The snails were collected, crushed, salted over three days, and then boiled for ten days.

In the case of purple, this meant macerating millions of snails to release the colouring enzyme. To produce one purple toga, you needed about 1/2 ounce of dye, and therefore at least 250 000 snails. My sources seem to contradict each other on this one, but it was, perhaps, not until Diocletian in the third century that purple was legal for everyone to wear-as long as you could pay the hefty tax for the privilege.Īs I've mentioned in my posts about Saffron and Cochineal, colours in the olden days had to be created by mashing up the plants, minerals, and creatures around.

Jump further to the second and third century, and purple was now allowed to be worn freely by women, but men still had to be of the highest rank to wear the colour. Being the only Caesar around, that meant just him. Jump to Emperor Nero's reign, and wearing purple could cost you your life (unless you were the Emperor, obviously). Julius headed home to Rome and decreed that only Caesars were allowed to wear purple togas. Later, the Byzantine emperors copied this purple stonework, resulting in the phrase 'born in the purple' (referring to a royal child of a reigning emperor, and therefore someone of immense privilege).

Her barge was purple, boat sails were dyed purple, sofas were purple, and stones of purple porphyry rock lined her palace. Cleopatra was apparently a huge fan of purple when Julius Caesar was hanging around Egypt in 48 BC, he was enamoured by her and her luxurious lifestyle that included a lot of expensive purple things.

Download tyrian purple fabric