Note 391 — Chapter I · CONSTANTINOPLE IN THE SIXTH CENTURY[3] (continued 2)

The laws and restrictions relating to the use of purple and the collection of the murex, which was allowed only to certain families or guilds, are contained in Cod. Theod., X, xx, xxi; Cod., XI, viii, ix. Julius Caesar first assumed a full purple toga (Cicero, Philip, ii, 34, probably from); Nero first made a sweeping enactment against the use of the colour (Suetonius, in Nero, 32; cf. Julius, 43). Women, however, were generally permitted some latitude and not obliged to banish it altogether from their dress.