The chief article of male dress was called the tebenna. We are told by
ancient writers that the _toga praetexta_, with its purple border
([Greek: periporphyros tebenna]), as worn by Roman magistrates and
priests, had been derived from the Etruscans (Pliny, N.H. ix. 63,
"praetextae apud Etruscos originem invenere"); and the famous statue of
the orator in Florence (Plate, fig. 22), an Etruscan work of the 3rd
century B.C., represents a man clothed in this garment, which will be
described below. Under the tebenna, or toga, which was necessary only
for public appearance, the Etruscans wore a short tunic similar to the
Greek chiton. For workmen and others of inferior occupation this appears
to have been the only dress. Youths, when engaged in horsemanship and
other exercises, wore a chlamys round the shoulders, which, however, was
semicircular in cut, and was fastened on the breast by buttons and a
loop, or tied in a knot, whereas the Greek chlamys was oblong and
fastened on the shoulder by a brooch. On public or festal occasions the
Etruscan noble wore, besides the tebenna, a _bulla_, or necklace of
_bullae_, and a wreath, _corona Etrusca_. The bulla was a circular gold
locket containing a charm of some kind against evil.[26] On the later
sarcophagi the male figures wear not only a wreath or _corona_ proper,
but also a garland of flowers hung round the neck. The male head-dress
was the _galerus_, a hat of leather, said to have been worn by the
Lucumos in early times, or the _apex_, a pointed hat corresponding to
the _tutulus_ worn by females. The fashion of shoes worn by Roman
senators was said to have been derived from Etruria. Etruscan shoes were
prized both in Greece and in Rome.
Helbig's articles, referred to at the close of the next section,
should be consulted. J. Martha, _L'Art etrusque_, gives reproductions
of the most important monuments. See also the works on Etruscan
civilization named in the art. ETRURIA.
v. _Roman Costume._--We are told that the _toga_, the national garment
of the Romans, was originally worn both by men and by women; and though
the female dress of the Romans was in historical times essentially the
same as that of the Greeks, young girls still wore the _toga_ on festal
occasions, as we see from the reliefs of the Ara Pacis Augustae. In
early times no undergarment was worn save a loin-cloth (_subligaculum_),
which seems to be a survival of early Mediterranean fashions (see above,
sect. _Aegean Costume_), and candidates for office in historical times
appeared in the _toga_ and _subligaculum_ only. In this period, however,
the _tunica_, corresponding to the Greek chiton, was universally worn in
ordinary life, and the _toga_ gradually became a full-dress garment
which was only worn over the _tunica_ on important social occasions;
Juvenal (iii. 171) tells us that in a great part of Italy no one wore
the _toga_ except at his burial!
The _toga_ was a piece of woollen cloth in the form of a segment of a
circle,[27] the chord of the arc being about three times the height of
the wearer, and the height a little less than one-half of this length.
One end of this garment was thrown over the left shoulder and allowed to
hang down in front; the remainder was drawn round the body and disposed
in various ways. In the _cinctus Gabinus_, which was the fashion adopted
in early times when fighting was in prospect, the end of the _toga_ was
drawn tightly round the waist and formed a kind of girdle; this was
retained in certain official functions, such as the opening of the
temple of Janus in historical times.[28] In time of peace the _toga_ was
wrapped round the right arm, leaving the hand only free, much after the
fashion of the Greek _himation_, and thrown over the left shoulder so as
to fall down behind (see ROMAN ART, Plate II., fig. 11, male figure to
r.); or, if greater freedom were desired, it was passed under the right
arm-pit. In religious ceremonies, the magistrate presiding at the
sacrifice drew the back of the toga over his head; see in the same
illustration the priest with veiled head, _ritu Gabino_, who also wears
his _toga_ with the _cinctus Gabinus_. Towards the end of the republic a
new fashion was generally adopted. A considerable length of the toga was
allowed to hang from the left shoulder; the remainder was passed round
the body so as to rise like a baldric (_balteus_) from the right hip to
the left shoulder, being folded over in front (the fold was called
sinus), then brought round the back of the neck so that the end fell
over the right shoulder; the hanging portion on the left side was drawn
up through the _sinus_, and bulged out in an _umbo_ (Plate, fig. 24).
Later still, this portion, instead of forming a bundle of folds in the
centre, was carefully folded over and carried up over the left shoulder,
and in course of time these folds were carefully arranged in several
thicknesses resembling boards, _tabulae_, hence called _contabulatio_
(Plate, fig. 23). Yet another fashion was that adopted by the flamens,
who passed the right-hand portion of the _toga_ over the right shoulder
and arm and back over the left shoulder, so that it hung down in a curve
over the front of the body; the upper edge was folded over. The flamens
are thus represented on the Ara Pacis Augustae.
The plain white toga (_toga pura_) was the ordinary dress of the
citizen, but the _toga praetexta_, which had a border of purple, was
worn by boys till the age of sixteen, when they assumed the plain _toga
virilis_, and also by curule magistrates and some priests. A purple toga
with embroidery (_toga picta_) was worn together with a gold-embroidered
tunic (_tunica palmata_) by generals while celebrating a triumph and by
magistrates presiding at games; it represented the traditional dress of
the kings and was adopted by Julius Caesar as a permanent costume. The
emperors wore it on occasions of special importance. The _trabea_, which
in historical times was worn by the consuls when opening the temple of
Janus, by the _equites_ at their yearly inspection and on some other
occasions, and by the Salii at their ritual dances, and had (according
to tradition) formed the original costume of the augurs and flamens (who
afterwards adopted the _toga praetexta_), was apparently a _toga_
smaller in size than the ordinary civil dress, decorated with scarlet
stripes (_trabes_). It was fastened with brooches (fibulae) and appears
to have been worn by the _equites_, e.g. at the funeral ceremony of
Antoninus Pius.
