Roman MilitaryClothin (1)100 Be -AD 2

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OMAN MILITARY CLO HI G (1)ROM CAESAR TO CO MODUS,

100 Be - AD 200

INTRODUCTIONA oldin- nel'd not befr'm"l'd ifhe is clothed, cmned, hod, aII'd and has omf>thing;11 h' mone')' belt. (HA. em e and r, 52)

Annalus Daverzus, an auxiliarysoldier with Cohors 11I1Delmatarum. from his gravestonefound at Bingen, Germany - seePlate B2. This best preservedexample of the Rhinelandtombstones shows the strikinglycurved drapery of the earlyImpertal tunic (and also alegionary-style shield). Arectangular object seems to betucked Into a waistband underhis weapons belt. The fourthcohort of Dalmatians were laterstationed at Hardknott Fortguarding the crest of a bleakpass In Cumbria, north westEngland.

L: H ,eLI I (,REAl DL\L 0and equipm nL 1I d bbasi

TUNICS (TUNICA}Ther i very liLtle evid ne for the typ tunic u cd b the Roman armdLUing the R pu Ii , and recon'UU tion relic' n a ombination oflit raJ ' and arti ti vid n . W lI-kn wn' ulpLur in luding til t r

f Domitiu' Ah n arb I and th miliu Paullus III num nt, whil

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Late Republican/earlyImperial tunics onbronze statuettesfrom Italy:IA) Telamon,IB) Villa Glulla, Rome.Both wear short,short-sle v dtunics.

Late RepublicanJearly ImperialtunIcs worn by soldiers from thetime of Julius Caesar.IA) Mlnutlus, a centurion withLeglo III Martla from Padua, Italy;(8) a comlcen from Osuna,Seville, Spllin.

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Tunic dimensions, to constant scale: (Al Military tunicdescription from BGU 1564 - 1.55m long 111.40m wide.(B) Child's linen shirt, Nahal Hever, Israel, no.65762 (afterVadin) - O.38m long II O.45m wide. (C) Young adult's tunicNahal Hever no.6-210 (after Vadln) - O.65m long II O.gOmwide. (0) Mons Claudlanus, Egypt, tunic A (after Mannering)- O.80m long II 1.07m wide. (E) Nahal Hever, nO.2284 (afterYadln) - 1.0m long II 1.15m wide. (F) NUbia, Egypt, GraveQ150 (after Thurman & Wllllams)- 1.27m long 111.40m wide.

Part of a rare glass vessel fromVlndolanda, England, showing agladiatorial scene. The referee Inthe centre wears a typical broad,sleeveless Roman tunic In a buffcolour, with reddish-brown clavI,the two vertical stripes fromshOUlder to lower edge; the te""came from clavus, 'naif.(Vlndolanda Museum)

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ABOVE A relief from Metz,France, pOSlllbly showing amerchant and his customerexamining a tunic. Although thisIs not a military tunic, and Isprobably of a type known todayas a 'GalHc coat', It gives anImpression of the wIdth ofcontemporary Roman garmelfls.

ABOVE LEFT Late Republicanand early Imperial tunIcs -soldiers from the arch at Susa,Italy, dating from the reign ofAugustus. tAl appears to bewearing a '/orics segmentata',perhaps the earliest represen-tation of this type of armour.(B) seems to wearing only a tunicwith a fabric waistband.

BEarly Imperial tunics showingdrapery effects on tombstonessoldiers from the Rhineland areaof Germany:(A) Flrmus, of the CohorsRaetorum, from Andernach, and(Bl unidentified, from Bonn -both wearing paenu/a cloaks;(C) unidentified, from Bingen.

OPPOSITE late Republican andearly Imperial tunics In details offighting figures from the Arch ofOrange, dating to the reign ofAugustus (31 BC-AD 14). Thesoldiers' equipment Is easilyidentifiable from other sources,so It Is InterestIng that none ofthem appear to wear any armour.Just visible on (S) Is a knotbehind the neck, gathering theneck opening together.

pa for th ir equiprn nt, and d urn nts Ukclothing wp r ent ofa oldi r' pa bc ntury a it pain'miliLal

od supply of clothing

mad fr m wo I,than on wi th at

him an evening me I l \ hich h mi ht invit as man of hi fri nd as hlik d. An officer hould receive fift), dra 'hmas a da and twO 'uit'l oflothe I on to w ar a home and one to w ar wb n h W TIt out'.

cording to Mauriki (tmt. 1.2) >Idi rs in th eastern R manarm of th 7th ntury w re tunic mad li'om ith r r ugh w I, lin n

I' v n goa . hair. Lin n p iaily w uld b pr fi l-abl altem bV inh tter Iimal and als ft r m r Ii rmal ion . Th r ar t Itwo r fi rence t p ci I 'dina r luni (vestis r tunica cenalar7tL), nin a I tl r from indol nda (1: b. indo!. n 196), th ther a dinnerco tume giv n b th Emperor Alexand r vem ( 222-23r;) to

aximinu lh oun r r ord d in th criptol'e Hi lmiap AuguslaeI ,30).

xtant pap ru d umen fr m Egypt I' V al that bl ach d ornatural- olour illl n was favoured [or 'umm I' garm n whil w I I thwas worn in wint r. An in ncory f clothe b longin to Z non, amana r for Ap lion it ,finan mini l r to King Ptol m n in .257 BC,gi a 0 d indi alion f th wardrob s whi h oliciaJ and oldiersmi I1t own. Zenon p s, ssed 13 Ilmi (1:\ 0 of th m with leev ), nincloaks and ft ur pairs of cks.

nwry Rhin landmad [rom a fine

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OPPOSITE Relief from Nickenlch,Germany; the figure mayrepresent either Hercules, or aslave-trader. However, thh; Is oneof the best representations ofthe draped tunic and fabricwaistband. (RheinischesLandesmuseum, Bonn)

Early Imperial tunics ontombstones from Malnz,Germany.(AI Publlus Flavolelus Con:lus,Legio Xliii; his dress, includingthe sagum cloak, Is almostIdentical to that worn byauxiliaries like Daverzus (seepage 31, and he too seems towear a waistband with adocument or purse tuckedInto it.IBI Unidentified - andIt is impossible to state withcertainty, just from the soldier'sdress, whether he is a legionaryor an auxiliary.

~Illralis - was worn to flatten the bunching around tlle waist, thusconcealing how the drapes had been produced. These i1ll.erpretationsare purely speculative, however, and any interpretations from sculpturalevidence alone are always fraught with difficulties. Unless further

e\~dcncc is forthcoming tlle deliberation over the correct design of thesetlillies may never be resolved.

It is not known LO what extent lhe Rhineland type of ulIlic was womelsewhere ,,,itllin tlle empire but, to judge from the available evidence,this style \\IOIS only popular from around the beginning to tlle lauer halfof lhe lSI cemury, when il disappears entirely to be displaced by asimpler, perh,lps more utilitarian version, This practical form of tunicdearly e.XiSICd before tllC Rhineland examples, as it can be secn onthe Arch ofOl'ange (Augustus. 31 Be-AD 14), and on early Principalctombstones from Caesarca in Algelia. Il is also tlle tunic made familiarby its depiction on Trnjan's Column (Trajan r.AD 98-117), and theChatswonll relief (Hadrian, r.AD 117-138), and is dearly tlle slyle womby the Camomile Streel soldic.' frolll London. The diffcrences betweenthis lllnic and lhose shown on lhe early Rhineland tombstones arcreadily appm'cnt: il has a su-aighllower hem and very few folds at all.

Decoration - clavIAn inslalllly recognis.'l.ble fealUre of many survl\'mg tLInics from theRoman period are the lWO contrasting bands of colour known a.'i claviwhich run from the shouldcl1i to lhe IXHlom edges. Altllough senatorialand c

AFuemes beli~'ed lhal some musicians in a gladiatorial scene depictedon a mosaic from Zlilen in North Africa mar represent members of amilitary band; these men wear military style yellow-brown cloaks andhave short while wnics wilh black dfWi. (llowever. the presence of afemale member of the band playing a w',tlcr-pow('red organ may castsome doubt 011 the pl'csumed milillll)' stalliS of the others.) A couple ofthe portrait paimings from Egypl - discussed below - may also showCOllllllon soldiers, who have tllnics which al'e decorated with either redor black clavi.

