It is believed that the “red carpet” is the property of the Oscar ceremony. This is, to put it mildly, not true.
Purple is a red-violet dye, precious in ancient times, extracted from the secretions of special glands of gastropods and used to dye expensive fabrics. The cost is comparable to gold. In ancient Rome, clothing dyed purple served as a distinctive sign of high positions. To make 1 gram of purple dye, 10,000 shellfish had to be processed. Only high dignitaries and, of course, emperors could afford to dye their clothes this color.
In general, the color purple was “invented” by the Phoenicians 1600 BC. Since then, the reputation of purple or red has only grown.
One of the first and most famous references specifically to the "red carpet" is Eskil's play "Amamemnon", written in 458 BC! Agamemnon's wife, wanting to increase her husband's sins and destroy him, ordered the servants to spread a red rope for him from the chariot to the doors of the palace. Only gods or those carrying statues of gods could walk on the red carpet. Agamemnon hesitated... and walked along the path, unable to cope with temptation. The path led him to death, of course.
The red carpet was rolled out in 1821 to welcome American President James Madison. In 1902, the red carpet was rolled out for one of the first branded trains, called the 20th Century Limited.
