Roman Written Works

For example: The "Vestis Longa" (long gown) worn by married women in the 5th century BCE becomes known as the "Stola" by the 2nd century BCE. By the early 2nd century CE the stola had become a symbol of traditional Roman matronly values, rather than a garment actually worn by most women. By the 3rd century CE few women had ever actually worn a real stola, but some women were still depicted wearing one in artwork because it was "traditional" to do so. The term "stolata" (literally, stola-wearing) was used in literature and on many grave stele as a traditional term implying that this woman was a "good wife" even though she probably never owned or wore a stola.

Rank in Roman society was understood to include the right to wear certain articles of clothing, even if those items were not commonly worn at the time. Certain articles of clothing, therefore, became symbols of rank, office, and/or legal status. Consequently those clothing terms became literary symbols in the Latin language for that rank, office, and/or legal status:

• A "stolata" (stola-wearer) meant a female citizen, of good reputation, and holding rank or status
  • Empresses are still depicted wearing stolae in official likenesses long after the stola was no longer regularly worn in public
  • Tombstones and monuments for faithful wives continue to reference the wife as "stolata" (wearing the stola) hundreds of years after the stola had passed completely out of fashion
• A "togata" (toga-wearer) meant a male Roman citizen
  • The multitude of specific togae were badges of, and representations of, various ranks and offices. So, for example in Roman literature, a man described as wearing a toga candida is understood to be running for office without any further explanation

Male authors routinely described what they *thought* an honorable Roman matrona (married lady) should like like, rather than what they *actually* looked like at the time of writing. Roman literature almost universally describes matronae as wearing the stola, palla, and vitta but this combination of garment is rarely depicted in Roman art. The stola and palla worn together - yes. The vitta is rarely depicted.

• The vitta is described as the traditional hairstyle accessory of the Roman matrona, but it is typically only seen in art depicting the Vestal Virgins, other priestesses, and women engaged in performing a sacrifice.
• The elaborate hairstyles favored by most Roman women rarely have any place for the vitta.
• It's possible that most women only wore vittae on religious occasions.

The palla is always described as being properly worn over the head (as a veil) and wrapped around the body to shield the matrona from the view of strange men, as demonstrated in the famous "pudesta" (modesty) pose seen in art of the early Republican period.

• The majority of female busts and statues show women with an *unveiled* head (showing off her hairstyle)
• Many Roman hairstyles would have been difficult to wear a veil over.
• The religious procession depicted on the Ara Pacis (consecrated on January 30th, 9 BCE) depicts a public, outdoor, religious procession and shows some women with their pallae drown over their heads, while other women in the procession are completely unveiled.
• Many current authors theorize that the pudesta pose, with veiled head, was more symbolic than real and that in reality the degree to which a matrona covered her head and body was left to her discretion.

The earliest depiction of a stola (as an over-garment worn over a tunica) dates from the early 1st century BCE. Stolae are rarely depicted at all after about 175 CE, at which time the depictions are primarily formal and/or ceremonial.