which is not effected by fire. For in one place it produces glass, in another silver, in another lead, in another vermilion, in another pigments, in another medicines.

By fire stones are dissolved into bronze, by fire iron is begotten and tamed, by fire gold is perfected, by fire, the stone burnt, cements and walls are bound together. Fire by cooking whitens black stones, by burning darkens white timbers, makes black coals from glowing embers, brittle things from hard woods, imperishable things from perishable ones; it dissolves compacted things, binds together dissolved things, softens hard things, and makes soft things hard. It has also the use of medicine. For often to be cauterized is beneficial. It is certain too that it is a help against pestilence, which is contracted by the darkening of the sun. In a work too it produces one thing by the first fires, another by the second, another by the third. Fire has also yet another diversity within itself.

For there is one fire which appears for human use, another which appears for divine judgment, whether that which draws lightning from heaven, or that which erupts from the earth through the peaks of mountains. Fire (ignis) is so called because nothing can be begotten (gigni) from it; for it is an inviolable element, consuming all things which it seizes. A forge (fabrica) consists of two things: winds and flame. But flame (flamma) is properly said of the furnace, because it is stirred up by the blowing (flatu) of the bellows. The furnace (fornax) is named from fire; for 'phos' is fire. 'Kaminus,' furnace, is Greek, derived from 'kauma.' A cinder (favilla) is a spark deserted by fire. It is an ember (pruna) so long as it burns; but when it has been extinguished, it is called charcoal (carbo). The ember (pruna) is named from burning through (perurendo); charcoal (carbo), because it lacks flame. And this, while it is thought to have perished, becomes of greater strength;

for kindled again it glows with a stronger light. And so great is its firmness even without fire that it is corrupted by no moisture and overcome by no age. For once extinguished it endures so incorruptibly that those who fix boundary-markers bury pieces of it underneath in the ground, and set stones above them to convict a litigant, so that after however many ages they may recognize that the fixed stone is a boundary. VII. ON THE INSTRUMENTS OF SMITHS. The anvil (incus) is that on which iron is beaten, named from striking (caedendo), because on it we hammer something (cudamus), that is, produce it by striking; for 'cudere' means to strike and to beat. The ancients, however, did not call it 'incus,' but 'intus,' because on it metal is beaten, that is, stretched;

whence too the hammer 'tudis,' from beating (tundendo), that is, stretching. The hammer (malleus) is so called because, while something is hot and soft (molle), it strikes and shapes it out. The 'marcus' is a larger hammer; and it is called 'marcus' because it is larger for striking and stronger. The 'martellus,' a middling one. The 'marculus,' a tiny hammer. Lucilius (1165): 'And just as in a forge when the hot little hammer (marculus) beats the iron with the great blows of many.' Tongs (forcipes), as it were 'ferricipes,' because they grasp and hold red-hot iron (ferrum candens), or because with them we grasp and hold something hot (forvum), as it were 'forvicapes.' For 'forvum' is hot; whence too 'fervidum' (fervent); whence too we call those 'formosi' (shapely) in whom the heat of the blood from redness creates beauty. The file (lima) is so called because it makes smooth (lene). For 'limum' (mud) is smooth.

The 'cilium' is that with which silversmiths work; from which too chased vessels (caelata vasa) are named. VIII. ON THE BUILDING OF WALLS. In the building of walls and roofs the Greeks assert that Daedalus was the inventor; for he is said to have first learned the craft from Minerva. And the Greeks call smiths or craftsmen 'tektones,' that is, builders. The architects (architecti) are the masons who lay out the foundations. Whence also the Apostle says concerning himself (1 Cor 3:10): 'As a wise architect I have laid the foundation.' The 'maciones' (masons) are so called from the machines (machinae) on which they stand because of the height of the walls. IX. ON LAYOUT. The parts of buildings are three: layout (dispositio), construction (constructio), beauty (venustas). Layout is the marking-out of the site or ground and of the foundations. X.

ON CONSTRUCTION. Construction is the building-up of the sides and of the height. And it is called 'constructio' or 'instructio' because it binds tight (instringat) and makes things cohere, as stones with mortar, and timbers and stones with one another. For the tempering (intinctio) of iron in water too is an 'instrictura'; for unless the red-hot iron is dipped, iron cannot be bound and made to cohere. Likewise construction is named from the multitude of stones and timbers; whence too 'strues' (a heap). For building (aedificatio) is one thing, restoration (instauratio) another; for building is a new construction, but restoration is that which is repaired to the likeness of what was before. For the ancients used 'instar' for likeness (similitudo): hence too they said 'instaurare.' Construction consists of foundation, stones, lime, sand, and timbers.

The foundation (fundamentum) is so called because it is the bottom (fundus) of the building. The same is also 'cementum,' named from cutting (caedendo), because it rises from a thick cut stone. Stones suitable for structures: white, Tiburtine, dove-colored, river-stone, sponge-stone, red, and the rest. Of the white stone, one kind is hard, another soft. The soft is cut with a toothed saw and is workable in the job, so that on it, as on wood, letters may be written. The Tiburtine is named from a place in Italy, which, though it is strong for building, yet bursts apart in heat. The tufa (tophus) is useless for buildings but suitable for foundations, on account of its perishableness and softness. For it is crumbled by the heat and breath of the sea and battered by the rains. The sandy stone (arenacius) is compacted from the sands of the sea. This is also called 'bibulus' (thirsty); for it keeps the moisture it has received.

The same in Baetica is the Gaditane stone, from the island in the Ocean where a great deal of it is quarried. The 'piperinus' is whitish with black specks, hard and very strong. The 'cochleacius' is compacted of shells (cochleae) and pebbles and sand, very rough and sometimes full of holes. The 'columbinus' is named from the color of the bird (the dove), being close to gypsum by nature and most similar to it in softness. The millstone-stone (molaris) is useful in walls, because its nature is somewhat greasy, and hard and rough. From it too millstones (molae) are made; whence too it has drawn its name. Of it there are four kinds: white, black, mixed, and full of holes. The sponge-stone (spongia) is a stone created from water, light and full of holes and suitable for vaults. Flint (silex) is a hard stone, of whose kind the black flints are best, and in certain places also reddish ones.