TIle rklvi were wo\'cn ilHo the fabrics during manufacture. At MonsClaudianus, Egypt. the majOlil)' of clamonlexLile fragments were betweenInn and 4cm in width. bllllhcre were al~o a Illll'nber of fragmenLS lhalhad IwO and three stripes. The dUll; themselves are someUlllt::s decoratedand some of these examples can be around 7crn wide.

The dropped shoulder and 'bunched' neckOn Trajan's Colullln some scenes seem to illusl.nlle !.hat legionariesinvolved in conSlnLCUOI1 dUl.ies wore a special mnic which ",,'as letdo\,'n from the right shoulder, A similar appeamllce is found incivilian sources, e.g. representations of blacksmiths. However, modernre-enactors expericllce liuJc difficul}' in working in the basic tunic; andit should ,llso be remembered that soldiers wcre expected to work in fullannou,. if neccssal)', so should have been accustomed to any minorinCOllV('nience causcd by the wnic. (Might there have been a Romanequivalellt orthe 'Pioneer' Corps' who adopted lhis fashion? The literarysources seem to contradict the idea.) It seems that under normalcircumstances the wide neck opening of the tunic \'~d.S g

ABOVE SOldle.... from TnJan..Column, wearing the type oftunle whleh eould be let doWnfrom the right shoulder Or tied upbehind the nec:k In a knot. Theloose nature at the garment Isdearly evkient.

ABOVE RIGHT A depletion ofVulcan, blackamlth of the goda,from Bonn, Germany. ahowingthe tunle dropped from tM rightshoulder, and another renef fromYortl, England, shows the aameetfec:t. As both communities had aubalan1ial military preaenee,tM figures eould have beenmodelled on blaekamlths workingfor the army.

tying, and it is an unnecessary encumbrancewhen worn beneath annolll. TIlt' first objcctiondisappears as SOOI1 as one \....Ilches a womancasually tying her hair up behind without benefitof a mirror. The second seems more serious:nevenhelcss. the existence of this peculiar fashionis confirmed by il~ appearance in more than onesource, and when reconstructed U1C bunching at

the rear produces all the types of folds observed in the sculpturalrenditions of military tunics.

Alu10ugh there arc many texlile fragmenlS from military sites nocomplete examples of positively idelllilied military tunics exi!'il. If thcywere similar in manufacture and design to surviving tunics from thisperiod. e.g. those from Nahal Hcver, then another problem presenlSitself. As thc survi\ing tunics are broader than they are long, this lcaves alOt of sU'1,lus material belleaU1 the arms. Indeed, this phenomenon canbe observcd on the ChaISworu1 relief where the soldicrs are shown intheir undress uniform of tunic and belts (see pagc 46). This surplus ormaterial .....ould appear to be an inconveniencc. especially when thesoldier wore any fonn of body anllour. Modern re-enactors have favoured.. narTOW tunic, which may therefore be incorrect bill which does atlcastlit comfortably under the armour. This might seelll to lend support to theidea that Roman soldiers not onl)' wore a special tllnic when theyweill illlo action. but lhat it W".t.s of a difTerenl design. However, incontradiction of this, recent experiments carried OUI by members ofthe Ermine Street Guard indicate that UIC wide Hmic can be worncomfortably beneath al1110Ur - indeed, it provides additional padding.

Another feature which can be detected on the Chatsworth relief iswhat appears to be a narrow strap decoratcd llIiul studs which passesunder lhe righl arm and crosses over the left shoulder. Fuentesconfusingly termed this a 'pOlich bell' by analogy WiU1 those used by18th/19th celllury cavalrymen, but suggestcd lhat its function \\",lS torestrict any blousing of the material "..hich might interfere ....,th thedrawing of the sword. Even when \\caring an undress uniform soldiers

ndm

auxiliariesf th arl Prin ip

\ r ,till quipp d with id arm, n rail a

Relief of an olive harvester fromCordoba, Spain. He wears theshort-sleeved tu.nic of the typewhich could be let down off theshoulder, identical to those wornby some soldiers on Trajan'sColumn, with the wide neckopening restricted by a largeknot tied at the back.

MILITARY CLOAKS

but i originunrlVlng xampl e. i from aibl t r on LrU tide ign b

11 jud from Imperial s ulptllre the common oldiers appear to hayfavour d twO distin t typ of cloaks - the paenula and th agum - whil

ffi r' f lh rank c mun nand ab v had lh pLi n of waring amor formal 1 kn wn as a paludamenlUm. In R publican Limat rding ivy ( I, 4.9), ther wa 1 arl a i ibl diEfi r n

etwe n th loa' w rn b om e and heir m n. H des ribe h w lhTriblill Publiu D iu and' In f hi centurion wrapp d th m lyein ommon oldi'r cloaks to di gui their rank when th w n OUlonreconnaissance.

he prumula wa aIr ad e LabJ.i hmay hay b en ev n arli r. nop iti 1 military nl xt il i nJ P

Jibed as

, had

Praetorian Guardsmen shown insculptures from Italy; all wearpaeflula cloaks. (A) & IB) Arch ofDomitlan, Puteoll; (C) tombstone,Belglolosoi (D) Cancelleria relief,Rome.

Auxiliaries from Trajan's Column.Points of Interest are the fringedcloak, left, and the shortness ofboth tunics, worn just below thewaist. Both men also wearbreeches, probably of wool.

Camomile Street soldier had two different types of fastener on his cloak,though the sculplOr certainly felt it was worthy of recording for posterity.

Both the sagum and its shorter derivative, the sagululII, I\lcrc simplyrectangular pieces of hea\')' woollen material. The papYnls documentBGU 1564 includes an order for fall I' cloaks cach 6 cubits (2.66111) longand 4 cubits (1.17m) wide. These measuremcnts can be compared witha surviving cloak from Nubia which ....'as 1.75rn long x 1.05m wide; onefrom Nahal Ilcvcr (noo43) \\'hich '\~dS 2.iOm long x Io4Om wide; andanOlher example from Thorsbcrg in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany,which measured 250m long x 1.68m wide. The document records thatthe cloaks ShOllld weigh 3Y. minae (1.6kg), and each cost 24 drachmae(6 denarii).

The cloaks in BGU 1564 werc identical in size to a blankel recordedin the S

, 100) and -acsar ( ivil War, r. ~ .6). io assius (E.]Jil, 50A) ailiat eta-vian" tr p' put 11 their milit,H1' cloaks imm dial Iafter war had I n d clar d again tIp tra ev n Ihough Ihw r till in ROland lh en 111 wer n wh r n r, Thi,

o Jallon f particular gann nt with parti ular ireum tanI' info r . tJl id a til t 'oldi rs \ r difli r nl garments at

diffi I' nt tim . S th agwfI W uld b mor pra tical in battlthan th pflPnu[a \ hich auld mpl t I o' r the arm.it is perhaps not Irpri ing ilia' this lhe garm fitreferred to tll 'milita loak'.

h r IV re oth r unction' or th agul/I apart [I' mIh obvi us ne f k ping Ih wearer warm. It \d ubtl u ed b I Ii r n ampaign agr lind h t r blank t, and a cording t g tiu( :.flit., IV.) uld v n b trun LIp n b ttl m ntswab orb th impactofal'rm '. a itll (Hisl.. ,22)r late that when rebel 'oldier brok into aR man amp during th rev It 0 til Bata\~an.th Roman weI' S) tak n b urpli e that th

had" wrap 1o. around th ir r r arm. tathild-.Taciu'aL writ (I{t. ,23) that

on an th I' oc a ion the Batavianth m el . had v n r on d to u ing h ircloaks a ails.

It' a matter of debat a to wh ther loaksc uld b worn in battl . Juliu' a ar

ercainl did, whi h wa. on wa Ihat h wasinstantl gni abl ; and thi ma iJ lpl'that Ih r Sl f hi' men did n l. urinhi fli ht fr m th battl for th Pharo

I -andri., .ae ar 10 t hi I ak, \ hi h wa'sub eqllenu calTi d off b the Alexandrians as a hi hlprized u'oph' (Appiall, n. 90). n rajan, olumn,oldi r ngag d in baltl fight \ ith ut do' .. H w v r.

the R man, Idi r kill d \ h n a unl llllin lIap d duringth i g of Dura Eur p 2 wel' \ aring cJ a at thetim " th ir I ak bra \lrvi d.

