Smith, William: A smaller dictionary of Greek and Roman antiquities (London, 1871)

TELA.

364

TELA.

female slaves {quasillariae), under the super-
intendence of the mistress of the house.
Every thing woven consists of two essential
parts, the warp and the woof, called in Latin
stamen and subtegmen, subtemen, or trama;
in Greek o-rr/fiwi/ and xpox-q. The warp was
called stamen in Latin (from stare) on ac-
count of its erect posture in the loom. The
corresponding Greek term arfgmv, and like-
wise lords, have evidently the same deriva-
tion. For the same reason, the very first
operation in weaving was to set up the loom
{'lctt'ov o-rqa-acrBai); and the web or cloth,
before it was cut down or " descended " from
the loom, was called restis pendens or pen-
dula tela, because it hung from the trans-
verse beam, or jagum. These particulars
are all clearly exhibited in the picture of
Circe's loom given in the annexed cut. We

Tela, Loom. (From the Vatican MS. of Virgil.)

observe in the preceding woodcut, about the
middle of the apparatus, a transverse rod
passing through the warp. A straight cane
was well adapted to be so used, and its appli-
cation is clearly expressed by Ovid in the
words stamen secernit arundo. In plain
weaving it was inserted between the threads
of the warp so as to divide them into two
portions, the threads on one side of the rod
alternating with those on the other side
throughout the whole breadth of the warp.
In a very ancient form of the loom there was
a roller underneath the jagum, turned by a
handle, and on which the web was wound as
the work advanced. The threads of the warp,
besides being separated by a transverse rod
or plank, were divided into thirty or forty par-
cels, to each of which a stone was suspended for
the purpose of keeping the warp in a perpen-
dicular position, and allowing the necessary
play to the strokes of the spatha. AYhilst
the comparatively coarse, strong, and much-
twisted thread designed for the warp was
thus arranged in parallel lines, the woof re-
mained upon the spindle [Fusvs], forming a
spool, bobbin, or pen (-Tjir;). This was either
conveyed through the warp without any
additional contrivance, or it was made to

revolve in a shuttle [radius). This was
made of box brought from the shores of the
Euxine, and was pointed at its extremities,
that it might easily force its way through
the warp. All that is effected by the shuttle
is the conveyance of the woof across the
warp. To keep every thread of the woof in its
proper place, it is necessary that the threads
of the w arp should be decussated. This was
done by the leashes, called in Latin licia, in
Greek p.tVoi. By a leash we are to under-
stand a thread having at one end a loop,
through which a thread of the warp was
passed, the other end being fastened to a
straight rod called liciatorium, and in Greek
Kavu>v. The warp, having been divided by
the arundo, as already mentioned, into two
sets of threads, all those of the same set were
passed through the loops of the correspond-
ing set of leashes, and all these leashes were
fastened at their other end to the same
wooden rod. At least one set of leashes was
necessary to decussate the warp, even in the
plainest and simplest weaving. The number
of sets was increased according to the com-
plexity of the pattern, which was called
bilix or trilix, StV'T0?) rpCfiiTos, or 7roAu-
P-itw, according as the number was two,
three, or more. The process of annexing
the leashes to the warp was called ordiri te-
lam, also licia telae addere, or adnectere. It
occupied two women at the same time, one
of whom took in regular succession each
separate thread of the warp, and handed it
Over to the Other (TrapatbepeLV, irapa&i&ovai, or

7rpoo-</)wpeto-6iai) ; the other, as she received
each thread, passed it through the loop in
proper order; an act which we call "enter-
ing," in Greek 6"iafecr0ai. Supposing the warp
to have been thus adjusted, and the pen or
the shuttle to have been carried through it, it
was then decussated by drawing forwards the
proper rod, so as to carry one set of the threads
of the warp across the rest, after which the
woof was shot back again, and by the conti-
nual repetition of this process the warp and
woof were interlaced. Two staves were occa-
sionally used to fix the rods in such a position
as was most convenient to assist the weaver
in drawing her woof across her warp. After
the woof had been conveyed by the shuttle
through the warp, it was driven sometimes
downwards, as is represented in the woodcut,
but more commonly upwards. Two different
instruments were used in this part of the pro-
cess. The simplest, and probably the most
ancient, was in the form of a large wooden
sword {spatha, o~rr6.9-q). The spatha was, how-
ever, in a great degree superseded by the comb
(pecten, xepxt's), the teeth of which were in-
serted between the threads of the warp, and