It Was Used For
Ornament, For Furniture; As Beds, Tables, Doors, &C.; Not Only In Italy,
But In Greece And Egypt:
The finest sort was sold for its weight of silver.
It was imported not only from Ethiopia but also from the east coast of
Africa, and reached Rome even from Malabar and Malacca.
The opsian stone
mentioned in the Periplus, and the opsidian stone described by Pliny, are
stated in both these authors to have come from Ethiopia; but whether they
were the same, and their exact nature, are not known. The opsian is
described as capable of receiving a high polish, and on that account as
having been used by the Emperor Domitian to face a portico. Pliny describes
it as employed to line rooms in the same manner as mirrors; he
distinguishes it from a spurious kind, which was red, but not transparent.
The dye extracted from the purple shell fish was imported into Rome from
Getulia, a country on the south side of Mauritania.
Rome was supplied with the commodities of India chiefly from Egypt; but
there were other routes by which also they reached the capital: of these it
will be proper to take some notice.
The most ancient communication between India and the countries on the
Mediterranean was by the Persian Gulf, through Mesopotamia, to the coasts
of Syria and Palestine. To facilitate the commerce which was carried on by
this route, Solomon is supposed to have built Tadmor in the wilderness, or
Palmyra:
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