A number of I ks d pi ted n rajan' ltunn and I wll I'cl arty have at Ie ton fring d edg . It i not certain if !hi was aign of 'tatus but it do app ar to e as ociated \ 1m higher Tad

troop' in luding Praerorian. bellifiriarii. aval m n, 'Land rdb ar r, nd nior ffi rs u h u'ibun s. ther uJpturindicat Ula.t m I ak w r dora d with I at the b ttom

com ( p g 47 and Pia 1).ni r m nLiLl d t w ar the p

paludam ilium. hi "'-"l W rn drap dol' Lh 1 fL hould randpartjail ov r th left ann. u h it wa vid nu more a mark of

rank rath r Ulan a practicaJ campaign garment, and affic r' are quaillike} to be n \ earing th _mor fun Ii nal sag-um. Th paludame-nlu1/1appear' t have b en r ctangular lik Ule sagum, although it ha. b nugg l d Ii' m ulptural idellc Lhat th low r m r ma havb n CUL a\Va and r LInd d II.

c mm n r d d luff in Lhmadder, unkn wn at that

LEFT Soldier in a peanuts cloak -apparently hooded - and scarf, Ina detail from the Adamkllsslmonument.

RIGHT Detail from Scene LXXXVIOn Trajan's Column, showingunarmoured soldiers on themarch. This man wears apaenuta clOak with the hoodvisibly thrown back and bothsides thrown up onto hisshoulders.

Paenuta cloak pattem,1.95m long x 3.1 m wide.(After H.Granger-Taylor)

b < l d in ~ nn

an

DYES AND DYEINGh

niquIIlg l eh-

on tilll nt

A typical etIvalryman depleted onTraJan's Column. He wears afringed sagum cloak over hisdagged mall shirt, short tunicand calf-length breeches,

v rLh 1of a numb r

CATALOGUE OF THE EVIDENCE FORTHE COLOUR OF MILITARY TU ICSAND CLOAKS

verbil,

b developm nt of practi al history' roup 'ing neral int r

incr ased

The Emperor Marcus ,t,urellus(r.AD 1111-16O).s commander-lochIef, from. stlltl,le now In tn.B.ltlmonl Art a.llery. He hllS pIIludamentl,lm f.stened on hisleft shoulder, draped around hIsblick, cllrrled f_lIrd IICntllSthe midriff 110

",ore a pUl'ple cloak. This apparently angered his African ally,thc NUlllidian king Juba L because lhis \\~,LS his own norma] aHire;~ubscquelllly Scipio was obliged to dress in white.

(5) Plutarch (c.ADSQ-120), LilH!$, Crassus, 23On I.he eve of the Hileful baule of Carrhae (53 BC), Crassus mistakenly",ore a black cloak. Nol surprisingly this was imcrpreted as a b.,d omen,and Cmssus had 1.0 revert to wearing a purple cloak. Why he shouldchoose to wear black instead of the general's colour ;s unexplained.

(6) Mosaic, Palestrina, Italy; date lmcertainThe next lWO subjects, the I>alcslrina mosaic and the ~udgcment ofSolomon' fresco, are perhaps the 1110st controversial as lOgetJlcr tJ1CYfonncd the cornerslOne of Fuentes' hypOlhesis on Roman lunic colours,in panicula.r for tJ10SC of tJ1C PmelOrian Guard and centllrions.

The Palestrina mosaic (sec lhis page) shows an Egyplian landscape";lh the Nile in flood and numerous exolic African animals. At the lowercentre a grollp ofsoldiers are galhered around what is clearly a temple.Fucntcs refen-ed to the datc of this mosaic as ranging from anywherebttwccn the lSI cell1ury BC and the 3rd Centllll' AD, but believed thatthe mosaic documented a \;s;t to Egypl by OClav;an (later the EmperorAugusfllS) aflcr the b.'mle of ACliulll in 31 BC. OCla\"ian's visit coincided\\;tl1 an abundanl flooding of the Nile which tJ1C mosaic seems 10 record.

~e\'ertJlelcss,other scholars are of the opinion tJlat the mosaic is in factA copy of a much carlier work by an Alexandrian school, tJmt no longcr~ur\'ives (this theory W'

Itam 7 In the taxt catalogue:pygmies dressed es militaryfigure', from the late Republican'.Judgemant 01 Solomon' fresco,Pompeii. 'The armour andequipment reflect deslgnacommonl)' used throughoutthe eastem MCtdltamaneanworld In the Hellenistic eta. Theright-hand figure la dressedentirely In ted clothing, with ated helmet crest.

Agrippa. According toSuelonius (AlIgtl.l"t1IJ". 25)AgJippa was in fuCI honouredby Octa"ian. who presentedhim witll a blue nag.

The historian Appian(V, 100) records that insomewhat similar circum-stances Sextus Pompey tookto wearing a blue cloakbecause of his victories atsea. What appears to be tlleonly other reference inRoman litCf""dturc to bluemilitary tunics is when Lhehistorian Vegetius (Epi/., IV,37), writing in the 4thcelllury AD, tells us thallhesailors in the British neetdyed nOI only their tunicsbut also the sails of theirships to match the colour ofthe sea.

Onc of the figures in the Patesuina mosaic tllat has been obviouslyrestored is the charactcr Fuentes idelllilied as Octavian. He appears towear a grecn mouldcd linen or leather cuirass - possibly with attachedgroin Haps, pteruges - over a white chiton. While moulded lincn or leaLhercuirasses are not alwd)'S thought of as being Roman, these details doconespond to othcr Maccdonian tomb paintings from Egypt. Taking thisimo consideration with the other evidcnce, including details of Lhesoldiers' dress (e.g. Creek-style bool~, unhades, rather Lhan Roman ca1igae,plus the Ebryptian setting), Me)'boorn concluded Lhat the figures on themosaic in fuet represent members ohhe elite troops oftJle Ptolemaic anny,tJle Macedoncs.

(7) 'The Judgcmcnt of Solomon', frcsco, Pompeii, Italy; latcRepublican/early ImperialFuente... argued lhal this court scene enacted by pygmies (see this page)echoed contemporary dress. Howe\'er. once more il is believed thaI thisfresco is a copy of an earlier Alexandrian work and Lhat tJlerefore tJleeOlllemporary dress is Ptolemaic rather than Roman. Fuentes assertedthaI twO of the soldiers wear white lunics, although al first glancc lhetunic of Lhe soldier about La cleave Lhe baby in half appears to be lightblue; Sekunda in r.'lCl states thal this lunic is blue. Howevcr, Lhe fresco isbadly damaged in places, including areas around this figure in particular.Whal appears as bluc may in fact be an attempt to render shading on awhile ganuenl, a lechnique that is evident elsewhere on the fresco.

The second soldier has a salmon-pink cloak. A tllird soldier wears adark. red tunic and cloak, which Fuentes believed marked him Olll as anofficer, most likely a centurion. Nevertheless, all three soldiers havesimilar rcd helmet crests, which would seem to weaken this tlleory.Vegetius, writing in the 4th century AD, records Lhat centurions wore

transverse silvered creslS to distinguish thcm in baLLle, but he does nmmelllion them wealing a differelll tunic colour as well. The crest of thethird soldier is certainly not transverse, nor does he show any of the usualattribUles associated with cellluriollS such as the vine stick or greaves.However, this soldier's armour and helmet are dilTerelll in colour fromthose of his companions, so Fuentes lllay be COITCCI in identifying thisman as all officer. But of which army?

(8) Tavern sign. Pompeii, Italy; late Republican/early ImperialTIlis wall painting (see this page) shows a soldier being offered wine bythe landlord. Apparently off duty, he wears only a tUllic and cloak butappears to cany a spear which could well be a weighted fribllTL If so, thissoldier would certainly be a legionary or a Pl'aetolian rather than a localpoliceman; he is in fact similar in ovcrall appeanll1Ce to the contemporarysoldiers, probably PraetOlians, on the Ca.nccllelia relief in Rome.

The soldier's cloak is clearly of the pae1l11la style and is a yellow-browncolour, apparently worn avera grer-green scarf. An alternative colour forthe pOeJwlo may be suggested both by a tombstone \\;th some painteddetails surviving, found at Castleford in Yorkshile. and the remains of acloak found with a bog body also discovered in Yorkshire in tJ1C 19thcelltul]'. In bolh cases the cloak was green. although il must be stJ'essedthat the identification of eitJler subject as a soldier is doubuul. A morepositive suggeslion is supplied by one of the Vindolanda writing tablclS,which refers to a white /Jae11111a. In ,'iew of some of the later evidencefrom Dura Europos discussed below, this conceivably belonged to ulecommanding officer of the cohort.

