The Bluffer’s Guide to Ancient Clothing

Ancient Rome and the Roman Empire

Roman fashions were in many ways similar to Greeks, not that they’d like you to think that! The Romans were very wary of what they thought of as “Greek” behaviour, especially nude exercise, but would grudgingly admit they owed a certain debt to them. As with Greece, we have plenty of literary sources, statues and reliefs as evidence for the styles in the Republican and Imperial periods. (Incidentally, I’m less interested in the Romans so they get less space than the others, sorry Romans!)

The Garments

As in Greece, peploi and chitons were the most common female garments. Married women also wore a stola, best described as a loose strappy dress over their chiton. For warmth a woman might wear a palla, a long cloak similar to the Greek himation, which may vary in length or have a fringe. Men wore a simple white tunic with red bands along each side if the wearer was of equestrian or senatorial rank, but most importantly, once a man reached maturity, he wore a toga, a long piece of material wrapped at the waist, draped over the arm then tucked into itself at the waist. The toga was a sign of Roman citizenship, but could also indicate that the wearer was an electoral candidate if pure white, that the wearer was in mourning if dark coloured, that the wearer was a magistrate if with a purple boarder, or that the wearer was a triumphal general if purple and gold (also worn by the emperors occasionally). The only women who wore togas were prostitutes, in a curious reversal of status between the genders. Young, upper class lads might wear a toga in formal occasions, but normally children just wore tunics and the bulla bag around their necks, an oval-shaped leather bag containing protective amulets (you might’ve seen replicas of these on sale at Roman sites, I have one from Fishbourne villa somewhere).

A man in a magistrate’s toga

Jewellery in Rome was quite similar to Greek jewellery: simple dangly earrings, beaded necklaces, fibulae, bracelets and rings were often worn by women. Men of office often wore signet rings, and similar cameos made of semi-precious stones might be worn by either sex.