Memorandum: The Commission of the Ceremonial Robes

Status: Recorded
Authority: Cleopatra VII
Prepared by: Thales of Myra, Royal Tailor

Provenance: A tailor’s memorandum within the House’s imagined archive, set in Alexandria in the first century BCE.

House Fragment — Koine Greek

τὸ ἔνδυμα φέρει
τὴν ὀσμὴν
μακρότερον
τῆς μνήμης τοῦ ὑφάντου.

to endyma pherei
tēn osmēn
makroteron
tēs mnēmēs tou hyphantou.

The garment carries the scent
longer than the memory of its weaver.

Fabrics selected for a commission of unusual honour.

Record

A sealed summons
was delivered to my atelier.

Garments were required
for members of the royal household
and the consort,

for a ceremony
of unusual significance.

I record the commission
in my own hand.

The ceremony itself
is not my subject.

Materials Selected

From my stores, I chose

linen of Nubia,

silk of Babylon,

byssus of the Delta,

and brocade of Rome.

These were fabrics I reserved
for commissions of the highest standing.

Their names remain here
as I entered them
against the work.

The Labour

The measurements were already
held in my records.

I could begin
without waiting for another attendance.

The work occupied the day,

continued through the night,

and reached into
the following morning.

There was a brief rest
before the garments
had to be presented.

The Scented Finish

Before delivery,
I finished each garment
with a fine powder of orris root.

It was the practice of my atelier,

intended to leave fragrance
within the cloth

after it had been folded
and put away.

The scent was part
of the finished work.

It would travel with the garment
when the garment left my hands.

Observation

Such a commission
comes rarely in the lifetime
of a craftsman.

Its honour was accompanied
by a standard

that neither haste
nor weariness could lessen.

I preserve this account
for the materials,

the labour,

and what was required
of my hands.

Closing Record

The garments were completed
and delivered

before the appointed hour.

Their maker would be known
to few.

The hours within them
would not be seen.

I record them here,

with the fabrics
and the final trace of orris,

before the work
passes out of my keeping.

---

✧

References

Theophrastus, Concerning Odours, §§57–58.
An ancient discussion of compound perfumes used to scent clothing and aromatic powders used for bedding. Read the passage (opens in a new tab).

Thales, the commission and its particular materials belong to the House’s fiction. The fabric names are retained from its narrative, not presented as a verified Ptolemaic supply list. The reference provides context for scented textiles, not documentation of this exact orris-root finish or its lasting effect.