Idiom
wear the purple
Literary Roman origin
Meaning
To hold supreme power, or to be born into the family that holds it.
Examples
“He wore the purple for barely two years before he was deposed.”
“The general had spent his career waiting to wear the purple, and lost it in a single afternoon.”
“The biography draws a sharp line between those who wore the purple by inheritance and those who seized it, arguing that the second group governed better precisely because they knew how easily it could be taken back.”
Examples
simple
“He wore the purple for barely two years before he was deposed.”
contextual
“The general had spent his career waiting to wear the purple, and lost it in a single afternoon.”
complex
“The biography draws a sharp line between those who wore the purple by inheritance and those who seized it, arguing that the second group governed better precisely because they knew how easily it could be taken back.”
Origin
Tyrian purple was made from the glands of murex sea snails, thousands of them per garment, in a process so foul-smelling that the dyeworks were kept outside the city walls. The result was a deep red-purple that did not fade, and it cost more by weight than gold.
Rome turned the expense into law. A senator's toga carried a purple stripe; a general celebrating a triumph wore a toga entirely of purple and gold; and under the emperors, the full purple became effectively an imperial monopoly, with severe penalties for anyone else who wore it. In Byzantium the association went further — an emperor's child born during the reign was porphyrogenitus, born in the purple.
English kept the metaphor after the dye itself became cheap. To wear the purple, or to be raised to the purple, is to hold the highest office; to be born in the purple is to be born into that family.
Stories
Empire & the Arena · See all Roman origin
Emperors, spectacle, and the machinery of keeping a city entertained.
bread and circuses — Food and entertainment handed out by those in power to keep the public quiet.
circus — a show with performers like clowns and acrobats, or a place where many streets meet; it can also describe a very busy or chaotic situation.
a Roman holiday — Enjoyment taken from watching somebody else suffer.
fiddle while Rome burns — To busy yourself with trivia while a disaster you could be addressing unfolds.
Triumph — a great victory or a very successful result. You use this word when someone wins something difficult or achieves a big goal.
Laurel — an evergreen tree with shiny leaves that people used to make crowns for winners in ancient times. Today, it is often used to talk about honor or success.
- Level
- C2 · Proficiency
- Updated