——But what are all these to the breeches? said my father.
_Rubenius_ threw him down upon the counter all kinds of shoes which had
been in fashion with the _Romans._——
There was,
The open shoe.
The close shoe.
The slip shoe.
The wooden shoe.
The soc.
The buskin.
And The military shoe with hobnails in it, which _Juvenal_ takes notice
of.
There were, The clogs.
The pattins.
The pantoufles.
The brogues.
The sandals, with latchets to them.
There was, The felt shoe.
The linen shoe.
The laced shoe.
The braided shoe.
The calceus incisus.
And The calceus rostratus.
_Rubenius_ shewed my father how well they all fitted,—in what manner
they laced on,—with what points, straps, thongs, latchets, ribbands,
jaggs, and ends.——
——But I want to be informed about the breeches, said my father.
_Albertus Rubenius_ informed my father that the _Romans_ manufactured
stuffs of various fabrics,——some plain,—some striped,—others diapered
throughout the whole contexture of the wool, with silk and gold——That
linen did not begin to be in common use till towards the declension of
the empire, when the _Egyptians_ coming to settle amongst them, brought
it into vogue.
——That persons of quality and fortune distinguished themselves by the
fineness and whiteness of their clothes; which colour (next to purple,
which was appropriated to the great offices) they most affected, and
wore on their birth-days and public rejoicings.——That it appeared from
the best historians of those times, that they frequently sent their
clothes to the fuller, to be clean’d and whitened:——but that the
inferior people, to avoid that expence, generally wore brown clothes,
and of a something coarser texture,—till towards the beginning of
_Augustus_’s reign, when the slave dressed like his master, and almost
every distinction of habiliment was lost, but the _Latus Clavus._
And what was the _Latus Clavus?_ said my father.
_Rubenius_ told him, that the point was still litigating amongst the
learned:——That _Egnatius, Sigonius, Bossius Ticinensis, Bayfius Budæus,
Salmasius, Lipsius, Lazius, Isaac Casaubon_, and _Joseph Scaliger_, all
differed from each other,—and he from them: That some took it to be the
button,—some the coat itself,—others only the colour of it;—That the
great _Bayfuis_ in his Wardrobe of the Ancients, chap. 12—honestly
said, he knew not what it was,—whether a tibula,—a stud,—a button,—a
loop,—a buckle,—or clasps and keepers.——
——My father lost the horse, but not the saddle——They are _hooks and
eyes_, said my father——and with hooks and eyes he ordered my breeches
to be made.