Even more so than today, people relied on the visual cues of a person’s dress to convey their status and place in the social hierarchy.
As we discussed in my entry about the political language of the Prima Porta statue of Augustus, in a world where most of the population was largely illiterate, information was transmitted primarily through visual and symbolic markers. Over time, one of the best examples of this practice became sumptuary laws, that is, laws that restricted the clothing and consumption of the various strata of society. Nowadays, the questionable purchasing democratization of late-stage capitalism means that anyone can own virtually anything if they can pony up the money to buy it, but in the ancient world, social status as much as wealth often dictated what a person could buy or own.
Humans have always had a fascination for the rare and unusual, and our ancient ancestors were no different. “The most favourable season for taking these is after the rising of the Dog-Star, or else before spring for when they have once discharged their waxy secretion, their juices have no consistency: this, however, is a fact unknown in the dyers’ workshops, although it is a point of primary importance.” – Pliny the Elder, Natural History (Chapter 62)
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