![]() It became a status symbol because of its price which was due to the fact that it took 12,000 snails to produce just 1.4 grams of this dye.ĭavid Jacoby remarks that "twelve thousand snails of Murex brandaris yield no more than 1.4 g of pure dye, enough to colour only the trim of a single garment." - Wikipedia. Tyrian purple was reserved to emperors and royalty in later times not so much because it was difficult to import and thus expensive. The whole history of clothing in ancient times is more complex than we see at face value. I am certain that a much better answer is possible. They don't seem to be wearing any red or purple. The " Severan Tondo" has a portrait of emperor Septimius Severus, his wife Julia Domna, and son Caracalla. Eventually the imperial tunic became the tunica palmata, all red or purple with embroidered golden palm leaves. Even the most important Romans only wore togas as formal ear, and wore tunics most of the time. ![]() You should remember that during the Principate period the emperor was the real but unofficial absolute ruler of the Roman Republic and avoided rubbing his absolute power in the faces of the senators and aristocrats by having many different and separate powers, titles, offices, ranks, and honors granted him by the senators.Īs a senator, and the Princeps Senatus, or "First Senator" (Macrinus in 217 AD was the first man to become emperor without becoming a senator first) the emperor would wear a normal senatorial toga with a broad red or purple stripe. Of course anything colored with actual Tyrian Purple dye would have a known shade. The Roman color purple might have been any shade of red or purple, or range of shades, as far as I know, unless an expert in Roman colors wants to elaborate.
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