Why purple stuff is so expensive

[Viviana]

Some of you may be wondering why purple is so expensive. No it isn't because red dye and blue dye are expensive. I may be wrong, but I think the Phonecians pretty much based their economy on purple dye which was derived from conch shells, a recipe that was a guarded secret.

When mixing colors for things like paint and dye, you don't always use the base primary color. They tend not to mix a good color. Like instead of blue you might use tourquiose as amixing color, or magenta instead of primary red. Also, I don't think that mixing dye colors was how the ancient people came up with any of thier colors. I think red was derived from one source, blue another.

I could be wrong about all of this (I did a lot of strange drugs in my earlier young adulthood) and ancient history isn't really my forte. I seem to remember this from 6th grade social studies and from the semi historical novel "Skinny Legs and All" by Tom Robbins. Maybe someone who had more info on ancient textile processes could add more. I just thought it would be interesting to get some background info on a new going on in our Midlight.

Viv
P.S. Purple wasn't sold at all at the tailors as far as I can remeber, but yellow was. Now it is the opposite. You used to be able to get purple sacks from the woodcutters, but no purple clothing. There has to be a reason for this change.

[Lasseter]

Actually, I believe the real reason purple is so expensive has to do with the fact that it was the color of the nobility - Patricians, in this case.

Senators in Ancient Rome wore a thick stripe/border of purple on their togas to signify their status. Knights wore a similar stripe, though I understand it wasn't as thick.

This fascination with purple was pretty much the norm throughout the world of that time.

The reasons it was so valued and considered a Royal color may also be for the reasons as noted above - the dificulty associated with generating that specific color. Actually, that may be the reason it was chosen to represent what it did.

Just some extra info,

Lasseter

[Viviana]

Yeah it was considered a royal color and according to Robbins, symbolic of The Goddess in some ancient cultures.

Viv

[Annatar]

It happens to be both reasons ;). Purple became the symbol of the nobility because of it's cost. Once that happened it only furthered to increase the cost.

BTW, I am slightly against calling the members of the social ranking known as the Order of the Horse, knights. It doesn't quite fit.

[Atama]

Completely off-topic... But the word "phoenix" which we associate with both the firebird and the city in Arizona actually means "purple". The word was derived from the "Phoenecians" who developed the dye.

[Atama]

More info... (Not that anyone cares.)

Phoenix was the son of Agenor and brother of Cadmus and Europa in ancient mythology, and founded the Phoenecians, who were named after him.

Phoenix is the Greek word for "purple".

[Gaereth]

Atama,

Being the type of person who loves those little bits of trivia, Thank you.:D

[Marnevel]

The purple dye in Rome is 'Tyrian purple', which was derived from seashells that were only found off the coast of ancient Phoenicia (modern Lebanon). It was named after the main city which made it, Tyre, one of the two main cities of Phoenicia along with Sidon. The Phoenicians, however, viewed each city as a seperate entity. The "country" was never joined under one ruler, and its inhabitants thought of themselves as people of their city. The grouping of all of the cities together as Phoenicia didn't come until the Greeks invaded under Alexander.

Since the dye was so rare, it was prohibitively expensive and became a status symbol. The only person allowed to wear a toga that was completely purple was the Emperor. A toga with a purple border was, as was mentioned, a symbol of a senator.

[Ciciro]

I guess when Ciciro gets 'elected' governor of Monlon, he'll get a toga with a purple border.

The peoples Senator,

Ciciro