Even in Roman times, textiles played a key role in society. Everyone, from emperors to slaves, wore clothes and needed household fabrics for daily use. Scholars often examine methods of textile production with the hopes of gaining insight into an ancient culture long passed. Evidence for weaving appears in many fashions. Archaeological discoveries have yielded Greek vases depicting the art of weaving, as well as actual implements used in the trade.
Ancient authors mention weaving, as well as spinning, in their literary efforts.
But ancient textiles themselves, fabrics that have survived hundreds, even thousands, of years, often provide the most useful information about the Roman textile industry. By examining extant textile remains, scholars are better able to understand the methods and materials of Roman textile manufacture and dyeing, and they can gain indirect evidence about many other facets of Roman culture. Readers may be quite surprised to learn that a great deal of ancient fabric actually survives to the present. In order to understand and appreciate the difficulty in dealing with such evidence, we will need to have an understanding of how an ancient textile survives, and the processes of analysis used on those that do. Two natural conditions, ironically the antithesis of one another, are most suitable for the preservation of textiles.