White flints remain uncorrupted against age: the same, when carved in monuments, remain uncorrupted, and not even fire harms them; for from these too molds are made in which bronzes are cast. Green flint is itself also vehemently resistant to fire, but nowhere plentiful; and where it is found, it is a stone (lapis), not a rock (saxum). The pale kind is rarely useful in cement. The 'globus' (round stone) is strong against injuries, but untrustworthy in a structure unless it has been secured with much bracing. River flint is always as if damp. This ought to be exposed to the air in summer and not inserted into the structures of houses before two years. Of earthenware works, for walls and foundations they are fitted with baked bricks, and for roofs with small gutter-tiles and roof-tiles.

Roof-tiles (tegulae) are so called because they cover (tegant) the buildings, and gutter-tiles (imbrices) because they receive the rains (imbres). 'Tegula' is the name of the first laying-down, whose diminutive is 'tigillum.' Bricks (laterculi) are so called because they are formed broad (lati) with four boards turned round on every side. Unbaked bricks are 'lateres crudi,' which themselves too are named from this, that they are made broad (lati) in wooden molds. Of these the 'crates' (hurdles) are so called, in which they are wont to carry mud in place of those unbaked bricks. For they are joinings of reeds, named 'apo tou kratein,' that is, because they hold one another. Some think that mud (lutum) is named by antiphrasis because it is not clean (mundum); for everything washed (lotum) is clean. Quicklime (calx viva) is so called because, while it is cold to the touch, it holds a hidden fire within; whence, when water is poured on, the latent fire at once bursts forth.

Its nature does something wonderful: for after it has burned, it is set aflame by waters, by which fire is wont to be extinguished; and it is extinguished by oil, by which fire is wont to be kindled. Its use in the structures of a building is necessary; for stone cannot adhere to stone more firmly unless it is joined with lime. Gypsum is akin to lime, and it is a Greek name. There are several kinds of it. But of all the best is that for the mirror-stone (lapis specularis). For it is most pleasing for the figures and cornices of buildings. Sand (arena) is named from dryness (ariditas), not from adhering (adhaerendo) in buildings, as some hold. The proof of it is if, pressed by the hand, it creaks, or if, scattered on white clothing, it leaves no dirt behind. Columns (columnae) are named for their length and roundness, upon which the weight of the whole building is raised up.

The ancient rule was that the height of columns should be a third part of their width. There are four kinds of round columns: Doric, Ionic, Tuscan, Corinthian, differing among themselves in the measure of thickness and height. There is a fifth kind of those which are called Attic, with four angles or more, with equal intervals between the sides. Bases (bases) are the supports of columns, which rise from the foundation and hold up the weight of the structure set upon them. And 'basis' is the name of the strongest rock in the Syrian tongue. Capitals (capitolia) are so called because they are the heads (capita) of columns, as it were the head above the neck. Architraves (epistolia) are those which are placed above the capitals of columns: and it is a Greek word. Pavements (pavimenta) have the origin of the work from the Greeks;

and they are called 'pavimenta' because they are rammed (paviantur), that is, beaten down (caedantur). Whence also 'pavor' (fear), because it strikes the heart. The 'ostracus' is an earthenware pavement, because it is beaten with broken potsherds (testae) mixed with lime; for the Greeks call a potsherd 'ostra.' Rubble (rudus) the craftsmen call crushed stones mixed with lime, which they pour over the surface in making pavements; whence too they are called 'rudera.' A channel (canalis) is so called because it is hollow in the manner of a reed (canna). Indeed we do better to bring forth 'canalis' in the feminine gender than in the masculine. Water-pipes (fistulae) are so named because they pour out (fundant) and send (mittant) waters. For 'stolē' in Greek means to send. Their forms are made according to the size and capacity of the water, through which the waters are divided by fixed measures (moduli).

Of these there is the 'uncia' and the 'quinaria,' the square digit, the round digit, and the several other measures. XI. ON BEAUTY. Thus far the parts of construction: there follows the matter of the beauty of buildings. Beauty (venustas) is whatever is added to buildings for the sake of ornament and adornment, such as the coffered ceilings of the roofs distinguished with gold, and the veneers of precious marble, and the pictures of colors. XII. ON COFFERED CEILINGS. Coffered ceilings (laquearia) are those which underlie and adorn the vault, which are also called 'lacunaria' because they have certain square or round hollows (lacus) of wood or gypsum or colors, painted with figures gleaming among them. But principally it is called 'lacus,' as Lucilius (1290): 'The buildings and the pools (lacus) resound.' Its diminutive makes 'lacunar,' as Horace (C 2,18):

'Nor does a golden coffered ceiling (lacunar) gleam in my house.' From this is made another diminutive, 'lacunarium'; and by metathesis (antistichon) it makes 'laquearium.' XIII. ON VENEERS. Veneers (crustae) are slabs of marble; whence too marbled walls are called 'crustati' (veneered). But who devised the cutting of marbles into veneers is not certain. They are made with sand and iron and a saw, the saw pressing the sands along a very thin line and cutting by the very drawing of it; but coarser sand erodes more of the marble, for fine sand is suited to fine works and polishings. XIV. ON MOSAIC PAVEMENTS. Mosaic pavements (lithostrota) are things elaborated by the art of painting, with tiny veneers and little cubes dyed in various colors. And the 'tesselli' are named from 'tesserae,' that is, from square little stones, by diminution. XV. ON MODELING.

Modeling (plastice) is to express figures and images of walls from gypsum and to paint them with colors. And 'plastice' is a Greek term, which in Latin means to fashion (fingere) likenesses in earth or gypsum. For to make some form of impressed clay is 'plastis.' Whence too man is called the 'first-formed' (protoplastus), who was first fashioned from mud. XVI. ON PAINTING. Painting (pictura) is an image expressing the appearance of some thing, which, when it has been seen, leads the mind back to recollection. And painting is called as it were 'fictura' (a feigning); for it is a feigned (ficta) image, not the truth. Hence too 'fucata' (painted over), that is, smeared with a certain feigned color, having nothing of faith and truth.