(9) Wall painting, House of Valerius Rufus (or of the Trojan Shrine);Region t, lns.6.4., Pompeii, Italy; late Republican/early ImperialIn the upper registers of a painting are two figures. a male and a female.The fonncr is almoured and wears a MOlllefortino-st)'le helmet with ared crest, a ,,,,hite linen cuirass and bronze greaves. He carries a large0"0'31 shield and a spear in his left hand, and a

A wax encaustic portrait fromEgypt (Item 23 In the textcatalogue), which may providefurther evidence that thewearing of red cloaks was muchmore widespread than previouslybelieved. The man wears a swordon his right side - the white,perhaps IVOry pommel with abronze terminal Is Just visible;and this position Is usually anindication of the common soldierof the early Imperial period. TheAntonlne hairstyle would appearto Indicate a date In the latterpart of the 2nd century AD, adate which supports the beUefthat his sword position is notthat of a centurion. His tunic Iswhl1e, with red clavI, and overhis left shoulder he wears a redsagum cloak which partiallyobscures his sword belt wIth Itsalternate bronze and sliver studs.(The Manchester Museum, TheUniversity of Manchester)

in threen.

01 ur n

ir naJu "

d pic d in a [r 0 romp 'ibl repr ents th

co Domus Aurea Rome Italy; early

Two more wax encausticportraits from ElMlt datingbetween the reigns of~an(AD 98-117) and Antonlnus Pius(AD 138-1611. Both men areIdentffled 8$ soldiers and wearwhite tunics with dark blue cloakson th.elr left shoulders. /AI seemsto be a common soldier, since asword pommel Is Just visible on hisright side. In contrast, (8) has 8sword belt crossing his rightshoulde,., so at this date he couldbe a centurion. His tunic has blackclavi; he also w ars a gilt wreath-see Plate G2.

ain (a \ividr nIdi r'

Declamati01les ill D clamalio 'Pr

ugg Lh l R man oldi , ore r dolour r

. r Ii blor hi

(15) Textiles, Vindolanda, Britain; late Ist century ADOUlofa ampl ofnearl 10 l xliI [ragmen from ind landa, 50 weI'anal d fi r d and vid ne\ fi und n nl nin f Lh . Manlh th r le til w r [unpigm filed I and Lh re r 'uirabl fi rd in , bUl had b nth aviJ r Lain d rr m burial l h VI an o-a e fd . Of Lh nin l til anal '" d. i hl w r d ed I' d' rn th r

appeared to have been a purple suipc. Thc red d)'c used was almoSlcertninly madder, rubia /hlct()l'U/lt, which in the case of Britain would havehad to be imponed. While a repon on the Vindolanda textiles concludedthaI the picture of Roman soldiers in red tunics may well be correct, weshould remember thaI the textile fragmcnLS are extremely small and maynot be exclusively from tunics at all. A recently translated document fromVindolanda actually refers to purple and red curtains...

(16) New Testament Gospels, Matthew, 28, 28; 1st century ADIt is perhaps of more than passing interest thaI the cloak the auxiliarysoldiers of theJerusalem ganison used to mock Christ, as documented byMauhew, was red. TIle reed stick and the crown of thoms immediatelyrecall the vine .stick that centurions carried, and the crowns orJeaves thatcould be awarded to these officers. When the soldiers nagged Cluislcould they have been \~cariouslygetting their own back on someone else?The otller Gospels all refer to a purple doak. Under the circumstances ared cloak is far more likely to have been readily available, but il isob\ious in what connotation the other Gospel writers regarded thesignificance of a pUl'ple cloak.

(17) Martial, Epigrams, XIV, 129; 1st century AD'When Manial described red canllsian cloaks he said that Rome worebrown, the Gauls red, but that this was a colour which bo)'s and soldiersalso Iikcd, although it is not dear whether Martial meant all soldiers.

(18) Pliny the Elder (AD 23/4-79), Natllral History, XX, 3;1st century ADPliny records that scarlet dye from the kennes was used for dyeing thepaludimleTllwn, the distinctive officer's cloak. He mentions thaI the mostcommonly used red dye. madder, was grown near Rome; but that themost prestigious red dye was obtained from the kermes (kmllococC1lSvenniliQ), a parasitic insect which infests the kennes oak throughoutsouthem Europe. He wrongly believed thaI the dre came from the berriesof the tree: it was in fact obtained from the female insects' egg sacks.

While red cloaks are ill\'aliably thought of as belonging to generals -e.g. Caesar (Gallic War, VII, 5) - even here we must exercise caution.When Sextus Pompeius (died c.36 Be) changed the colour of his cloak toblue as mentioncd above, Appian (died cAD 165) sa}'S lhat he changed itfrom the purple thal commandcrs usually wore ev, 100). (h'e"tl!, howe\'cr.there seems to be some confusion in texts both ancient and modem as tothe poi1ll. on the spectrum at which 'red' becomes purple.

(19) Tombstone (elL xiii 6277), Mainz, Germany; 1st century ADA rare example of a tombstone that sUlvived with some of its originalcolouring mar possibly indicate that the practice of wearing red cloakswas marc widespread among ordinary soldiers. Although the paint didnOl sur...ive for long it was possible to delermine that either Silius, aca...alry trooper in the Ala Picentiana, or his attendant (calo), had a redcloak. Meanwhile the remains of paint all another tombstone, that ofGnaeus Musius. the aquiliJer standard-bearer with Lcgio XliII GeminaMartia Victrlx, led the Gennan archaeologists who were creating areconstruction of the monument to restore the tunic as white. amlmrwl on pngr JJ

Part of a tombatone from VIenna,",,-tria, eommemorating Tltu'R.Iu, Drac:eus. He we-..lrymen, ..rvln, with Ala IFWrle Domltla'" Britannlea

"'l~ri. Clvfum Aomeoorum - thousandstrong British..,.Iment, Mnoured lor out-stM1dlng ..rvlc:. during theGerman Of' Daelsn eampalgn, 01the Emperor Domlt~n (AD 81-H1with bloc:k IInlnt 01 Romandtkenshlp. n.. tombatone h.dtnc:e, of origInal blue c:olouringstill survlvlnll on Drac:cus' upperpnnent.

(20) Pay receipt and textiles, Masada, Isrdcl; 1st century ADA recclllly excavated receipt sheds Iiglll on military lll11ics, and seems tocon finn lh:u even ordinary soldiers owned more than one. The receiptbelonged to C.~lessius, son of Gaius of the Fabian uibe, recnLitcd fromBeirut. In spile of his local origin il is believed lh;l1 he sen'cd in Lc~rjo XFn:lcnsis, possibly as a cavalryman, rmher limn in an auxiliary unit.Among the lisl of compulsory deductions from his pa}' were 7 clellani fora linen lllllie, and an unspecified alllount for a while tllnic. Cotton andGeiger suggested that as linen would have been an expensive item topurchase. this garment \,'ould !l,lve been kept for special occasions.However, I'>'C could expecl that in E..-.stcm climates soldiers may havepreferred linen to ,,'oollen garments. For inst;mce, during t.he Persianwars of the 4th century. Ammianus Marcellinus (XIX, 8.8) describes howhe and a companion tore up their linen clothes to make: a line so thatthey could lower a cdp into a welt to obtain water.

A lIulllber of linen and wool fragments were also uncovered duringthe excavations al A'!asada: these llluSt, however, be treated "ith greatcaUlion as possible e\idence for Roman ann)' tunics. Man}' of the textileswould undoubtedly have belonged to lheJe\\;sh defenders and civilianspresent at the siege. and some of lhe fragmenu; were dearly not fromclothing at all. Nearly all of tJle linen textiles were left undyed but it was110t dear how white they would have been originally. It is t.herefore fairlysafe to suggest that the linen Ilmic mentioned in the Masada pay receiptwas white. A tme while had probably only been achieved by one textilefragment, which had been made from lamb's wool.

