Fighting Hydra-like Luxury

From the Old Testament to Elizabethan England, luxury has been morally condemned. In Rome, sumptuary laws (laws controlling consumption) seemed the only weapon to defeat ''hydra-like luxury'', the terrible monster that was weakening even the strongest citizens.

The first Roman sumptuary law, the Lex Appia, declared that no woman could possess more than a half ounce of gold, wear a dress of differen...