Whence too there are certain paintings which exceed the bodies of truth in their zeal for color and, while they strive to enhance, carry it over into falsehood; as those who paint the three-headed Chimaera, or Scylla, a human being above but girded below with dogs' heads. The Egyptians first devised painting, from the shadow of a man traced round with lines. And so at the beginning it was such, then the second stage with single colors, afterward with diverse ones; and so little by little the art itself became refined, and discovered light and shadows and the differences of colors. Whence too now painters first draw certain shadows and lines of the future image, then fill them in with colors, keeping the order of the art as it was discovered. XVII. ON COLORS.

Colors (colores) are so called either because they are perfected by the heat (calor) of fire or of the sun, or because at the beginning they were strained (colabantur) so that they might be of the highest fineness. Colors either are born or are made. They are born, such as Sinopis, ruddle, Paraetonium, Melinum, Eretria, orpiment. The rest are fashioned either by art or by mixture. Sinopis was first found in Pontus: thence it took its name from the city Sinope. Its kinds are three: red, and less red, and a middle one between these. Ruddle (rubrica) is so called because it is red (rubra) and next to the color of blood. This is produced in very many places, but the best in Pontus; whence too it is called Pontic. Syricum is a pigment of red color, from which too the headings of books are written.

The same is also 'Phoeniceum,' so called because it is gathered in Syria on the shores of the Red Sea, where the Phoenicians dwell. But 'sericum' is one thing and 'Syricum' another. For 'sericum' is the wool which the Seres send; but 'Syricum' is a pigment which the Syrian Phoenicians gather on the shores of the Red Sea. It is also among the artificial ones; for it is often made mixed with Sinopis or with sandyx. Minium (vermilion) the Greeks are said first to have found in the soil of the Ephesians. Of this pigment Spain abounds more than the other regions; whence too it gave its name to a river of its own (the Minius). Its distillation produces liquid silver (quicksilver). Some say that this minium is cinnabar. Cinnabar (cinnabaris) is named from the dragon (draco) and the 'barrus,' that is, the elephant.

For they say that it is the blood of dragons while they entwine elephants. For the beasts fall and the dragons are crushed, whose spilled gore stains the earth, and whatever it dyes the ground becomes pigment. And it is a powder of red color. Prasin, that is, green chalk, though it is produced indiscriminately in some lands, yet the best is in Libyan Cyrenaica. Chrysocolla is leek-green (prasine) in color, so called because its vein is said to contain gold. This is born also in Armenia, but the approved kind comes from Macedonia. For it is dug from the mines of copper, whose finding betrays silver and Indian pigment. For its veins have a natural fellowship with these. The Cyprian kind is from the island Cyprus, where very much is found.

Sandarach is born on an island of the Red Sea called Topazos, of cinnabar color and sulphurous odor. It is found in gold and silver mines, the better the more ruddy and the more it smells of poison (virus); although white-lead (cerussa) too, if it is roasted in a furnace, makes sandarach, whence too the color is flame-like. But if it is roasted with an equal part of ruddle mixed in, it yields sandyx. Arsenic (arsenicum), which the Latins call orpiment (auripigmentum) on account of the color of gold, is gathered in Pontus from the gold-bearing material, where also sandarach is. The best is that which passes into a golden color, pure and easily split, with a slender running of veins; but that which is paler or similar to sandarach is judged worse: there is also a third kind, scaly, with which a golden color is mingled.

Their power is like that of sandarach, but sharper. Ochre (ochra) too is itself born on an island of the Red Sea, Topazos, where sandarach also is. Ochre is also made from ruddle burnt in new pots smeared round with clay, which the more it burns in the kiln, the better it becomes. Venetum (blue). Azure (caeruleum) Alexandria first discovered how to temper. In Italy they make the same from the dust of sand and the flower of nitre. But you will add Cyprian, burnt in a furnace, to this mixture; there will be a likeness of the Vestorian kind. Purpurissum is from silver-chalk. It is dyed together with the purples and drinks in that color into wools more quickly. Yet the chief is another kind, which, while still in the vessel, is steeped in the crude drugs: next is that which, when it has been drawn off and chalk added into the same broth, is diminished in goodness however often this is done.

The cause of the most precious purple is that it is dyed especially with hysginum and with madder (rubea). Indigo (indicum) is found in Indian reeds, a foam adhering to the slime: and it is of a cyan color, rendering a wonderful mixture of purple and azure. There is another kind in the workshops of the purple-dyers, a foam floating on the bronze cauldrons, which the dyers, drawing it off, dry. Black ink (atramentum) is so called because it is black (atrum), a kind whose species is necessary both for painting and for daily use; this is among the artificial ones. For it is made from soot in several ways, resin being added over burning pine-torches, built up in a little basin which retains the smoke. To this painters mix glue with water so that it may shine forth the more brilliantly.

For haste in the work, coals of old vine-shoots ground with glue, when applied to walls, render the appearance of black ink. There are also those who boil down the dried lees of wine, and affirm that, if the lees be from good wine, this ink gives the appearance of Indian pigment (indigo). But also the shoot of a black grape, dipped in the best wine, after they have dried through dryness, if you burn and grind them with glue added, will render the sheen of indigo. Usta (burnt sienna), which is very necessary, comes forth with no trouble. For if you also roast a lump of good flint in fire, and, having overspread it with the sharpest vinegar, extinguish it, a moistened sponge will render a purple color. When you have ground it, it will be 'usta.' But all black ink is perfected by the sun:

all colors are corrupted by the admixture of lime. Melinum is so called because one of the Cyclades, an island named Melos, is productive of that mineral. For it is white, nor do painters use it, on account of its excessive greasiness. What they call 'anulare' is white, with which the highlights of feminine pictures are illuminated. This too is made from chalk with glassy gems mixed in. White-lead (cerussa) is made in this way: in a vessel filled with the sharpest vinegar you will place Aminean vine-shoots in the same little vessel, and over the shoots you will put the thinnest sheets of lead; then you close the vessel most carefully and smear it over, lest any breath of air escape. After thirty days the vessel is opened, and from the distillation of the sheets the white-lead that has grown upon them is found.