By wa}' of contrast, more than half of the 105 wool textiles that wereanalysed had been dyed. Of these 14 were red. which ranged in shadefrom a salmon-pink to dark maroon, whilc six other examples wereeiulci' plajn blue or blue-green. ContraSting colour bands in dark blue,purple or mauve were observed on several fmgmenLS. It \l'"dS noted thatmost of the coloured textiles would originally have been wom bywomen. and this is supponcd by Jewish literaLUre and the Egyptian

funerary ponraits from U1C Roman period, where men's lunics are.-nc:r:Z;:.:"!;1;l'!'''''~ almost wilholll exception white. Ilowe\'cr, one textile

frdgmclll. consistlllg of tWO tluck sel\'edges which hadbeen sewn tOgelilCr and dyed red. \..~.:tS believed to come

from a man's tunic, and with reference to Fuentes'anic1e il ......AS thought possibly a mililal)' onc. But at

least one Egyptian funeral poru-ait depicts awoman in il scarlet-red tunic. so once more lhisevidence is inconclusive. In addition, whileJewish law forbade men from \\'caring colouredlunics there is evidence that, like the Romans,

Jewish people did not always follow the rules.The Babylonian Talmud refers to a Jewish man

who wore a Ilew Roman red tunic while wiulin apcriod of mourning.

""',., "~J.~" .' " . ..... We owe .nllld~ of our kno\\:ledg~ Ol~ tJle Roman",,,' '

Bar Cioras, tlied to tunnel out of the cit)' withsomc of his followcrs, but was unable to get pastthe Roman lines. It appears that Simon tried -unsuccessfully-to bluff his way pa.'it Roman guardsby disguising himself as eit.her a Rornan soldieror an onicer. for he wore a number of whitetllnic.'i and a reddish purple cloak (8j, 7.26-36).Interestingly.lhe combination ofa ,I'hite tunic ,\;tha red or purple cloak will appearscvcral times later.

(2l) Papyri, Egyptj 2nd century ADAmong tJ1C huge collection of ancient documentsdiscovered in Egypt in a remarkable state ofpreservation are at least two pap)'Ii which refer tothe delivery of clothing to provillcial armies.Together thcy suppOrt the belief that localcommunities supplied tJle army: nevertheless. it isinteresting to note that villages in Egypt weresupplying troops as far awa) as .Iudaea andC'\ppadocia (now part of modern Turkey), Thereis, howe-ver, other evidence that the sending orcollecting of military supplies over great distanceswas not llnusual. A strength report of c.AD JO,iJrelating to COhOIOS I Vcterana HispanorumEquilata, found in Eb')'pt but probably dating 10 aperiod when the unit was based in Macedonia,acruall)' records tJU\I soldiers had been SClll allLheway LO Gaul (France) to obt.'\in clothing.

Fuentes found it surplising that one of theseEg)'Ptian documents recording the delivery of 19 tunics for the 'guardsand soldiers' scning in Judaea also referred to fi\'e white cloaks. 111isseemed to contradict the otJler pictorial evidence, which largelysuggested that military cloaks in genernl should be )'ellow-brown.Howevcr, the papyT1ls documelll BCD 1564 also refers to four whitecloaks, providing the addit.ional term Syrian'. To Ihese can now be addedthe white cloak from the Vindolanda document, and IWO while cloaks onthe Fresco from Dura Emopos (to be discllssed in the forthcoming second\'olume of this study); while anmher papynLs from a slightl)' later daLe infact mentions lhe 'comrollers of lunics and white cloaks'.

There is anothl'r point of interest. bearing in mind that Romanmilit'H)' documents arc quite minute in their demil. Thesl' docllmentsrelate to the suppl), of clothing firsuy to the soldiers in Judaea, andsecondly to Lhe armies in Cappadocia. It is kI101\'I1 that botJl provincialgarrisons at this period comprised both lcgionall' and auxiliary troops.So il is surprising that the documents do nOI specif}' whether theclothing iii for legionaries or auxiliaries. It is debatable. IhereFore.whether an)' attempt was made to differentiate between citizen and non-citizen soldiers b)' tllC wearing of dineremly coloured llmics. AlthoughTacitus (/-list., I, 38: III, 47) refelOS on a number ofoccasions to distinctiveweapons ;uld equipment used by auxiliaries, in contrast he also alludeslO a policy of Romanising the allied armies by gi\'ing them Romanarmour and Slllndards. If both types of soldier ret:ei\'ed their clothing

a>POSITE Detail of the mld2ndc.rtury Bridgeness dlstsnce sl.b....... the Antonln. W.II In~tland litem 25 In the t.1ttcNlog....l. The scene shows .-tary IJIICrifice carried out by_be.., of leglo II Augutltlll, lilt_lcat.d by the lIeJI1//um flag In... bltCkground. Behind the-.tnI1 figure, dressed In ... - possibly the legion"_mander Cl.udlus Ch.rall-_ four other ...ldl..... On theIMt 1$ m.n .P98rently we.ringa -.gum cloak; the ..cond from.. right w...... a paenula. Red,.,mt w.s discovered on thelIocly of the figure at the elttremedght, who Is al... possibly_ring a p.enula.

Apart fTom paenula .nd sagum,411ther lerms such abolle end-.:ema .,.. u.ed In ancient_.relure, bYt the may simplyhrte been e.t.m.tI...e n.m.s for... Arne cloaks rath.r then_pletely different d.slgns.a.lc.1 write.... "".re fer moreCDnCemed with style th.n with....utla. of physical desc:riptlon,..a w.,.. trained to .'lOkIrwpeatlng the ..m. words.

from the same supply sources one could conclude that it was likely thatbOlh wore the same colour tunics.

On the other hand, Fucntes suggested thallocally recruited auxiliariescould have \\'0111 lheil' own u-aditiomlily coloul'ed regional clothing. Forinstance, in thc earl)' 1st cenlUI1' lhe Creek histOlian Su-abo (GfoIK., 3. 3.7) described hO\\' the men in a number ofSpanish lribeS dressed in black,which may have been reneclcd in the colour of the tunics of lhetribesmen rccnliled illlO the A'Itlllian infanu1' and cavah1' units raisedfrom lhese regions. Almost cenainl)', before the reJorms of Augustuswhich established the attxi!ill on a professional footing, new recruitswould have provided lheir own clolhing, a practice which mayor Ill:!}'nO! have conlinucd for some Lime aflcrwards. If there was adesignatcd colour differcnce between dLil.cn and non-citizen soldiers it isnot known how this applied to those dlizens who are known LO havcfonned some units of the auxllill. or if Lhe cohorts of citi7CIIS were

distingui~hed in an}' warThe best cvidence for the colour or auxiliary tunics are lhc rrescoes

from Dura Europos, Luxor and C,stcllum Dimidi (to be discussed in lheforthcoming second pan of !.his study). Frustratingl)'. lhese all dal,e fromafter lhl: Constillltio AnLoniniana b)' which the Emperor Car::.calla (AD211-217) granted Roman citizenship to all freeborn inhabitants of theempire. wiping Oul at a sLroke the u'::'lditional differences between citil.enlegionaries and non-citizcn auxiliaries.

(22) Terlullian (born c.AD 160/AD 170). De CQrolla Militi.s, 1.3.Tertullian describes a soldier being accused of being a Chrislian becausehe rerl.l5eS lO wear a military crown. Before uial call commence theaccused is slripped of his milit;u1' insignia including his cloak, sword andsandals, until he is lefl clad 'on1)' in rcd'. Of furthcr interest isTermllian's descripliol1 of the milit

figures wear. A comparison with tombstones from the early Prindpate...."Quld sU'ongly suggest thaI those figures with sword belts crossing fromtheir light shoulder to their left side would be centurions, who al thistime wore their swords on the left. Most of these men, whether their beltscross to the ten or the lighl side, wear white tunics and blue cloaks; ifsome of them are centurions then the}' are nOl distinguished in anyob\ious way. One (see page 22) wears a red cloak.

Although the Fa)'um portraits genera.lly depict ant)' lhc subjcct's headand shoulders another ponrait. from Dcir-eJ..Mcdinah neou' Luxor anddating to the l1lid-~rd cenlury AD. shows the soldier dO\\11 to his waist andreveals much of his ,sv.'ord. Like the men in the otht'r portf

On Trajan's Column all thelegionary soldiers have theirscarves tucked beneath theirarmour; but the aweJlla. bothfoot and horse. wear the rsoutside the armour. tied at thefront - as Illustrated by thisdramatic example, an auxiliarywith his hands full While takingtrophy heads from Daclan dead.There seems no practical reasonfor this convention, which Isrepeated on the Column of

arcus Aurelius; pam ps theonly explanation Is that this wasone of the artists' conv ntlonalways of dlstlnguishlng the non-citizen auxiliaries from thecitizen legionaries.

OTHER CLOTHING

fi l.-

it

again

ci

e fr m

The tombstone of Apinosus, "wortlman from Nievre in France,shows" rare Instance of a scarfworn olltslde the other clothing.This particular example is a longstrip of material - est mated atabout 1.70m - with fringed ends.It Is very similar to two scarvesfound in an Iron Age burial fromDenmartl; and, of course, tocountless scarves worn today.

