Note 1360 — Chapter VII · INDUSTRY: WEAVERS, GLOVERS, SOCK-MAKERS, CORDWAINERS, TANNERS, HATTERS, DYERS OF PURPLE, ETC., FISHERMEN.
Reading edition
Cf. Plat. Tim. t. vii. 95. De Rep. t. vi. p. 183, seq. Don J. P. Canáls y Martí, sob. la Purp. de los Antiguos. Gibbon, however, considered the ancient purple very inferior to our own: “By the discovery of cochineal, &c., we far surpass the colours of antiquity. Their royal purple had a strong smell, and a dark cast, as deep as bull’s blood—obscuritas rubens (says Cassiodorus, Var. i. 2,) nigredo sanguinea. The president, Goguet, will amuse and satisfy the reader.” Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vii. 90. Note. Goguet will, no doubt, amuse and instruct, but I very much question whether he will satisfy, the reader. When Goguet and Gibbon wrote, the subject was much less understood than it is at present.