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The evidence of surviving textiles and entries in the Edict of Diocletian (A. D. 301) suggest that the first horizontal loom was developed by Roman weavers in the eastern provinces, probably in Syria, not long before A. D. 250. Fitted with multiple heddle-rods, the loom was used to weave damask silks with geometric patterns. An advanced model in which the patterning device was separate from the basic binding device for the first time was available by about A. D. 400, and was used for damask silks with a fluid-outline pattern and for weft-faced compound tabbies.
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John Peter Wild (1987) studied this question.
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