BELOW Barbarian auxiliary fromTl"aJan's Column, wearing baggytrousers; there appears to be afabric belt around his waist, butIt could also be the top of thetrousers rolled down. Finds ofsimilar trousers from Germanic

sites have addedbelt-loops

around thewaist.

Children" soc:b fTom elUler endof the Roman EmpIre: top, fromEgypt, end ebove, fromVlndolanda, England, Theyllluatrate the varying quality In'loman tertllea aa welt .a twodlfferenl soc:k dealgna. TtMoElWPtlan verslOf'! would be wornwith open, Hndal.type boola .ndh.a. se~rately knitted big toe10 allow e boot strap to pa..between the toea. TheVlndolanda eumple la cNde by

com~ria.on, end Is made from anupper and Hie roughly tackedtog.eth.... thl. ty~ could be womwtth the enclosed type of boola.(The Manchealar Ml/Mum, TheUnlventlty of ManchHter, andVlndolanda Museum)

A ca~u. - en enclo.ed boot ofthe type used by orncera - foundat the IHlatecl deMlrt fOI1 alOur, lbrim, Egypt. (CopyrightThe Britlah MUlle1Jm)

in Pompeii shows two fares wearing purple-coloured sashes over I.heirwhite tunics, A similar colour scheme could be envisaged Ivorn by ofT-dUly military men.

Experiments by Peter de Haas with a reconstnlcted \\'aistband used apiece of material 350cm long x 30cm widc. A llumber of obscwduonswere made when the waistband was I\'orn with replica armour. II. wasfound that the I"'listband supported the back, making il easier 10 endurethe \\'eight of the armour, A waistband would also have prc\'ellled anyrough edges from the rivets on the back of the bells from ripping !..hetunic; and would certainly cover an)' LUCks around the ''''list if thcy wcrcdeemed unsighuy. If ule last turn of ule waistband \....."'s doubled a pOLichabOLlt IScm deep \\~dS created, providing a useful poekCL On militarytombstones a rectangular object often appears to be tLicked illlo U1Cwaistband. and in Ult~ case of me aI/xi/ill ulis has been referred to as uleirdischarge diplomas. However. a." le{,riomuics c."lrry them 100, alternativesuggestions are thattJ1CY are wriling tablets or Icaliler purses,

If Roman soldiers did indeed adopl the practice of wearingwaistbands, Ihen two other sculptures may suggest where theyoligimued. An El.ruscan I""'rrior on an urn from Volterra has a band ofmaterial wound around his waist instead of:t belt: and the sculplllre ofa Celt now in Avignon r.,'IUSCUIll, France, also reveals a similar band ofmateria!' but in Illis case JUSt visible beneath his sword belt. In bolllinstances ule warriors wear theil' sashes over a mail shirt. perhaps addinga splash of colour to an armour iliat was othen\'ise quite dull.

Military bootsIn spite of being perhaps Ule bcst-knOl\'n item of mililary c!ouling. thereis pr-dcucally no evidence - archaeological, sculptural or oLherwise - forRepublic'lIl military footweal', lnvariabl)' sculptures from ulis perioddepict Roman soldiers barefoot, bm it is generally accepted amongmodern scholars that Ille details of footwear \\'ould originally ha\'e beenadded in paint which ha" long since WOn1 ofT.

One notable exccpuon is a tombstOne from Padua in halyrepresenting Minucius, a centlll'ion, which appears to show an enclosedboot probably of the type known in the ltupeJial period as a cakeus. TheCflkew c:.lme in three variants which reflected ule status of the .....earer-either patrician, senalorial or equestrian. nlerefore in the anny uleywould only ever be WOI11 by senior oOkers, including IllC emperor if heled his troops in Ihe field. There are references in Roman literature to the

booLS of SenalOl1i beingeither scarlel or black,which coLild be interpretedas meaning they were madeof leather dyed scarlet tiedup with black thongedlaces. ealai were almostcertainly made with softleallter uppers thai do notsurvive very well, I\'hilesculptures also sholv Illcmas having a clearly definedscparalc sole. Conscquenu)'

n,. sole 0' blIdl)' worn hob-n.lIed mlllt.ry boot 'romVlndol.nd England, pemapsevidence of the .pparentdlnleulty 01 .upj)l)'lng thl.partleular fort .Ituated In u..eefll,. of the northem frontierzone. While providIng a firm gripon grass the nail. on the IOle.CO

Enclosed marching boot fromVindolanda, England. These wereamong the early successors tothe classic caligae. (VlndolandaMuseum)

Late 1st century AD nailingpatterns from Vindolanda, afterC.van DrlelMurray. Nalls werenot hammered into the sole In arandom manner, but In regularpatterns which demonstrate thatthe Romans understood theprinciples of the distribution ofweight on the foot duringmarching. Weight is placed firston the heel and then transferredforwards diagonally towards thebig toe. Accordingly, theplacement of the nails generallyfollows a 'D'-shaped pattern.Modem scholars have noted thatthe Romans anticipated theprinciples of computer-designedsport shoes almost 2,000 yearsearlier.

Detail of a relief In Romeshowing a sacrificial scene fromthe time of Marcus Aurelius. Theattendant Is dressed eJl8ctly assimilar mill1ary attendants areshown on Trajan's Column.

MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS

J..

,.

A

L

Tombstone of a cavalryman, M.Aemllius Durlses fromCologne, Gennany, The deceased Is shown as if at hisfunerary banquet dressed In civilian clothing, along with hisservant.

Examples of recycled clothing - not to scale. (A) Both sidesof a tunic made up from an old cloak, found at MonsClaudlanus, Egypt (after Mannering). (BI Textile fragmentwith a 'gamma' pattern found at Vlndolenda, England (afterWildl; the gamma was a darf(er colour, probably purple, andwas almost certainly from a cloak. Like the eumple fromEgypt, this fragment appears to have come from a garmentmade up from re-used cloth.

alIiRW Teil II,

monuc i, ., L'Eserrito di' Cesare 54-44 a.c.,(Milan, 1996)

B alti, ., Tlw A.rt of nrimt 'reere and Rome(L ndon, 196 )

Bi 'h p, M. '., Thl' Devl'lopmpnt oj Roman Alilitar)'eqnipment in tilt> Fint Rlltwy AD and its reLellanrl!to tlU' rm and, oriety, ( h meld 19 1)

Bishop, oulsLOQ, j. . ., Roman lilitaryEquipment, (London 19.3)

ou n, .L., .eig r, j., lHasada fl: Filial Report,The Latin and rl'ek Documl'ntJ~ U r aI 111 19 9)iadi, , The My tmous Fa wn P01traif : Fare

from Rorrut1l l~'gypt, (L nd n, 199 )Fink, R. " RfJlnnn l'vlililaT)l Records on Pap),rus,

(Cas We t rn Re rv niv rsi ,1971)Fu me', ,,'Th Roman LiliLa, Tuni' in

Daw n ( d.), Roman Military Equipment: Thl'rroutml/Pllt oj W(I/; Proc/' ding. oj lhe Third1ilitary EquijJmPIII Re earrh ,eminnr Brili..\hrrhaeological RRport, 1m r 336, 1 7 x.ti rd)

\Ie b om, P..P., The ile Mo.wir oj Pale tlina,( work. 1 95)

be ta j., c B nfant , L. (ds.) Thf' World ojRoman 'ostwlle (i n in, 19 4kunda ., he Ptolemaic .tinny, ( Lo kp n, 19 5)

haw, ,,'R man 1 a' " Exerritl , 1 4 and 5J9 2 ( lou e l r)

heffi r, ran r-Ta 'lor, H., 1asada I : Fi1wlReport, The Textiftt-s, (Jem alem, 1 4)

tunnel' "Roman nn)': War: oj the Empire,(L ndon, 1 7)

Wild, J.p., ' hB 19i a andp.362-423, 19

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Principal ancient ources (avaiJabJ as itherLo b Classical Library or Penguin tran lations):.-\.ppian, ivil War.. The A Illfl tan Hi tone.

criptor Hi I ri ugusla - I ); a al~The Civil 1 aI' and Til.!' Gallic War: DioHi 101)1; Fr n linu., trategem '; Horae, atiT:;Hdoru , Origin ..Jllvenal The Sixteen alires; Li The Hist(1)l of Roml!' Martial Epigrams; vid Ar.-\matoria; Peu' niu, at'rieon: PIau ll. MileG/ol'io 'us; Plio til Eld r, atural Hi to ':Plutarch, Live.; u t niu Li e oj the TweltlP.fIe (IT:; a illl, , nna!.s ;md IE torie " arr, OntgricultltTl', nd Leain Language; tius, c-)itomeof MilUm cience: irgil, The ellcid.

