La seta nella Historia Augusta: soltanto un simbolo di luxus?

The aim of this paper is to verify if the mention of silk clothes in the Historia Augusta – work dedicated to the imperial biographies of the II and III century, but drawn up by an anonymous in the second half of the IV or, more likely, in the first decades of the V century – has only the socio-cultural function to identify the ‘bad’ emperors, lovers of the luxus, or whether it can also provide a valid contribution in the reconstruction of the complex and changing political relations between the Roman Empire and China and above all offer a confirmation of the influence exercised in the redaction of Vitae by the contemporary normative activity of members of Valentinian and Theodosian dynasties in the production and marketing of silk fabrics.