Current Research on Roman Dress

CHAPTER 1 Current Research on Roman Dress Clothing and Personal Adornment for this absence should be considered: as a large, all enveloping expanse of un-seamed cloth, the toga was The Toga ideal to be used as a shroud during a time when crema- The toga, probably the most well-known item of Roman tion was the norm.7 It could also very easily have been clothing, is a rounded woollen garment adapted from made into something else; certainly there is consider- the semi-circular Etruscan mantle.1 Literary and art able evidence for the recycling of textiles, as I discuss in historical evidence describes and depicts the toga as later chapters. Furthermore, the majority of extant gar- an expensive and cumbersome garment made from a ments come from a later period when inhumation was voluminous amount of cloth, which was draped across more common, by which time a narrow-sleeved tunic the body in a complicated manner. It was not fastened and cloak was the more usual ensemble of the Roman with a brooch, and so had to be held in place by the official.8 Togas were still worn during this period, but wearer, a clear indication of both his wealth and status were increasingly reserved for ceremonial or official as a member of the ‘leisure class’.2 The many depictions occasions.9 These later togas appear often to have been of togate figures from the Roman period attest to the made with patterned tapestry fabric, fragments of which symbolic importance of this ‘national’ garment, with exist in the archaeological record, but may not be recog- variations in the method of drapery sometimes used to nised for what they are.10 identify specific roles or achievements, both public and private.3 There are references to prostitutes and/or adul- Mantles and Cloaks teresses having to wear a toga as a symbol of their rejec- Like the toga, the Roman mantle was a large cloth that tion of the moral code it represented, however there is was draped across the body; considerably smaller and no evidence that they were legally compelled to do so, straight edged, it was easier both to make and to handle. and in fact there is considerable literary evidence that There are many names used to describe such mantles, they wore a wide range of clothing.4 In spite of being however the differences between mantles and cloaks the most well-known and perhaps most often depicted are not always clear, and there is some variation in the Roman garment, there are no togas among the few sur- way the different names are translated and/or inter- viving garments from the Roman period. This has led preted. The most common name for a mantle is palla/ Vout to question whether the toga was worn as habitu- pallium, which appears to be an almost generic term ally as artistic depictions suggest.5 However, the absence for any straight edged outer wrap.11 Worn by both men of extant examples does not mean that its depiction was and women, it was sometimes the same colour as the purely symbolic, or that it did not reflect the reality of tunic worn with it, suggesting that they might have been elite dress at the time.6 A number of possible reasons 1 Stone (1994) 13. as a fragment of white weft faced wool tabby with a curved 2 Veblen (1899): the clothing of the leisure class should be “con- edge, found at Didymoi (inv. no. D99.3329.8), Cardon et al. spicuously expensive and inconvenient”, and “make it plain to all (2012) 330–31. observers that the wearer is not engaged in any kind of productive 7 It would also indicate the status of the deceased; Juv. 3.171–72: labour” by not showing any signs of soil or wear. “To tell you the truth, in most of Italy, no one wears a toga un- 3 For example, on the 3rd c. ‘brother sarcophagus’, the same man less they’re dead”. is shown four times in variations of the toga and the pallium 8 Smith (1999) 177. (Metraux (2008), fig.14.8) to signify the different roles he assumed 9 Smith (1999) 178–81. in his life time. 10 The togas depicted in a number of consular diptychs show 4 Olson (2008a) 49–50 deals with this in some detail. overall patterning, for example, the diptych of Consul 5 Vout (1996). Baldricus (Harvard Art Museum BR22.91), the diptych of 6 The toga was unlikely to have been worn as an everyday gar- Anastasius (Harvard Art Museum BR22.99), and the consular ment, particularly by members of the lower classes whose move- diptych showing Amalasuntha and Athalaric (V&A 139.1866). ment, and therefore ability to participate in physical work, would A number of such patterned textiles have recently been dated have been restricted by its complicated deportment. By far the to between the 3rd–7th c., however all are too fragmentary to majority of extant textiles from Late Antiquity are fragmen- determine their original purpose: De Moor (2007). tary, so it is certainly possible that some come from togas, such 11 See Wilson (1938) 78–84, 148–50. © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ��8 | doi ��.��63/9789004353466_003 Current Research on Roman Dress 15 made or purchased as a set.12 Palla/pallium is not found described by Isidore of Seville as a rain cloak.22 There are in the Edict of Diocletian, where αναβολαια is trans- at least 21 listings for the birrus in the Edict of Diocletian, lated as ‘wraps’.13 This might be understood as a pal- and in 18 of these the garment is further described by the lium, however the word is very similar to abolla, which addition of a place name. However, it is not clear wheth- the literary evidence prompts Wilson to categorise as a er this variation indicated a difference in the design of cloak.14 There is also literary evidence for other wraps, the garment or the source of the raw material and/or the including the ricinium: initially known specifically as finished product.23 The casula, paenula and bardocuccu- a veil to be worn by women in mourning,15 by the late lus can also be found described as hooded cloaks,24 al- 4th c. it was defined simply as a little pallium worn by though again the differences between them are not clear. women. This was also the definition given by Wilson for Wilson’s study of primary source material has led her to the mafortium,16 however, this word is translated in the classify the pallium, the paenula and the paludamentum Edict of Diocletian as a hood.17 This particular transla- as distinctly different types of cloaks,25 and to further tion may have been made to indicate that the mafortium suggest that paludamentum and chlamys were words was often drawn over the head of the wearer, however that described the same garment.26 Isidore of Seville on equating it to the caracalla, which is also translated the other hand, uses the word pallium more generally, in the Edict as a hood,18 creates a confusion about the and describes both the paenula and the paludamentum shape and design of both garments. as types of pallium. He also lists the chlamys and the pa- Like the palla/pallium, a cloak in its simplest form was ludamentum separately, suggesting that they were suffi- a rectangle of cloth that was wrapped around the body, ciently different in design to warrant this.27 The chlamys however the cloak was fastened, either by a brooch, gen- is listed a few times in the Edict of Diocletian, where it is erally on the right shoulder, or sometimes by being sewn translated as ‘mantle’,28 however paludamentum does together along varying lengths at the front seam. Cloaks not appear, although fibulatorium or ‘cloak with clasp’ varied in length, design and weight, and were worn for is listed a number of times.29 Unfortunately, there is not the most part by men, although there is some evidence enough descriptive information provided in the Edict to that women wore them, particularly in the colder north- determine whether this cloak is what Wilson would clas- western parts of the empire. Primary source material sify as a paludamentum, paenula, laena, or lacerna, all provides many names for cloaks and outer garments.19 of which she describes as cloaks held together with pins This use of different names may indicate differences in or clasps, and only one of which is listed by name in the the form, fabric, use, or place of origin of the garment, Edict of Diocletian.30 or may simply indicate a lack of knowledge or interest There are a number of textiles both in museum col- on the part of the original writer. A number of garments lections and from more recent archaeological research will be discussed here to illustrate this problem. that have been determined by comparative research to The sagum is usually described as a square or perhaps rectangular cloak of thick, coarse wool.20 Probably of 22 Isid. Etym. 19.24.18. It may have been made out of lanolin rich Gallic origin, it came to be associated specifically with natural wool, which, together with a dense weave, would have the military, however there is evidence that the word was afforded some protection against rain and snow; although it also used to describe any cloak worn by country folk and is also possible that grease or lanolin was added to the fabric foreigners.21 The hooded cloak known as a birrus, was to increase water-resistance.

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