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2026-08-29 20:42:06 UTC

npub1yy…2wj4y on Nostr: 🟣 PLINY THE ELDER ON CHINESE SILK supplied through the Parthians in the 1st ...

🟣 PLINY THE ELDER ON CHINESE SILK

supplied through the Parthians in the 1st century BC, the Romans thought silk was obtained from trees:

“The Seres (Chinese), are famous for the woolen substance obtained from their forests; after a soaking in water they comb off the white down of the leaves... So manifold is the labor employed, and so distant is the region of the globe drawn upon, to enable the Roman maiden to flaunt transparent clothing in public.”

-(Pliny the Elder (23- 79, The Natural History)