That which has been taken off and dried is ground, and again, with vinegar mixed in, it is divided into little tablets and dried in the sun. By this procedure, if you set bronze plates over vine-twigs, they produce verdigris. Chalcanthum (blue vitriol). XVIII. ON THE INSTRUMENTS OF BUILDINGS. The construction of walls ought to be made to the square and to answer to the plumb-line. The 'norma' (square) is so named by a Greek word, and outside of it nothing can be made straight. It is composed of three rules, such that two are of two feet each, while the third has two feet and ten inches; these, polished to an equal thickness, it joins to one another at their outer tips so that they form the figure of a triangle. This is the square. The 'regula' (rule) is so called because it is straight, as if a 'rectula' (little straight thing), and has no obstruction.

The plumb-line ('perpendiculum') is that which is always hung down. In short, in a building, unless everything is made to the plumb-line and to a sure rule, of necessity all things will be built faultily: so that some parts are crooked, some leaning, several sloping forward, others sloping back; and on this account the whole structure is put together. The 'linea' (line, cord) is named from its own kind, because it is made from flax ('linum'). The 'trulla' (trowel) got its name from the fact that it thrusts and thrusts away, that is, it encloses stones with lime or mud. The 'martellus' (hammer). The 'machina' (machine, crane). 'Scalae' (ladders, stairs) are named from 'scandere', that is, from climbing up; for they cling to walls. And they are called 'scalae', whether there be one or several, because the word is only of the plural number, like 'litterae' which signifies a letter (epistle). XIX. ON WOODWORKERS. The 'lignarius' is generally called the craftsman of wood.

'Carpentarius' (cartwright) is a specific name, for he makes only the cart ('carpentum'), just as 'navicularius' (shipwright) is so called because he is the builder and craftsman only of ships. The 'sarcitector' (joiner, framer) is so named because from many boards joined together this way and that he patches ('sarciat') one body of a roof. He is also the 'tignarius', because he covers the roof-work with timbers. 'Lignum' (wood) is named by a Greek etymology, because when kindled it is turned into light and into flame. Whence too it is called 'lychnium', because it gives light. From this, 'materia' (timber, material) is the name of all wood from which something is made; or if you refer it to a door or to a statue, it will be 'material'. For material is always to be taken in relation to something else, just as we say that the elements are the material of things, because we see that from them the things that exist are made; and 'materia' is so called as it were 'mater' (mother).

'Trabes' (beams) are so named because, placed crosswise, they hold together both walls. But 'tigna' are one thing, 'trabes' another. For 'tigna' joined together make a beam. And they are 'trabes' when they have been hewn. The 'tholus' (roof-boss) properly is like a small shield, which is in the middle of the roof, where the beams come together. 'Coplae' (couplings, ties) are so named because they couple together things that strive against one another. 'Struggling' ('luctantes'), because, set upright, they mutually hold one another in the manner of wrestlers. 'Agrantes'. 'Asseres' (rafters, laths) are named from 'as' (a unit), because they are set singly and not joined. 'Scindulae' (shingles), because they are split ('scindantur'), that is, divided. 'Epigri' and 'clavi' are nails, by which wood is fastened to wood. And they are called 'clavi' (nails), as if 'calibi', because they are made of steel ('calibs'), that is, of iron; for 'chalybs' is iron. Boards ('tabulae') were by the ancients called 'tagulae', namely from covering ('tegere');

whence too 'tegulae' (tiles). 'Commissura' (a joint) is the name for the joining of boards. 'Sectio' (cutting) is named from following ('sequendo') that which it has begun; for 'secare' (to cut), 'sectare', and 'sequi' (to follow) are the same. The 'serra' (saw) takes its name from its sound, that is, from its grating noise. The use of the saw and the compass was invented by a certain youth named Perdix, whom, as a boy, Daedalus, his mother's brother, had received to be thoroughly taught in the arts. So great was the ability of this boy that, when he was seeking a short way of dividing timber, imitating the spine of a fish, he sharpened a strip of iron and armed it with the biting of teeth, which craftsmen call a saw.

On account of the invention of this craft, his master Daedalus, moved by the venom of envy, cast the boy headlong from the citadel; then, going into exile, he departed to Crete and stayed there for some time, as the fables relate. From Crete he flew on wings and came into Cilicia. The 'circinus' (compass) is so called because by turning it makes a circle. Its form is made by a doubled line, which had been single when extended along its breadth. And the point in the middle of the compass is called by the Greeks the 'center'; toward its middle all things converge. The 'securis' (axe) is so named because with it trees are cut down ('succidantur'), as if 'succuris'. Again, 'securis' as if 'semicuris' (half-axe); for it is sharp on one side, and made for digging on the other. This among the ancients was called 'penna'; but having an edge on both sides, it is the 'bipennis' (double axe).

For it is called 'bipennis' because on each side it has a sharp edge, as if two wings ('pinnae'). The ancients called anything sharp 'pennum'; whence too the wings ('pinnae') of birds, because they are sharp. And behold a word that has preserved antiquity; for the ancients said 'pennae', not 'pinnae'. This is also the 'dolabra' (mattock), because it has two lips ('labra'); for the 'securis' is single. The 'dextralis' (hatchet) is suited to the right hand ('dextera'). The 'ascia' (adze) is named from the chips ('astulae') which it removes from the wood; its diminutive is 'asciola'. It has a short handle, and on the opposite side it presents either a plain hammer, or a hollowed one, or a two-horned mattock. The 'scalprus' (chisel) is so named because it is fit for carvings ('scalpturae') and borings, as if 'scalforus'. Its diminutive is 'scalpellus' (scalpel).