THE PATESA: THE FALL OF THE REPUBLICA1: Gaius Julius Caesar, c.57 BCAlmost everything Caesar did was calcuLated to get himselfnoticed, and this naturally extended to his taste In dress.Apart from his famous red cloak there is little mention ofdistinctive military equipment; but Suetonius tells us that onat least one occasion during the Gallic war, Caesar dressedas a Gaul to pass through enemy territory (Suet.. LVIII). In thebattle against the Nervii (57 BC) Caesar grabbed a legionaryshield and fought in the front rank to encourage his men.Here the shield is based on an example shown on stonereliefs from Nart:Jonne. France, probably from a monumentcommemorating the conquest of Gaul. It Is decorated withgold- and silver-plated fittings as described by Suetonius(Suet., LXVII). Caesar's muscle cuirass is also based on theNarbonne reliefs. Although it is decorated with a lozenge orrhomboid motif it is rather plain by comparison with otherstatues showing armoured figures, and the reliefs maytherefore accurately record Caesar's battle armour.A2: Marcus Llcinius Crassus, c.53 BCAlthough Crassus earned a reputation for amassing avast fortune by highly unscrupulous methods, his careerwas not without military success,his most notable exploit beingthe defeat of Spartacus in71 BC. It was h s desireto emulate the achieve-ments of Caesar andPompey the Great thatled to his death atCarrhae dUring adisastrous campaignagainst the Parthians.Crassus Is depictedhere as described byPlutarch, 'replacinghis black cloak with apurple one' (Plu.,XXIII). His portrait iscopied from a bust inthe Louvre, Paris, butamended to matchCicero's descriptionof Crassus as the'bald heir of theNannei'.A3: SextusPompeius (diedc.36 BC)Although represented byAugustan propagandaas little more than apirate, Pompeius was Infact one of Rome's fewsuccessful admirals. Heestablished an ndependentpower base in Sicily, andremained a thom in the side ofthe second Triumvirate until hisdefeat in 36 BC. As a result of

Remains of lhe slatue ofa soldier from Cassaco,northern Italy,apparently wearing asash-like waistbandbeneath hisweapons belts - cfPlate C3.A writing tablet fromVi.ndolanda refers tosoldiers repairingclothing. Including awaistband. ventra/em.to be repaired andrestltched. Therectangular object(centre) Is probably apurse tucked Into thewaist band. It Is not evidentwhether this soldier Is a legIonaryor an aultlllary.

his tong run of victories at sea Pompelus styled himself 'Sonof Neptune' and wore a blue cloak, according to both Appianand Dio Cassius (XLVIII. 48). It was unusual for Romans of thisperiod to wear beards but Pompeius clearly wears one on hiscoins, perhaps in mourning for his father Pompey the Great.

All three men were both patricians and senators and thusentitled to a paludamentum cloak and a tunic with broadpurple stripes - the tunica laticlavia. All three wear thedistinctive calcel boots worn by Rome's elite; variousversions of these are Indicated in Roman literature and art.Caesar wore red-coloured boots (Dio Cassius, XLIII), whileothers could be tied with black thongs or decorated withsilver crescents (JuvenaJ VII, 192).

B: GUARDIANS OF THE NORTHB1: Legionary, Germany. AD 14At the beginning of the reign of nberius the armieson the Rhine and Danube frontiers mutinied overservice conditions. The physical appearance of thisLegionary matohes the account by Tacitus, while hisarmour and equipment are based as closely aspossible on the latest discoveries from Kalkrlese,acknowledged as one of the sites of the runningbattle known as the 'Varus disaster' in AD 9. He Iswearing a red military tunic and has replaced thestandard issue boots With a type called carbatinae.which are frequently found on milrtary sites inBritain and Germany, but are not normally

considered military boots. He has adopted a nativefashion - around his legs are wool wrappings. whichsculptural evidence from this period would suggest wascertainly not an official practice. The shield, based on theArch of Orange, France, shows a design associated with

Tombstone of a soldIer - possibly attached to the governor'sstaff - found at camomile Street, London. He wears a simpletunic beneath a psenula cloak; the latter appears to have twodifferent styles of fastener, classed as the 'button and loop'type. See Plate 83. (Courtesy of the Museum of London).

Leglo II Augusta, wllo were Involved In the mutinies and.....ere later based in Britain.82: Auxiliary, Germany, AD 20-50Reconstruction of a dress unifOlTTl for an auxiliary Infantrymanbased on Rhineland tombstones, in particular that of AnnaiusDaverzus from Cohors Ill! Delmatarum (see page 3). WlthotJtevidence from the inscriptions on these tombstones there isoften 00 obvious way of telling whether the soldier Is alegionary or an auxiliary - in fact the auxiliary tombstones aresometimes more elaborate than their legionary counterparts.As neither tunics nor cloaks had pockets, valuables could betucked into the waistband, and many tombstones appear toshoW a purse protruding from its folds.B3: Benefic;arius, Britain, AD 70This figure )s based on the tombstone found at CamomileStreet, London, which almost certainly represents one ofthe provincial governor's staff. The soldier was possiblya beneficiarius, a man selected to carry out wide-rangingspecialist administrative duties, Indicated by the wax-coatedWliting tablets wIlich he carries. These duties includedinteUlgence, internal security and supervision of tax-collecting. Both legionaries and auxiliaries IleId this rank. andagain there Is no known distinction, perhaps other thanquality of equipment. Benefic/arii were Identified by a speciallancehead: this example Is from Germany - later vernlonsbecame very elaborate. He wears a whlle (unbleached)paenuia, as described In a document from Vindolanda onHadrian's Wall, alld enclosed boots with socks based onfinds from the same site.

c: OUTPOSTS OF EMPIREC1: Auxiliary, Caesarea, Algeria, AD 40Unlike the tombstones of similar date from the Rhineland,

those from modern-day Algeria reveal a simple style of tunicand cloak. Black clavi are seen In several North Africansources but their use at this pefiod is conjectural. Uke manycosmopolitan centres In the empire Caesarea had a volatilepopulation and riots were common. This tigure Is probably inwalking-out-dress, and a cudgel known as a tusUs was anecessary addition. They were used in crowd oontrol- and tobeat to death soldiers who fell asleep on sentry duty, apunishment known as fustuafium.C2: Auxiliary, Judaea c.AD 30This soldier is dressed in local garb, which follows Greekfashions, while carrying out surveillance duties. A truncheonIs concealed beneath his cloak (known In the Greek-speakingEast as a h/malion): although not visible from this angle, thecorners woold probably be decorated with 'gamma',shapeddesigns in contrasting coloor - see Plate H3. Jewish sandalsappear to have been worn without characteristic Romanhobnails (Shabbat 6.2). One modern ekplanation tor this wasthat nailed boots enabled Jews to hear when Roman soldierswere approaching...C3: Auxiliary centurion, Judaea, c.AD 30This centunon is dressed in a tunic, paludamentum andwaistband. He holds a vitls vine stick, the centurion'snotorious badge of rank; It is held in a manner quite differentfrom the way ordinary soldlern hold the fustis. According tothe Gospels, one 01 the auxiliary units stationed in Judaeawas an 'lIaJian' cohort: details of costume and equipmeot aretherefore based on finds from Italy, including the waistbandfrom the Gassaco sculpture. However, the sword scabbard isfrom Pula, Croatia. The Roman soldiers at the crucifixk>n ofChrist divided his clothes amongst themselves by castinglots (Matthew, 28, 35-36): if nothing else, this tells us thatthey had a use for civilian garments.

LEFT Marching soldlar from the AdamkU..lmonument, Romania, earty 2nd century AD-see Plat. D1. Unllk. his cOl"It.mporarl.sdepicted on Trajan's Column In Rome hewears no a""our and doee not carry amarching pack; thie may therelore Indlc:at.eom. to"" of parade or drill dress. Also unlikehie lellow leglonariee on the Column, he Ieshown wearing caltlength breeches.

ABOVE Two una""ourvd $Oldl....from TraJan's Column -. sllngerand a stone-thrower. Both menuse their cloakS to carrymissiles, and wear similartunica 10 the leglOl"larles shownon tha Column - cf Plata E3.

