Spinning in the Roman World
The Ancients
History Hit
4.7 • 4.5K Ratings
🗓️ 9 January 2022
⏱️ 68 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Spinning held an important place in ancient society, and no, we're not talking about ancient exercise classes. A task for women and slaves, it was used to create clothes, ships sails, and ropes, and its products were integral to all parts of society. An unchanging art for centuries and seen across the globe, spinning was an important practice in the ancient world. This week Tristan is joined by Carey Fleiner to discuss spinning's role in myths, the textiles it helped produce, and its importance in antiquity.
Warning: one case of mild language.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | It's the Engines on History Hit. |
| 0:16.3 | I'm Tristan Hughes, your host. |
| 0:18.3 | And in today's podcast where we kicked off 2022 with chats on Alexander the Great, Julius |
| 0:23.3 | Caesar, cannibalism, and now for something completely different. |
| 0:27.7 | Because we're going to be talking about one of the most important tasks in the classical |
| 0:31.4 | world indeed in the whole of the ancient world. |
| 0:34.3 | We're talking about spinning, spinning and weaving, but a particular focus on spinning |
| 0:40.0 | in this podcast. |
| 0:41.6 | We're going to be looking at the importance of spinning in the ancient Roman world. |
| 0:45.7 | We're going to be looking at the importance of spinning in certain Greek myths. |
| 0:49.0 | We're going to be talking about how to spin. |
| 0:51.6 | And also we're going to be looking at various fibers used in spinning such as wool, cotton, |
| 0:57.8 | flax, and of course silk. |
| 1:00.5 | Now to talk through all of this and more, I was delighted a couple of days back to catch |
| 1:04.5 | up with my good old friend Dr. Carey Fleiner from the University of Winchester. |
| 1:10.0 | Carey, she is a lot of fun. |
| 1:11.4 | She knows a lot about spinning and weaving in the classical world. |
| 1:15.6 | And she also, as we're about to find out, she also is not afraid to point out my complete |
| 1:21.4 | ignorance on this topic. |
| 1:23.8 | So without further ado to talk all about spinning in the classical world, here's Carey. |
| 1:28.4 | Carey, it is great to have you back on the podcast. |
| 1:36.0 | Thank you for inviting me. |
... |
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