The 'terebra' (auger, borer) is named from the wood-worm, which is called 'terebra', and which the Greeks call 'teredon'. Hence the auger is called 'terebra' because, like the worm, it bores by rubbing ('terendo'), as if 'terefora'; or as if 'transforans' (boring through). The 'taratrum' (drill), as if 'teratrum'. The 'scobina' (rasp) is so named because by catching it makes filings ('scobs'). The 'cantherius'. The 'guvia' (gouge). XX. ON THE INVENTION OF WOOL-WORKING. The Gentiles extol a certain Minerva for her many talents. For they hold that she first showed the use of wool-working, and that she also set up the loom and dyed wool. They say too that she was the inventress of the olive and of the smith's craft, and the discoverer of many arts; and therefore craftsmen commonly make supplication to her. But this is a poetic invention;

for Minerva is not the originator of those arts, but because wisdom is said to reside in the head of a human being, and Minerva is feigned to have been born from the head of Jupiter, that is, native intelligence; and therefore the understanding of the wise, which discovers all things, is in the head. For this reason too Minerva is called the goddess of the arts, because nothing is more excellent than intelligence, by which all things are governed. XXI. ON THE PRIESTLY VESTMENT IN THE LAW. There are in the Law eight kinds of priestly garments. The 'poderis' is the priestly linen robe, close-fitting to the body and descending as far as the feet; whence too it is named; which the common people call the 'camisia' (shirt, alb). The 'abanet' (girdle) is the priestly girdle, round, woven with damask-work from scarlet, purple, and hyacinth, in such a way that flowers and gems seemed to be set distinct within it.

The 'pilleum' (cap) is of fine linen, round like a half-sphere, covering the priestly head and bound at the back of the head with a fillet. This the Greeks and our own people call the 'tiara' or 'galerus'. The 'mahil', which is the ankle-length tunic, wholly of hyacinth, having at its feet seventy-two little bells, and as many pomegranates set between them and hanging down. The 'ephod', which in Latin is rendered 'over-garment'; for it was a mantle worn over the shoulders, woven of four colors and gold, having on each shoulder two emerald stones enclosed in gold, on which were engraved the names of the patriarchs.

The 'logium', which in Latin is called the 'rationale' (breastplate of judgment), a doubled cloth, of gold and four woven colors, having the size of a palm foursquare, into which were interwoven twelve most precious stones. This cloth was fastened to the shoulder-garment over against the breast of the high priest. The 'petalum' is a golden plate on the forehead of the high priest, which had inscribed the name of God, the Tetragrammaton, in Hebrew letters. The 'batin' or breeches, that is, linen drawers reaching down to the knees, by which the private parts of the priest were veiled. XXII. ON THE VARIETY AND NAMES OF GARMENTS. The variety of garments: 'tegmen' (covering), 'tegumen', 'indumentum' (clothing), 'vestimentum' (garment), and the rest. 'Tegmen' is so named because it covers ('tegat') the limbs; just as 'tegumen' covers roofs ('tecta'), which cover bodies.

But the 'vestimentum' (garment) is that which extends as far as the sole ('vestigium') of the foot, as if 'vestigimentum', such as the ankle-length tunic. But the usage of authors' speech confounds even this. The 'indumentum' is what is put on inside, close to the body, as if 'intumentum'. The 'amictus' (cloak). And clothing ('vestitus') is distinguished from 'cultus' (adornment, style), since 'cultus' is understood more broadly. Likewise 'cultus' differs from 'habitus' (attire, condition); for 'habitus' pertains to nature, 'cultus' to human beings. But most garments are named either from the season in which they are chiefly in use, or from the places where they were either first made or chiefly sold, or from a kind of color, or from the name of their inventors. The most ancient garment of humankind was the 'perizomatum' (loincloth), that is, an undergirding, by which only the genitals are covered.

This the first mortals first made for themselves from the leaves of trees, since after the transgression, blushing, they veiled their shameful parts. The use of it certain barbarous peoples, though they be naked, keep even to this day. These are also called 'campestria', because with them the young men who exercise naked in the field ('campus') cover their private parts. The tunic ('tonica') is called the most ancient garment because in the movement of one walking it makes a sound; for 'tonus' is sound. But the first were the skin tunics with which Adam and Eve, after the offense and their expulsion from Paradise, were clothed. The ankle-length tunic ('talaris') is so called because it descends as far as the ankles ('tali') and flows down to the feet; just as the 'pectoralis', because among the ancients it was short so as to cover only the breast ('pectus'), although now it is more ample.

The 'manicleata' tunic, that is, the sleeved one ('manicata'), so called because it has sleeves ('manicae'): which the Greeks call 'cheiroduten'. The 'dalmatica' garment was first woven in Dalmatia, a province of Greece, a priestly tunic, white, with stripes of purple. The 'russata' (red one), which the Greeks call 'phoenicea' and we 'coccina' (scarlet), was devised by the Lacedaemonians to hide, by the likeness of its color, the blood whenever anyone was wounded in battle-line, lest the enemy's spirit be heightened at the sight. This the Roman soldiers used under the consuls; whence they were also called 'russati'. It was also customary, on the day before a battle was to be fought, to set it out before the headquarters, as a warning and token of the coming fight. The 'laculata' is that which has certain square lakes ('lacus') woven in with a picture, or added with a needle.

The 'hyacinthina' (hyacinth-colored) garment shines with a sky-blue color. The 'molochinia', which is made from the thread of mallows ('malvae'); which some call 'molocina', others 'malvella'. The 'bombycina' from the silkworm ('bombyx'), a little worm that generates very long threads from itself, whose weaving is called 'bombycinum'; and it is made on the island of Cos. The 'apocalama'. The 'serica' (silk) is named from 'sericum' (silk), or because the Seres (Chinese) first sent it. The 'holoserica' is all silk; for 'holon' means whole. The 'tramoserica' has a linen warp and a weft of silk. The 'holoporphyra' is all of purple; for 'holon' means whole. The 'byssina' is white, made from a certain kind of coarser flax. There are those who also think that 'byssus' is a certain kind of flax. The 'fibrina' (having a weft of beaver's fur). The 'caprina' (of goat's hair). The 'masticina' and 'mena'. The 'linea', because it is made of flax ('linum') alone.

