Roman Culture

ROMAN CULTURE

In the ancient city of Rome men wore Toga and females wore stola. Materials like wool and linen were used for clothing.

Tunic ( Tunica) :- Tunics are made up of two pieces of woolen cloth sewn together at sides and shoulder. Male  tunic was short and reached till the knees.  Female tunics were longer and reached till the ground.  If the warmth if summer meant that one tunic was enough, then the cold of winter might call for several tunics to be worn on top of each other. Tunic was even worn by the slaves. Women tunic was long sleeved. Men tunic was sleeveless. Men of the equestrian class wore a tunic with narrow stripes. The color of the stripes was purple and they extended from the   shoulder to the hem. The broad stripes distinguished the tunics of men of the senatorial class. Working men and slaves wore the same type of tunic, usually made of coarse and dark wool, and they frequently hitched the tunic higher over their belts for free movement.

Toga:-  It was like a long blanket about 5 ½ meter long  and 2 meters wide  at its widest point. It was made of a large woolen cloth cut with both straight and rounded edges. It was draped carefully over the body on top of the tunic. The cloth was folded lengthwise and partly pleated at the fold, which was then draped over the left side of the body, over the left shoulder, under the right arm, and back up over the left arm and shoulder. The large over-fold in the front of the body was called a ‘sinus’, and part of the material under this was pulled up and draped over the sinus to form the ‘umbo’. The back of the toga was pulled over the head for religious ceremonies. It was difficult to put the toga on properly by oneself, and prominent Romans had slaves who were specially trained to perform this function. Citizens were supposed to wear togas for all public occasions. The color of the toga was significant and varied according to age and status:

• toga virilis also called toga pura: unadorned toga in the off-white color of the un-dyed wool that was worn by adult male citizens
• toga praetexta: off-white toga with a broad purple border shown in the right-hand drawing. This toga was worn by curule magistrates and also upper-class Roman children, especially boys, who laid aside the bordered toga during their puberty ceremony  and ceremonially donned the toga virilis.
• toga pulla: was made of dark-colored wool and was worn during periods of mourning.
• toga candida: was an artificially whitened toga and was worn by candidates for political office.
• toga picta:  was a purple toga. It was embroidered with gold thread and was worn by a victorious general during a triumphal parade and was later adopted by emperors for state occasions.

Stola: Women probably worn togas in the early stages of Roman empire, by the middle of the Republican era the women who wore togas were common prostitutes. Thus the toga became a mark of honor for Roman men, but a sign of disgrace for women. The stola was much like toga except that it was rectangular in shape, draped around the body  and reached till the ground.

Cloak:-  Cloaks and other overgarments helped protect the Roman against bad weather. A variety are known, at times worn over the toga itself, but more often replacing it.

As an overgarment women in the early days of the republic wore the ricinium, a simple square cloak, covering the shoulders. But later the ricinium was replaced by the palla. Society women also wore a long cloak, called a palla(or pallium), over their tunic and stola when they went outside. This was rectangular in shape and was typically draped over the left shoulder, under the right arm and back across the body, carried by the left arm or thrown back again over the left shoulder. The palla could also be pulled up to cover the head,

The lacerna was originally a military cloak, but during the empire it begun to be extensively worn by the middle class. The wealthier people tended to wear brightly coloured lacerna, whereas the poor wore cheaper dull, dark ones. The paenula was a very simple type of cloak, used especially as protection against bad weather. It was put on by simply pulling one's head through the central hole and was normally fitted with a hood. They could be made of either leather (paenula scortae), or very heavy felt (paenula gausapina). The laena (also called duplex) was thick, round cloak which was folded double at the shoulders and was generally of heavy material, much like the military cloak, the sagum. The poor wore short and dark laena, whereas the wealthy would wear brightly coloured one to cover their shoulders at banquets during the cold season.

The cucullus (meaning 'hood'), as well as the bardocullus, birrus, and the caracalla, was a heavy hooded cloak. The caracalla (caracalla talaris) in particular reached to feet. It is especially famous as it lent its name to the emperor who still today is known under his nickname 'Caracalla' for habitually wearing the garment. However, this heavy cloak should not be confused with the female caracalla, which was a light, sleeveless linen wrap.

Under garments:- As undergarments men and women in rome wore  a simple lion cloth known as subligar knotted at each side Women wore a band of cloth or leather around their breast to support their busts

Footwear :- Both sexes wore identical footwear. The color of the footwear showed the status of the person. The patrician shoes were red in colour. So  were the noble’s. The super-rich and the Emperor wore foot-wear made of gold. The citizen’s shoes were made of regular leather and so had the original colour of the leather. The General’s shoes were lengthy and went upto the knees. It had metal trimmings and straps in tune with his profession. The slaves had to forsake the shoes

The roman footwear were classified into three main types.

1. calcei :-  These were leather shoes  which covered the foot and the toes. They were  used for outdoors with toga
2. Soleae or sandalia:-  The upper class romans removed their shoes at the door and slipped on the sandals  called as solea. These were regarded as the indoor footwear.  The upper class men had with them slaves  to carry their sandalia.
3. Socci:- It was a type of slipper meant for indoor use.

Jewellery: Roman men didn’t  wear much jewellery. They only wore a signet ring, that was used to make an impression in sealing wax in order to authorize documents. Originally made of iron, these signet rings later came to be made of gold, whose seal-stone is missing. Roman boys wore a ‘bulla’, a large round locket on a chain containing protective amulets, usually phallic symbols Jewellery like earrings, necklaces, pendants, bracelets and rings of gold, gems, garnets  and cameos were very popular. Pearls were particularly prized and costly. Silver was less used. Garnets were worn on the head. Common men and women would wear a branch of  olive leaves around the head . The nobles, rich and royals would wear  a look alike of olive branch, made of gold.