The mosaic in the basilica of San Vitale at Ravenna, from which our illustration is copied, exhibits the colors of the garments. The emperor's mantle is purple worked with gold, the clavus is decorated with figures of birds, the white under-garment is trimmed with gold, and the purple shoes are ornamented with pearls. His golden diadem, edged with precious stones, has been elevated to a crown. The mantle is held by a clasp of which we represent enlarged specimens on Plate 33 46-48, 84). It is worthy of note that the emperor and one of his companions wear moustaches. This custom was unknown to the ancient Romans, and indicates the growth of barbarian influence, either Tartaric or Sla vonic. The tunics of the officials and the cloaks of the figures near the emperor are white, while the cloak of the third figure, indicalive of lower rank, is green. One of the guards (p1. 34, fig. 3) bears on his shield the monogram of Christ, formed out of the Greek letters (cli) and P (7).
Opposite to the emperor, Justinian I., stands his spouse, the infamous Theodora (fig. 4), also clad in a white gold-embroidered lower garment decorated with precious stones, and a mantle of the same material as that of the emperor, with a broad edging marked with figures. Her shoes are red, with gold trimmings. Her purple diadem is decorated with pearls, stones, and pendants, and elevated like a crown. Both she and the emperor bear offerings, probably relics, for the church in which the mosaic exists. In accordance with Asiatic etiquette, which prevailed at the Byzantine court, and which permitted little movement of the hands, the companions of Theodora (fig. 5) are clad in sack-like upper garments closed all around. It may be inferred that the materials of which these as well as the under-garments consisted were costly and richly embroidered.
As we have already indicated, Byzantine culture spread northward beyond the limits of the empire, and exercised a lasting influence upon the newly-established Slavonic states. Figures 6 and 7 (Ai 34), copied from ancient paintings, exhibit the attire of two noblewomen belonging to those states, which, though of a much later period than the above-men tioned mosaic from the church at Ravenna, bears a decided resemblance to the Byzantine costume. In being- buttoned at the breast the cloak had indeed undergone an important change. But the stripe down the front, which was of a different color from the dress and was decorated with embroideries in the form of precious stones, occurs very frequently in the Byzantine female attire of the later period.
The head-kerchief and the wrap about the neck in Figure 6, likewise of Byzantine origin, still formed part of the secular dress; they have been retained even in our day as part of the habit of nuns. The diadem had
completely developed into a crown, but it is not yet to be regarded as the emblem of authority. Even to this day, as is well known, it forms part of the Russian national costume, though it is made of inferior material. The hair-arrangement of Figure 7 resembles that of the court ladies of the above-mentioned mosaic.
A great length of time must have elapsed between the ancient Rus sian costume in Figure S and its Byzantine original. Yet the connection is undeniable. The cloak is present, though in later times it was dis carded; the tunic has been converted into a closely-fitting jacket trimmed about the hips with a leather belt and metal splints like a coat of mail, but it shows its origin sufficiently by the decorated stripes on the upper arm. The trousers and half-boots are also Byzantine, though they have lost their antique elegance. But the fur-trimmed cap is distinctively national.
The remains for us to cast a retrospective glance upon the Neo-Persians, a people who played a mediatorial role in the development of the West similar to that of the Byzantines: the influence of the former was more indirect, it is true, than that of the latter, but not much less potent ; for the Arabs borrowed the essential characteristics of their widely-extended civilization from this nation.
Parthians under Arsaces had overthrown the empire of the Selencithe: in the year 226 A. D. the descendants of that conqueror were compelled to vacate the throne in favor of Artahshatr or Ardshir Babegan, who under the name of Artaxerxes undertook to restore the ancient empire and religion of the Persians. Notwithstanding these manifold vicissitudes and the hostile opposition of the Sassanides, the race of the Neo-Persian rulers, Greek civilization, which had taken such firm root in the before-mentioned countries of Western Asia, maintained its supremacy for a long time, and yielded but slowly to unfriendly influences.
Becoming, however, more and more formal, it gradually gave way to the pressure of Mohammedanism, but not without leaving traces of itself, especially in Persia, which the wild conquerors themselves developed with a considerable degree of success. At the same time, important ele ments of old Asiatic civilization, of which we found evidences in Assyria, Babylonia, and even Persia, were carried over into the Middle Ages, and exercised, through the Crusades and time intercourse of the Arabians with the people of the West, an influence which affected the subsequent devel opment of all the modern nations of Europe.