The 'linostema' is a garment woven from wool and flax: and it is called 'linostema' because it has flax ('linum') in the warp ('stamen') and wool in the weft. That garment is called 'recta' (upright) which they weave standing and working upward. The 'segmentata' is adorned with certain bands and, as it were, with cut pieces; for they call little parts cut off from any material 'praesegmina'. The 'levidensis' is that which is of thin thread and lightly ('leviter') woven. The 'pavitensis' is called the opposite of the 'levidensis', because it is heavily pressed and beaten down. The 'citrosa' is, as it were, wavy in the likeness of citron-wood. Naevius (Punic War 10): 'the fair one, [in] both gold and a citron-wavy garment.' The 'velenensis' is a tunic that is brought from the islands. The 'exotica' is a foreign garment coming from abroad, as in Spain from the Greeks. The 'polymita' is many-colored;

for a 'polymitus' weave is of many colors. The 'acupicta' garment is woven with a needle ('acu') or adorned with a needle. This is also 'Phrygia' (Phrygian); for those skilled in this art are all called Phrygians, or because it was invented in Phrygia; whence too the craftsmen who make it are called 'Phrygiones'. Virgil (Aeneid 3.484): 'a Phrygian chlamys.' The 'trilicis' (triple-thread) is from three threads ('licia'), because there is also the single and the double-thread. The 'ralla', which the common people call 'rasilis' (thin, worn smooth). That garment is called 'interpola' which, being old, is restored to a new appearance. The 'pannucia' is so named because it is sewn together from various patches ('panni'). The 'colobium' is so called because it is long and without sleeves, for the ancients used this more. The 'levitonarium' is a linen colobium without sleeves, such as the Egyptian monks use.

The 'lumbare' is so called because it is bound to the loins ('lumbi'), or because it clings to the loins. This in Egypt and Syria not only women but also men use. Whence too Jeremiah carried his loincloth across the Euphrates, and there hid it in the cleft of a rock, and afterward found it torn. This by some is also called 'renale', because it is tied about the kidneys ('renes'). The 'limus' is a garment which is drawn out from the navel down to the feet. And this garment has at its lower edge a purple border ('lima'), that is, a flowing one; whence too it took its name, for we call anything slanting 'limum'. The 'licinum' is so named because its weave is bound together as a whole; as if one should say 'liginum', the letter C being changed for G. The 'armilausa' is commonly so called because it is divided and open both front and back, closed only over the shoulders ('armi');

as if 'armiclausa', the letter C being dropped. 'Camisiae' (shirts) are so called because in them we sleep in our 'cami', that is, in our beds ('strata'). 'Femoralia' (thigh-coverings) are so named because they cover the thighs ('femora'). These are also the 'bracae' (breeches), because they are short and the shameful parts of the body are veiled by them. 'Tubruci' are so called because they cover the shins ('tibiae') and breeches. The 'tibraci', because they reach from the breeches ('bracae') down to the shins ('tibiae'). XXIII. ON THE ATTIRE PROPER TO CERTAIN PEOPLES. Certain nations have each their own proper garment, as the Parthians the 'sarabarae', the Gauls the 'linnae', the Germans the 'renones', the Spaniards the 'stringes', the Sardinians the 'mastrucae'. The 'sarabarae' are loose and billowing garments, of which we read in Daniel (3.94): 'And their trousers were not changed.' And Publilius (19):

'Why then have the Parthians hung sarabarae on your belly?' Among some, however, 'sarabarae' are the name for certain head-coverings, such as we see painted on the heads of the Magi. The 'linnae' are square and soft cloaks. Of these Plautus (frag. 176): 'He is covered with a linna from the Gallic weaving-shop.' The 'renones' are coverings of the shoulders and breast down to the navel, and so bristling with twisted shaggy tufts that they repel rain. These the common people call 'reptos', because the length of the tufts, as it were, creeps ('reptat'). Of these Sallust (Histories 3.104): 'The Germans cover their body, uncovered, with renones.' They are called 'renones' from the Rhine ('Renus'), a river of Germany, where they frequently use them. The 'mastruca' is a Germanic garment made from the little skins of wild beasts. Of it Cicero, in his defense of Scaurus (45):

'The man whom the royal purple did not move, did the mastruca of the Sardinians change him?' The 'mastruca' is, as it were, 'monstruosa' (monstrous), because those who put it on are, as it were, transformed into the appearance of wild beasts. Peoples are also distinguished, thus discordant in attire as in tongue. The Persians cover their arms and legs with garments, their head with the tiara; the Alans stand out with their pointed peaks; the Scots bristle, ill-covered, with their barking tongues; the Alemanni are cloaked in sagum, the Indians in linen, the Persians studded with gems, the Seres clad in silk, the Armenians armed with quivers. Several peoples too claim for themselves certain marks proper to them, not only in their garments but also on their bodies: as we see the locks of the Germans, the braids and red dye ('cinnabar') of the Goths, the tattoos ('stigmata') of the Britons.

The Jews also circumcise their foreskins, the Arabs pierce their ears, the Getae go blond with uncovered heads, the Albanians gleam with whitening hair. Foul night holds the bodies of the Moors, a fair skin the Gauls; without horses the Alans stand idle; nor is the nation of the Picts absent, whose name is from the body, because a craftsman, with tiny prickings of a needle and the pressed-out juice of native grass, plays upon it, so that they carry these scars to their own mark, a mottled nobility with painted limbs. The sex too has its established fashion of dress; as in men the hair is cut, in women the abundance of tresses, which is especially a distinction of virgins; whose very adornment is properly such that, heaped up upon the crown, it covers with the compass of the tresses the very summit of the head. XXIV. ON THE MANTLES OF MEN.

The 'pallium' (mantle) is that with which the shoulders of those who serve are covered, so that, while they serve, they may move about unencumbered. Plautus (frag. 177): 'If you are going to do anything, hang your mantle on your shoulders, and let the swiftness of your feet proceed as much as it is able.' It is called 'pallium' from skins ('pelles'), because formerly the ancients used it over their skin garments, as if 'pellea'; or from 'palla' by derivation. The 'chlamys' is that which is put on from one side, and is not sewn, but fastened with a brooch. Hence too it received its name in Greek. The 'toga' is so called because with its covering it clothes and covers the body ('corpus tegat').

