11.03.24: vestīmenta (clothing) et ōrnāmenta (jewelry)

In preparation for the next post, here is some information about Roman clothing. The information in the post matches the images.

[1] tunica

The tunica was short-sleeved or sleeveless, and was generally knee-length for men and boys. The equivalent for women was longer and with sleeves.

[2] stola

Of a variety of colours, the stola was a long, pleated dress worn by married women over a tunic. They were generally sleeveless and fastened at the shoulder with fībulae (clasps).

[3] palla

a rectangular shawl worn by women over the stola

[4] sagum

a heavy-duty cloak worn by both the military and civilians

[5] lacerna

This was a type of cloak usually worn over a toga and fastened at the neck. The image from Pompeii depicts two men and a boy buying bread. Both men are wearing lacernae, one yellow and one dark – but over tunics rather than togas. This upholds the view that, in everyday activities, togas were too heavy and impractical.

[6] toga

The toga, a semicircular piece of cloth made of wool between 12 and 20 feet in length. Draped over the shoulders and body, it was worn over the tunic, but only adult male Roman citizens could wear them. Variations in design, for example a coloured stripe, would indicate to which rank a citizen belonged. Roman women did not wear togas.

[7] toga praetexta

A white toga with a broad purple stripe on its border, worn over a tunic with two broad, vertical purple stripes. It was formal costume for freeborn boys and worn together with the bulla (see below). When the boys came of age, they would wear the toga virilis (the toga of manhood).

[8] bulla

Boys and girls wore amulets around their necks to protect them against bad influences. For boys, the amulet was the bulla, and for the girls it was crescent-shaped and known as a lūnula.

[9] pilleus

A brimless, felt cap originally from Greece, but later introduced to Rome. When a slave was freed, a pilleus was placed upon his shaved head as a symbol of being a freedman (lībertus). That symbol of freedom appears on the coin issued to commemorate the assassination of Julius Caesar.

[10] solea

The mosaic in the image from a home in Algeria is at the entrance to a bath house. BENE LAVA: wash well, but also wear sandals: soleae. The style of the Roman equivalent of flip-flops hasn’t changed for 2,000 years.

[11] calceus; caliga

The general word for shoe is calceus; caligar efers to the type of hobnailed shoe worn by the Roman military.

[12] armilla

a bracelet or armlet, designed to be worn on the upper arm