Silk and the decadence of Rome:
"I see silk garments (sericas vestes), if they even deserve the name of garments, which have nothing with which to conceal either body or shame. Once a woman has put them on she will only with diminished conscience swear that she is not naked. These garments are brought here at enormous expense from people who are unknown even to those in trade so that the ladies won’t expose themselves more to their adulterous lovers in their bedrooms than they do in public."
"I see silk garments (sericas vestes), if they even deserve the name of garments, which have nothing with which to conceal either body or shame. Once a woman has put them on she will only with diminished conscience swear that she is not naked. These garments are brought here at enormous expense from people who are unknown even to those in trade so that the ladies won’t expose themselves more to their adulterous lovers in their bedrooms than they do in public."
