The origins of purple are steeped in legend as well as history. In Greek mythology, it was Hercules’ dog that accidentally discovered the dye, after chewing a sea snail on the beach which turned his mouth a deep shade of purple. This is not too far from the truth - the famous Tyrian Purple was first produced by the Phoenicians in Tyre (in present day Lebanon) in the 16th century BCE by extracting the coloured mucus from sea snails found in the Mediterranean and leaving them in the sunlight for a period of time. The dye required thousands of snails just to make one ounce of it and was a notoriously unpleasant process, causing putrid smells in the areas it was produced. However, its bold colour and long-lasting quality made it worth more than its weight in gold.

Despite its origins, purple has long been a symbol of luxury, power, and exclusivity since antiquity. In Ancient Greece, the colour was a mark of divine and royal authority. Reserved for royalty and high priests, its use was strictly controlled by legislation. The term “purple” comes from the terms porphura in Greek or purpura in Latin to describe the dye. 

In Rome, Julius Caesar famously wore a purple toga, whilst senators could wear a purple trim on their robes. The colour was so revered that some Roman emperors even imposed the death penalty on lower-ranking citizens caught wearing it. Beyond the Mediterranean, Persian king Cyrus the Great, was said to wear a purple tunic as his royal uniform, further cementing purple’s association with regality. 

Purple’s prestige grew with time, becoming the imperial colour of the Byzantine and Holy Roman Empire (prompting the name of the colour Byzantium). The children of emperors were bestowed the title Porphyrogenitus, meaning “born in the purple.” The Great Palace of Constantinople, built for Prince Constantine, featured a room for royal births lined with porphyry, a rare purple-coloured marble quarried from the deserts of Egypt. Porphyry can be seen in many examples of Roman sculpture and architecture.