It is a plain mantle, of round and rather flowing form, and with a fold as if overflowing, and coming under the right side it is placed over the left shoulder, the likeness of which we behold in the coverings of statues or pictures; and these statues we call 'togate'. The Romans used the toga in peace, but in time of war the 'paludamenta' (military cloaks). The proper measure of a toga is if it has six ells. The 'toga palmata' (palm-toga) was so called which those merited who brought back palms from the enemy: this was also called the 'toga picta' (embroidered toga), because it had victories woven in with palms. The 'toga candida' (white toga), the same being also whitened with chalk, in which the candidates, that is, those seeking a magistracy, went canvassing, chalk being added so that it might be whiter and more conspicuous.

Cicero, in the oration which he delivered against his competitors, 'On the White Toga', wrote of it. The 'cinctus Gabinus' (Gabine cincture) is when the toga is so put on that the lappet of the toga, which is thrown back behind, is drawn to the breast, in such a way that on each side the drapery hangs from the shoulders, as the priests of the Gentiles did, or as the praetors were girded. The 'trabea' was a kind of toga of purple and scarlet, clothed in which the kings of the Romans went forth in the beginning. Romulus is reported to have first devised this for the distinction of the royal attire. And the 'trabea' is so called because it made a man more blessed ('transbearet') in greater glory, that is, because it made him blessed beyond and thereafter with the ampler dignity of honor. The 'paludamentum' was a distinguished mantle of commanders, marked out with scarlet, purple, and gold.

Of it Sallust (Histories 1.87) says: 'He exchanged the toga for the paludamentum.' It was a war-mantle, so called, as it seems to some, because, clothed in it, the commander made openly ('palam') known that a war was coming. The 'circumtextum' is that which in Greek is called 'kyklas'. Of it Virgil (Aeneid 1.649): 'And a veil bordered round with saffron acanthus.' It is called 'circumtextum' (woven around) because it is a round mantle. The 'diplois' is a Greek name, from the fact that it is a double cloak. Horace (Epistles 1.17.25): 'Against whom endurance veils itself with a double cloth.' It is a military garment, whose use first began on the Gallic campaigns from the enemy's spoil. Of it is that saying to the senate: 'The togas having been laid aside, the Quirites turned to the sagum.' 'Sagum' is a Gallic name:

and 'sagum' is called square because among them it was originally square or fourfold. The 'paenula' is a mantle with long fringes. The 'lacerna' is a fringed mantle which formerly only soldiers used; whence too, in distinguishing the military and the civilian crowd, they called the latter 'togati', the former 'lacernati'. And 'lacernae' are so called as if the heads of the fringes had been cut off, and not so loose as those of the 'paenulae' are. The Spaniards call 'mantum' that which covers only the hands ('manus'); for it is a short cloak. The 'praetexta' is a boy's mantle which noble boys used up to sixteen years of age under the discipline of training; whence too they were called 'praetextati' boys. And it is called 'praetexta' because a broader purple was bordered ('praetexebatur') on it.

The 'casula' (little hut, chasuble) is a hooded garment, so called by diminution from 'casa' (hut), because it covers the whole person like a smaller hut. Hence too 'cuculla' (hood, cowl), as if a smaller cell ('cella'). So too in Greek 'planeta', so called because with straying edges they wander about ('evagantur'). Whence too the planet-stars ('stellae planetae'), that is, the wandering ones, because they run about with the wandering wandering and motion of their own. The 'birrus' draws its name from a Greek word, for they call the 'birrus' 'birrum'. The 'melotes', which is also called 'pera', is a goat-skin hanging from the neck, girded down to the loins: it is a garb properly necessary for the exercise of labor. It was made formerly, as some think, from the little skins of badgers ('meles'); whence too they were called 'melotes'. The fringes ('fimbriae') are so called, the borders of garments, that is, the edges ('fines'), and they draw their name from Greek;

for the Greeks call a boundary 'horon'. XXV. ON THE MANTLES OF WOMEN. The 'regillum' is a queenly cloak worn in preference above others; whence too it is named. The 'peplum' is a matronly mantle marked with purple, whose fringes gleam at their top with a golden warp-thread. The 'palla' is a square mantle of women's dress, drawn down as far as the feet, which has gems fixed on it in order. And 'palla' is named 'apo tou pallein', that is, from the mobility which is about the hem of such a garment; or because, wavy with quivering folds, it curls into ripples. The 'stola' is a matronly covering, which, the head being covered, is passed from the right side over the shoulder to the left shoulder: and the 'stola' is called in Greek because it is thrown over ('superemittatur').

The same is also called by the Latin name 'ricinium' because half of it is thrown back behind; which the common people call 'mavors'. And it is called 'mavors' as if 'Mars'; for in it is a sign of marital dignity and power. For the head of the woman is the man; hence too it is upon the head of the woman. The 'amiculum' is the linen mantle of harlots. This among the ancients matrons caught in adultery were made to put on, so that in such a mantle rather than in a 'stola' they might defile their chastity. For among the ancients this was the mark of the harlot's dress, now in Spain of respectability. The 'theristrum' is a small mantle with which even to this day the women of Arabia and Mesopotamia veil themselves, in which they are covered in the heat by a most safe shade. Of it in Isaiah (3.23).

The 'anaboladium' is a linen wrap of women by which the shoulders are covered, which the Greeks or the Latins call 'sindon'. XXVI. ON BEDDING AND THE REMAINING CLOTHS THAT ARE IN USE. The 'stragulum' is a garment of varied color which is patterned by the hand of the craftsman with diverse variety: and it is so called because it is fit both for bedding ('stratus') and for wrapping ('amictus'). Of it Solomon (Proverbs 31.22): 'She made herself a coverlet garment.' Some think 'ludices' are named from the games ('ludi'), that is, from the theaters: for when the young men came out from the brothel of the games, they covered their head and face with the veil of these; because he who has entered a brothel is wont to blush. The 'galnapes'. The 'fulcra' are the ornaments of couches, so called because on them we are supported ('fulcimur'), that is, held up, or because they prop up ('fulciant') the cushions or the head;

which the common people call 'reclinatoria' (head-rests). The 'cervicalia' (pillows) are so named because they are placed under the neck ('cervix') or the elbow. The 'pulvillus' (small cushion) is named from 'pulvinar', which is the couch of the rich. The 'culcitae' (mattresses) are so called because they are trodden down ('calcentur'), that is, stuffed with feathers or padding, so that they may be softer and warmer. The 'tapeta' (carpets) are so called because they were first spread beneath the feet ('pedes'), as if 'tapedia'. The 'sipla' is a carpet shaggy on one part, as if 'simpla' (single). The 'amphitapa' is a carpet shaggy on both sides. Lucilius (13): 'Siplae and amphitapae soft with huge tufts.' The 'mantelia' (napkins) are now for covering tables; which, as the very name indicates, were formerly furnished for wiping the hands ('manus'). The 'mappae' (napkins) are of banquets and of the food set out, as if 'manupae', and named on that account; whose diminutive is 'mapella'.

