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Justinian I (Latin: Flavius Petrus Sabbatius Iustinianus Augustus, Greek: Φλάβιος Πέτρος Σαββάτιος Ἰουστινιανός, c. 482 – 14 November 565), commonly known as Justinian the Great, was Byzantine Emperor from 527 to 565. During his reign, Justinian sought to revive the Empire's greatness and reconquer the lost western half of the classical Roman Empire.<br/><br/> Tyrian purple (Greek, πορφύρα, porphyra, Latin: purpura), also known as royal purple, imperial purple or imperial dye, is a purple-red natural dye, which is a secretion produced by certain species of predatory sea snails in the family Muricidae, a type of rock snail by the name Murex. This dye was probably first used by the ancient Phoenicians. The dye was greatly prized in antiquity because the color did not easily fade, but instead became brighter with weathering and sunlight.<br/><br/> Tyrian purple was expensive: the 4th-century-BC historian Theopompus reported, 'Purple for dyes fetched its weight in silver at Colophon' in Asia Minor. The expense meant that purple-dyed textiles became status symbols, and early sumptuary laws restricted their uses. The production of Tyrian purple was tightly controlled in Byzantium and was subsidized by the imperial court, which restricted its use for the colouring of imperial silks, so that a child born to a reigning emperor was styled 'porphyrogenitos' or 'born in the purple'.
Tyrian purple (Greek, πορφύρα, porphyra, Latin: purpura), also known as royal purple, imperial purple or imperial dye, is a purple-red natural dye, which is a secretion produced by certain species of predatory sea snails in the family Muricidae, a type of rock snail by the name Murex. This dye was probably first used by the ancient Phoenicians. The dye was greatly prized in antiquity because the color did not easily fade, but instead became brighter with weathering and sunlight.<br/><br/> Tyrian purple was expensive: the 4th-century-BC historian Theopompus reported, 'Purple for dyes fetched its weight in silver at Colophon' in Asia Minor. The expense meant that purple-dyed textiles became status symbols, and early sumptuary laws restricted their uses. The production of Tyrian purple was tightly controlled in Byzantium and was subsidized by the imperial court, which restricted its use for the colouring of imperial silks, so that a child born to a reigning emperor was styled 'porphyrogenitos' or 'born in the purple'.
The Roman mythographer Julius Pollux, writing in the 2nd century BCE, asserts (Onomasticon I, 45–49) that Purple Tyrian dye was first discovered by Heracles, or rather, by his dog, whose mouth was stained purple from chewing on snails along the coast of the Levant.
Bolinus brandaris (originally called Murex brandaris by Linnaeus), and commonly known as the purple dye murex or the spiny dye-murex, is a species of medium-sized predatory sea snail, an edible marine gastropod mollusk in the family Muricidae, the murex snails or the rock snails.<br/><br/> Tyrian purple (Greek, πορφύρα, porphyra, Latin: purpura), also known as royal purple, imperial purple or imperial dye, is a purple-red natural dye, which is a secretion produced by certain species of predatory sea snails in the family Muricidae, a type of rock snail by the name Murex. This dye was probably first used by the ancient Phoenicians. The dye was greatly prized in antiquity because the color did not easily fade, but instead became brighter with weathering and sunlight.<br/><br/> Tyrian purple was expensive: the 4th-century-BC historian Theopompus reported, 'Purple for dyes fetched its weight in silver at Colophon' in Asia Minor. The expense meant that purple-dyed textiles became status symbols, and early sumptuary laws restricted their uses. The production of Tyrian purple was tightly controlled in Byzantium and was subsidized by the imperial court, which restricted its use for the colouring of imperial silks, so that a child born to a reigning emperor was styled 'porphyrogenitos' or 'born in the purple'.
The Roman mythographer Julius Pollux, writing in the 2nd century BCE, asserts (Onomasticon I, 45–49) that Purple Tyrian dye was first discovered by Heracles, or rather, by his dog, whose mouth was stained purple from chewing on snails along the coast of the Levant.<br/><br/> However, the recent archaeological discovery of substantial numbers of Murex shells on Crete suggests that the Minoans may have pioneered the extraction of Imperial purple centuries before the Tyrians. Dating from collocated pottery suggests the dye may have been produced during the Middle Minoan period in the 20th–18th century BCE. Accumulations of crushed murex shells from a hut at the site of Coppa Nevigata in southern Italy may indicate production of purple dye there from at least the 18th century BCE.
Towards the end of the Bronze Age (around 1200 BCE) there was already trade between the early Phoenicians, Egypt, Cyprus, and Greece. The Phoenicians were famous metalworkers, and by the end of the 8th Century BC, Greek city-states were sending out envoys to the Levant (the eastern Mediterranean) for metal goods.<br/><br/> The height of Phoenician trade was around the 7th and 8th centuries. There is a dispersal of imports (ceramic, stone, and faience) from the Levant that traces a Phoenician commercial channel to the Greek mainland via the central Aegean.<br/><br/> The Phoenicians even derived their name from the Greeks due to their trade. Their most famous trading product was Purple Tyrian dye, the Greek word for which is phoenos.
Charlemagne (c. 742 – January 28, 814), also known as Charles the Great (Latin: Carolus Magnus or Karolus Magnus) or Charles I, was the founder of the Carolingian Empire, reigning from 768 until his death. He expanded the Frankish kingdom, adding Italy, subduing the Saxons and Bavarians, and pushed his frontier into Spain. The oldest son of Pepin the Short and Bertrada of Laon, Charlemagne was the first Emperor in Western Europe since the fall of the Roman Empire four centuries earlier.<br/><br/> Tyrian purple (Greek, πορφύρα, porphyra, Latin: purpura), also known as royal purple, imperial purple or imperial dye, is a purple-red natural dye, which is a secretion produced by certain species of predatory sea snails in the family Muricidae, a type of rock snail by the name Murex. This dye was probably first used by the ancient Phoenicians. The dye was greatly prized in antiquity because the color did not easily fade, but instead became brighter with weathering and sunlight.<br/><br/> Tyrian purple was expensive: the 4th-century-BC historian Theopompus reported, 'Purple for dyes fetched its weight in silver at Colophon' in Asia Minor. The expense meant that purple-dyed textiles became status symbols, and early sumptuary laws restricted their uses. The production of Tyrian purple was tightly controlled in Byzantium and was subsidized by the imperial court, which restricted its use for the colouring of imperial silks, so that a child born to a reigning emperor was styled 'porphyrogenitos' or 'born in the purple'.