ROMAN CLOTHING AND FASHION ALEXANDRA CROOM This edition published 2010. This electronic edition published 2012. Amberley Publishing The Hill, Stroud, Gloucestershire GL5 4EP www.amberley-books.com Copyright © Alexandra Croom 2010, 2012 The right of Alexandra Croom to be identified as the Author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyrights, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without the permission in writing from the Publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 978-1-84868-977-0 (PRINT) ISBN 978-1-4456-1244-7 (e-BOOK) CONTENTS List of Illustrations Acknowledgements 1 - Introduction 2 - Cloths and Colour 3 - Men’s Clothing 4 - Women’s Clothing 5 - Children’s Clothing 6 - Beauty 7 - Provincial Clothing 8 - Conclusions Pictures Section Glossary References Weaving Terminology Bibliography LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS TEXT FIGURES 1 - The costume of goddesses 2 - Woman spinning 3 - Tunic forms 4 - A clothes press 5 - Tunics of the first and second centuries 6 - Tunics of the third and fourth centuries 7 - Tunic decorations 8 - Portrait of Stilicho 9 - Tunics 10 - Togas of the first to fourth centuries 11 - The ‘Brothers’ sarcophagus 12 - Togas of the fifth and sixth centuries 13 - Short togas 14 - Mantles and cloaks 15 - Cloaks and capes 16 - Tombstone of Ares 17 - Leggings 18 - Puttee 19 - Loincloths 20 - Knitted sock 21 - Footwear 22 - Footwear 23 - Hairstyles of the first to third centuries 24 - Hairstyles of the third to sixth centuries 25 - Headwear 26 - Religious costumes 27 - Amulet 28 - Intaglios and finger-rings 29 - Stola 30 - Tombstone showing woman in a gap-sleeved tunic 31 - Gap-sleeved tunic fastenings 32 - Gap-sleeved tunic fastenings 33 - Short-sleeved tunics of the first and second centuries 34 - Short-sleeved tunics of the third century 35 - Dalmatics 36 - Tunic decorations 37 - Late forms of tunic 38 - Slaves with belted tunics 39 - Portrait of Serena and Eucharius 40 - Tunic with ornamented belt 41 - Mantle 42 - Fourth-century decorated mantle 43 - Venus wearing a breastband. 44 - Breastbands and briefs 45 - Socks 46 - Hairstyles of the first and second centuries 47 - Hairstyles of the second and third centuries 48 - Hairstyles of the third to sixth centuries 49 - Hats and headcoverings 50 - Freedwoman wearing cap 51 - Parasols and fans 52 - Sandal 53 - Sandals 54 - Wooden clogs 55 - Bridal and religious costumes 56 - Finger-rings and bracelets 57 - Necklace 58 - Babies in swaddling clothes 59 - Children on the Ara Pacis, Rome 60 - Tunics of young girls 61 - Hairstyle of young girl 62 - Tombstone with native and Roman costume 63 - Greek costume 64 - Syrian costume 65 - Judaean costume 66 - Egyptian costume 67 - North African costume 68 - Spanish costume 69 - The Gallic coat 70 - Romano-Gallic costume 71 - Romano-British costume 72 - Costume of the Rhine Valley 73 - Costume of Lower Germany 74 - Woollen clothing from a bog deposit 75 - Dacian costume 76 - Pannonian and Norican costume 77 - Pannonian and Norican hats COLOUR PLATES 1 - The Emperor Justinian and his court 2 - The Empress Theodora and her court 3 - Men at a bakery 4 - Fourth-century hunters 5 - The method of putting on a third-century toga 6 - Reconstruction of a cape 7 - Reconstruction of the cape with added gusset 8 - Procession to baths, Piazza Armerina, Sicily 9 - Dead or wounded hunter 10 - Coin portraits showing the hairstyles of Emperors 11 - Reconstruction of a gap-sleeved tunic and stola 12 - Reconstruction of a gap-sleeved tunic 13 - Woman having her hair dressed 14 - Portrait of woman from Egypt 15 - Painted shroud from Egypt 16 - Family portrait in gold and glass 17 - Reconstruction of leather briefs 18 - Women exercising in briefs and breastbands 19 - Coin showing the hairstyles of Imperial women 20 - Jewellery of the first to third centuries 21 - Child’s tunic from Egypt 22 - Tombstone of Regina 23 - Reconstruction of the tombstone of Regina 24 - Provincial male costume 25 - Provincial female costume 26 - Undyed wool 27 - Dyed wool 28 - First-century tunic 29 - First-century tunic 30 - Third-century tunic 31 - Third- to fourth-century tunic 32 - Fourth- to sixth-century tunic 33 - Decorated cloak 34 - Shoulder cape 35 - Hose 36 - Puttee 37 - Puttee 38 - Pannonian hat 39 - Gap-sleeved tunic 40 - Short-sleeved tunic 41 - Dalmatic 42 - Fourth- to sixth-century tunic 43 - Mantle 44 - Women with fan and parasol 45 - Tube-dress 46 - Brooch fastening the tube-dress 47 - Tube-dress 48 - Gallic coat ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thanks are due to Karen Dixon and Richard Underwood, without whom this book would never have been attempted. I must also thank the members of Cohors V Gallorum, and in particular Dominique Leslie and Philip Clark, for