on silk imported from China was so high that imperial advisers warned that Roman silver reserves were becoming exhausted.

The Roman censors had a duty to put a check upon morals and extravagance in personal and political expenditure. The censors published details of offences in the nota censoria, which listed the names of everyone found guilty of a luxurious mode of living; a great many instances of this kind are recorded. Towards the end of the Roman Republic,