The 'toralia' are long and continuous cloths, named from the couch ('torus'). The 'sabanum' (towel) is Greek. The 'facietergium' and 'manitergium' are named from wiping ('tergere') the face ('facies') or hands ('manus'). 'Vela' (curtains) are so called because by their interposition they veil ('velent') the interiors of houses. 'Aulaea' are painted and large curtains; which are so called 'aulaea' because they were first invented in the hall ('aula') of Attalus, king of Asia, whom the Roman people succeeded. 'Cortinae' are hangings, that is, curtains, of skins, such as are read of in Exodus, by which the tabernacle was covered on the outside. And they are called 'cortinae' from hides ('corea'), because they had first been made from skins. Whence too in the same tabernacle of the Law it is commanded that curtains be made from the reddened skins of rams and from hyacinth-colored skins.

The Arabs call 'cilicia' the coverings woven from the hairs of goats, from which they make tents for themselves. XXVII. ON WOOLS. Wool ('lana') is named from tearing ('laniare'), that is, from plucking: hence too 'vellus' (fleece) is so called, because formerly wools were plucked ('vellerentur'), not shorn. Flax ('linum') springs from the earth, and its name is bent from the Greek; for the Greeks call flax 'linarion'; or because it is soft and smooth. 'Stuppa' (tow) indeed is of hemp or of flax. This is called 'stuppa' according to the ancient orthography, because with it the chinks of ships are caulked ('stipentur'). Whence too they are called 'stipatores' who arrange it in the hulls. 'Tomentum' (padding) is so named because it swells ('tumeat') either in the thread or in the cloth, and has no fineness. 'Cannabum' (hemp) is named from the likeness of a reed ('canna'), or from a Greek etymology;

for they call hemp 'kannabin'. 'Byssum' is a certain kind of flax, exceedingly white and very soft, which the Greeks call 'papaten'. 'Fibrinum' is the wool of the animals which they call beavers ('fibri'). They think these are also the 'castores' (beavers), which, when hunters pursue them, themselves remove their own testicles. The 'aranea' (spider's silk) is so called because it is nourished on foliage by the infusion of the air ('aer'). 'Sericum' (silk) is so called because the Seres first sent it; for little worms are said to be born there, from which these threads are drawn about the trees; but the worms themselves are named in Greek 'bombykes'. 'Placium' is tow and, as it were, the coarse residue of silk, and it is a Greek name. XXVIII. ON THE COLORS OF GARMENTS. 'Tinctura' (dyeing) is so called because it is steeped ('tinguitur') and tinted into another appearance for the grace of luster.

What the Greeks call 'kokkon', we call red or 'vermiculus' (little worm); for it is a little worm from the woodland foliage. The 'conchylium' is so named because its color is gathered from little sea-shells ('conchulae'): the same is also called 'ostrum'. 'Ostrum', which is prepared for the color of purple, is produced in very many places, but the best on the island of Cyprus, or in those regions which the course of the sun illuminates more nearly. And the 'conchylia' are creatures of the sea, which, when cut around with iron, emit tears of a purple color: these being collected, the purple color is prepared. And they say that 'ostrum' is so named from this, because it is drawn out from the moisture of the shell ('testa'). 'Purpura' among the Latins is named from the purity ('puritas') of light. But among the Greeks it is called 'porphyra' with aspiration, among us 'purpura' without aspiration.

'Ferrugo' (iron-rust color) is a color of blackish purple which is made in Spain, as (Virgil, Aeneid 9.582): 'bright with Iberian rust-color.' And it is called 'ferrugo' because every purple, in its first dyeing, exists in a color of this kind. 'Glaucus' (gray-blue) is a rust-colored, blackish color. 'Elbidum' is named from the color 'elbum'; for 'elbum' is a color midway between black and white, and 'elbum' is derived from 'albus' (white). 'Luteus' is a reddish color, which is saffron ('croceus'). For saffron is of a 'luteus' color, as (Virgil, Eclogues 4.44): 'It changed the fleece with saffron yellow.' 'Menum' [which is of a black color; for the Greeks call black 'melan']. 'Masticinum' [which has the color of mastic]. 'Blatteum'. 'Blavum'. 'Mesticium'. 'Osticium', because it is from what is burnt ('ustum'); for it is made from the hanging soot of roofs cast out by continual fires:

whence too the color of that same dye is flame-like. XXIX. ON THE INSTRUMENTS OF GARMENTS. The 'tela' (web, warp) is named for the length of the warp-threads ('stamina'), whose derivative is 'telaria'. The 'insubuli' (beams of the loom), because they are below ('infra') and above ('supra'), or because things are wound on them ('insubulantur'). The 'radii' (shuttles) are so called because they are made by scraping ('radendo'). The 'pectines' (combs, reeds), because they render the threads combed ('pexa') and press them. The 'colum' (distaff), because it is in length and roundness like a column ('columna'). The 'fusum' (spindle), because through it is poured out ('fundatur') what is spun. The 'alibrum' (reel), because on it the threads are freed ('liberantur'), that is, unwound. The 'calathum' (basket) is a light vessel made of flax or cane or rush, in which either wool-work is placed or flowers are gathered; for 'kala' in Greek is wood, from which 'calathum' is derived. For in Latin it is called 'quasillum'. Cicero in the Philippics (3.10):