D: EXPANDING THE EMPIRE01: Legionary, Dacian Wars, late 1st century ADBased on the Adamklissl monument in Romania, thismarching legionary wears no armour and has no marchingpack - unlike his contemporaries depleted on Tra]an'sColumn; this could represent a light marching order or evendrill dress. Another difference from TraJan's Column IS the useof wool bracae, breeches worn to iust below the knee. Thismanner of carrying the pl/um, like the modern 'Slope arms'position, IS seen on both the Adamklissi monument and theCancelleria relief in Rome.02 & D3: legionaries, fatigue dress, Dacian warsBoth men wear the light 'working order' as depicted onTrajan's Column. The rear view D2 shows the tunic gatheredand tied into a knot at the back of the neck. Both men carrythe standard army pickaxe or do/abra. Trajan's Column stillshows all soldiers weanng caligae. Figure 03 Is a Germanrecruited into Imperial service. As well as the basic Romantunic, wom untied and off the right shoulder to allow freemovement of the arm, he has retained Items of native onglnncluding the knee-length bracae and leggings; the design ofthe latter is based on finds from Denmark. but in thiS casethey have been made from re-cycled tunic cloth.

E: EXPANDING THE EMPIREE1, 2 & 3: Auxiliaries, 1st-2nd centuries ADThese are based on the columns of Trajan and MarcusAurelius. E2 Is a barbarian club-man, probably of Germanorigin, carrying a simple shield made from planks of woodglued together (later even Roman shields would be made Inthis way). He wears baggy wool trousers Similar to thosefound at Thorsberg, Germany. The short half IS not necessarilyindicative of service in the Roman army; Tacitus informs usthat it was a custom amongst some Germans to shave offtheir beards and cut their hair after they had slain an enemy(Germania. 31). E1 is a Irregular archer with a long-sleeVedtunic, trousers and wool cap; leg bindings - like 19th/20thcentury puttees - were common in the later Roman penod,

but the existence of bandage-like material at the 1st centuryBritish site of Vindolanda suggests that they were used evenearlier. E3 Is a stone-thrower. perhaps from northern Greece,as troops of this type known as PSI/Ol had fought in ancIentGreek armies. He uses a 'bagged' fold of his cloak to hold asupply of ammunition.

F: THE POWER BEHIND THE THRONE1, 2 & 3: Praetorian Guards,1st-2nd centuries ADWe can only guess at how the personal whims of profligaterulers like Nero (AD 54-68) or Elagabalus (AD 218-222) werereflected in the dress and equipment of the Imperial guards.Figure F1 may offer a clue, but the evidence is slight and Isbased on a single wall painting in the Golden House of Nero.He wears a slivered and gilded bronze 'Iorica segmentata' ofCorbridge type. but with bronze edging. Together with theEtrusco-Corinthian style of helmet, it gives an overallHellenistic effect which would be In keeping With the tastesof many emperors. inclUding Hadrian. Around his body isdraped a red paludamentum.

Figure F2 is taken from a tavern sign In Pompeii datingbefore the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79. The cloak Is thecommon yellow-brown colour but with dark reddish-brownclavi. The shield is of traditional design and Is based on thenear-contemporary Cancellaria relief in Rome; a figure on thisrelief is dressed in similar fashion to the Pompeii figure, but hiscloak is shorter. The men in both sources hold weighted pi/a.

Figure F3 is a soldier from the Hadrianic relief now inChatsworth House, England. He wears a loose-frtting tun cover an under-tunic, gathered and tied behmd the neck. Astudded strap crosses the body from left shoulder to rfghtside at a high angle; it resembles some seen in the laterencaustic funerary portraits from Egypt.

G: POLICING THE GREEK EASTG1: Marine, Athens, mid2nd century ADThis reconstruction is based on a well preserved tombstone

LEFT Detail of a fresco from the Golden House,Rome, dating from the time of Nero (AD 5~8).The figure Is annoured and equipped In Greekstyle but seems to wear a Roman '/oriessegmentata'. perhaps Indicating that the figurewas modelled on a Roman soldier or even aPraetorian Guardsman. His tunic and helmetcrest are green, and the cloak - wom like apBludamentum -Is red. See Plate F1.

RIGHT This soldier, probably a Praetorian, is oneof a similar group from a relief dating to thereign of Hadrian lAD 117-138) now In ChatsworthHouse, England - see Plate F3. He wears aloose-fitting tunic tied behind the neck In a knot,with the edge of an under-tunic visible at thehem. In this group severel men have a narrowstrap over the left shoulder and under the rightann; It Is clearly not a sword baldric, and it hasbeen suggested that Its purpose was to keep thevoluminous folds of the tunic out of the way ofthe sword hilt.

found In Greece. Note that the sagum has a small tassel onthe botlom corner. On the monument the sword appears tobe fastened to a fabric belt similar to those noonally seenon muscle-cuirassed statues. The use of red lor bothdoak and tunic Is atlested by the tombstone 01 anotherIfUlIine, sablnianus. found In Crete. The lantern is based onirChaeological finds from Pompeii, and is also seen on shipsdepicted on Trajan's Column.G2: Centurion, Alexandria, c,AO 150thIS figure is largely based on an encaustic portrait found InEgypt. He has a white tunic with black clavi, and wears a bluepaJudamenrum brooched on the left shoulder, On his head Isa gold-plated tin wreath based on an example lound InEgypt: a number of portraits show both Civilians and militarymen wearing these crowns, which may therelore indicateprowess on the athletics track rather than the battlefield.G3: Diogmitol, Ephesos, 2nd centuryThis policeman is taken Irom a relief of a senior police officer- called In Greek a paraphylaJr - found near Ephesos InTurkey. this man appears to be greeting his commander,and on the relief he Is accompanied by two other menidentically equipped. The green cloak - the colour takenfrom a contemporary Egyptian encaustic portrait - Is wornlike a pa!udamenfUm, so he could be of centurialrank. Around the waist is what appears to be an extremelywide waistband, but this reconstruction follows the Italianhistorian AntonuccI. who suggests that It Is actually thecloak wrapped around the waist.

H: SERVANTS OF ROMEH1: Legionary under punishment, 1st-2ndcentury ADA mil'lOf punIShment pmscribed by Augustus was IBCOI'dedby SuetonIUS: 'He woolcl order men to stand all day In front 01the general's headquarters. sometimes clad only in their

tunics and without sword belts, or sometimes holdinga len-fool pole or even a clod of

eanh' ~gustus, 24,2). The ten-1001 pole would be a surveyor'sdecempeda used for measuring,and IUrfs were the basic material

for camp ramparts, whichmight suggest that thisparticular punishment waslor sloppy work duringsurveying or constructionduties. The humiliationseems to have lain in theremoval 01 the weaponbelt - cingula militaris- which was partic-ularly associated withmilitary status.

This tombstonefrom Athens showa e

me"ne weertng $~lIm clo.k wtUI sm.lI tls..1visibleon one edge - seePlate 01,

A pollee official..Iutn his com-mander In this detaillrom relief fOllndnear Ephesos inTUr1

THE FAll Of THE REPUBUCI: Gaius JUlius Cae$il~, c.S7 BC2: Marcus Llcinius Crassus, c.S3 BC3: Sel(lus Pompelul {died c.3!3 BCI ,

3

GUARDIANS OF THE NORTH1: legionary, Germany, AD 142: AUJllliary, G rmany. AD 20-503: Benefic/arius, Britain, AD 70

2

OUTPOSTS OF EMPIREI: AllJdIlary, Causa,.a,

Algeria, AD 4()2: AUXiliary, JUdaea.

....0'"3: AuJr11lary C&rlIUlio

EXPANDING THE EMPIRE1: legionary, Daelan wars. late 1$1 century AD2 & 3: legionaries, fatigue dress. Oaelao Wars

THE POWER BEHIND THE THRONE1,2 & 3, Praetorian Guerds, lSI-2nd eenlur>eS AD

3

POUCING THE GREEK EAST1: M.lM, Atn.ls, mId2nd ctI'Itur'Y AD2: c.nlurion, AIto"andri., mid-2nd century AD3: Dio{pnItol,~ 2nd Qentur)' AD

,

3

SERVANTS OF ROME1: Legionary under punishment, 1st-2nd centuries AD2: Senior tribune, 2nd century AD3: Commander of au~lIiary cohort, 1st-2nd centuries AD