SAGMĬNA, were the same as the _verbenae_, namely, herbs torn up by
their roots from within the inclosure of the Capitoline, which were
always carried by the Fetiales or ambassadors, when they went to a
foreign people to demand restitution for wrongs committed against
the Romans, or to make a treaty. [FETIALES.] They served to mark the
sacred character of the ambassadors, and answered the same purpose as
the Greek κηρύκεια.
SĂGUM, the cloak worn by the Roman soldiers and inferior officers,
in contradistinction to the paludamentum of the general and superior
officers. [PALUDAMENTUM.] It is used in opposition to the toga or
garb of peace, and we accordingly find, that when there was a war
in Italy, all citizens put on the sagum even in the city, with the
exception of those of consular rank (_saga sumere_, _ad saga ire_,
_in sagis esse_). The sagum was open in the front, and usually
fastened across the shoulders by a clasp: it resembled in form the
paludamentum (see cut, p. 281). The cloak worn by the general and
superior officers is sometimes called _sagum_, but the diminutive
_sagulum_ is more commonly used in such cases. The cloak worn by the
northern nations of Europe is also called sagum. The German sagum is
mentioned by Tacitus: that worn by the Gauls seems to have been a
species of plaid (_versicolor sagum_).