In 192 B.C., rising Rome met a remnant of the empire of Alexander the Great on the storied ground of Thermopylae, nearly 200 years after the Spartans had made it famous fighting Persia. The battle played a significant role in the course of history in the Mediterranean.
The history of cotton clothing has followed an interesting path, including a period of a few decades in the United States when cotton represented ingenuity, resilience, and patriotism itself.