The tunica was precisely like the Greek chiton; that of the senator had
two broad stripes of purple (latus clavus) down the centre, that of the
knight two narrow stripes (angustus clavus). A woollen undergarment
(subucula) was often worn by men; the women's under-tunic was of linen
(indusium). When women gave up the use of the toga, they adopted the
stola, a long tunic with a border of a darker colour (instita) along the
lower edge; the neck also sometimes had a border (patagium). The tunic
with long sleeves (tunica manicata) was a later fashion. Over this the
ricinium or rica, a shawl covering the head and shoulders, was worn in
early times, and retained by certain priestesses as an official
costume;[29] but it gave place to the palla, the equivalent of the Greek
himation, and the dress of the Roman women henceforward differed in no
essential particular from that of the Greek.
A variety of cloaks were worn by men during inclement weather; in
general they resembled the Greek chlamys, but often had a hood
(_cucullus_) which could be drawn over the head. Such were the _birrus_
(so-called from its red colour), _abolla_ and _lacerna_. The _paenula_,
which was the garment most commonly worn, especially by soldiers when
engaged on peace duties, was an oblong piece of cloth with a hole in the
centre for the neck; a hood was usually attached to the back. It
survives in the ritual chasuble of the Western Church. The Greek
military chlamys appears in two forms--the _paludamentum_ of the general
(e.g. Trajan as represented on the Arch of Constantine, ROMAN ART, Plate
III., fig. 16), and the _sagum_ worn by the common soldier (e.g. by some
of the horsemen on the base of the Antonine column, ROMAN ART, Plate V.,
fig. 21). When the toga went out of use as an article of everyday wear,
the _pallium_, i.e. the Greek _himation_, was at first worn only by
Romans addicted to Greek fashions, but from the time of Tiberius, who
wore it in daily life, its use became general. Long robes bearing Greek
names (_synthesis, syrma_, &c.) were worn at dinner-parties.
The Romans often wore sandals (_soleae_) or light shoes (_socci_), but
in full dress (i.e. with the toga) it was necessary to wear the
_calceus_, which had various forms by which classes were distinguished,
e.g. the _calceus patricius, mulleus_ (of red leather) and _senatorius_
(of black leather). This was a shoe with slits at the sides and straps
knotted in front; its forms may be seen on the relief from the Ara
Pacis. The senators' _calceus_ had four such straps (_quattuor
corrigiae_), which were wound round the ankle (cf. the _flamen_ on the
Ara Pacis), and was also adorned with an ivory crescent (_lunula_). A
leathern tongue (_lingula_) is often seen to project from beneath the
straps. The soldier's boot (_caliga_, from which the emperor Gaius
derived his nickname, Caligula) was in reality a heavy hobnailed sandal
with a number of straps wound round the ankle and lower leg. A high
hunting boot was called _compagus_. Women at times wore the _calceus_,
but are generally represented in art with soft shoes or sandals.
Hats were seldom worn except by those who affected Greek fashions, but
the close-fitting leather _pileus_ seems to have been an article of
early wear in Italy, since its use survived in the ceremony of
manumission, and the head-dress of the pontifices and flamines (cf. the
relief of the Ara Pacis already referred to) consisted in such a cap
(_galerus_) with an apex, or _spike_, of olive wood inserted in the
crown.
For personal ornament finger-rings of great variety in the material and
design were worn by men, sometimes to the extent of one or more on each
finger, many persons possessing small cabinets of them. But at first the
Roman citizen wore only an iron signet ring, and this continued to be
used at marriages. The _jus annuli aurei_, or right of wearing a gold
ring, originally a military distinction, became a senatorial privilege,
which was afterwards extended to the knights and gradually to other
classes. Women's ornaments consisted of brooches (_fibulae_), bracelets
(_armillae_), armlets (_armillae, bracchialia_), ear-rings (_inaures_),
necklaces (_monilia_), wreaths (_coronae_) and hair-pins (_crinales_).
The tore (_torques_), or cord of gold worn round the neck, was
introduced from Gaul. A profusion of precious stones, and absence of
skill or refinement in workmanship, distinguish Roman from Greek or
Etruscan jewelry; but in the character of the designs there is no real
difference.
See Marquardt-Mau, _Privatleben der Romer_, pp. 550 seq. (gives a full
collection of literary references); Cybulski, _op. cit_., pls. xix.,
xx., with Amelung's text; articles by W. Helbig, especially
_Sitzungsberichte der bayrischen Akademie_ (1880), pp. 487 seq. (on
headgear); _Hermes_ xxxix. 161 seq. (on _toga_ and _trabea_), and
_Memoires de l'Academie des inscriptions_, xxxvii. (1905) (on the
costume of the Salii); articles by L. Heuzey in Daremberg and Saglio's
_Dictionnaire des antiquites_, also in _Revue de l'art_, i. 98 seq.,
204 seq., ii. 193 seq., 295 seq. (on the _toga_). See also the general
bibliography at the end. (H. S. J.)