their help during research for this book, as well as all re- enactors and work colleagues with whom I have discussed costume over the years, whether they wanted to or not. Katherine Croom has most kindly used her expertise to produce the index, while Roger Oram provided me with some of the illustrations as well as useful advice. Thanks are also due to Christoph Reichmann of the Museum Burg Linn, Jenny Hall of the Museum of London and Caroline Imlah of Tyne and Wear Museums, for their help with information and illustrations. Last, but not least, I must thank Paul Bidwell and William Griffiths, who both kindly agreed to look over the text, and who provided me with both suggestions and corrections; any faults or mistakes remaining are the responsibility of the author. In addition I need to thank the following for all their help with the second edition: Phil Clark, Peter Coppack, Kathy Croom, Karen Griffiths, Bill Griffiths, Aitor Iriate, Hannah-Jane Taskis and Jane Thompson, plus the re-enactment groups Cohors Quinta Gallorum and Cohors Prima Gallica. Many thanks! 1 INTRODUCTION The most common image of Roman costume is of a clean-shaven man, wearing a brilliant white toga long enough to sweep the ground. The image is correct – for a small proportion of men, for a short length of time, in a distinct area of the Empire. In fact, Roman costume varied from country to country, and also invariably changed over time. It is a huge topic to study, and there are still many areas and subjects that need much more in-depth research or clarification. This book does not attempt to answer all the questions, but is intended to provide at least an introduction to this fascinating and complex topic. This study will look mainly at the clothing worn during the years of the Roman Empire. As Rome was traditionally founded in the eighth century BC, there were at least 250 years of rule by the Kings and 500 years of the Republic before the Empire even came into existence. The Empire itself lasted for nearly 500 years in the West, and for even longer in the East, where it was gradually transformed into the Byzantine Empire of the medieval world. The evidence is taken from three main sources: art, literary evidence and the surviving textiles themselves. ‘Art’ covers a wide range of objects, from portrait statues, tombstones, official reliefs, mosaics and wall paintings, to the smaller decorative arts such as coins, small pipeclay statuettes, and even graffiti. Although art often seems to provide detailed information on costume, the evidence must still be treated with some caution. Only Romans with money could afford to commission a life-sized statue, bust or figured tombstone, and therefore the clothing depicted is that of the rich or middle classes rather than the lower classes. Just as early photographs in the nineteenth century were expensive, and showed the sitters carefully posed and wearing their best clothes, so Roman portraiture showed people in their formal clothing, and not necessarily in what they would have worn every day. However, the Romans also liked images of everyday life, including scenes of rural activities or domestic scenes featuring the lower classes and slaves, which give at least some insight into what poorer people wore. The misleading nature of the artistic record can be seen in the example of the toga. The one item of dress that everyone associates with the Romans was hardly ever worn in the countryside in Italy, and was in decline in everyday use in an urban setting from the early second century AD according to literary evidence, and yet is still found depicted in art until the fourth century. The toga developed a symbolic importance that made it the definitive male dress. As such, it was used on formal ceremonial occasions, thus appearing frequently in art as these formal ceremonial occasions were precisely those most likely to be commemorated. Art does not, therefore, necessarily reflect everyday life. Similarly, people today recognise a picture of a man in a kilt as a Scotsman, yet anyone travelling in Scotland would be sadly disappointed by the number of men actually wearing one. Different media will also influence the depiction of costume. Sculptors, for example, were particularly interested in the play of light and shadow on the folds of cloth, and in mainstream art always show plenty of heavy folds, realistic or not, in the cloth. They were not so interested in detail, and so rarely show jewellery or hairpins, while details of patterns or borders may have been left to be painted on the finished statue, most of which were originally brightly coloured. On the other hand, representations on mosaics frequently simplified complex elements such as the folds in the cloth, belt fittings, and decorative patches on tunics.