Women's Clothing: 27 BCE - 199 CE

The Early Empire: 27 BCE – 199 CE

    • Tunicas:
        • The Tunica Muliebris:
            • This style is rapidly going out of fashion during this period
              • This style is still depicted on a large number of statues and busts in this period, but these may not be reflective of real life. As discussed elsewhere, there were several factors that contributed to both the decline in popularity of the gap-sleeved tunica:
                  • The Roman Laws were changed in 69 CE, restricting the wearing of the stola to Senators' wives and empresses only. Since it was restricted to a single, high-ranking class of women and there were only 600 Roman Senators, the stola became a status garment in this period. Women who might not have worn the gap-sleeved tunica and stola combination on a daily basis, but who were entitled to wear it, probably did wear it in public, at least on formal occasions. These high-ranking wives continued to have their official portraits made while wearing their status garments through the mid-to-late 2nd century, even if they rarely (if ever) wore the garments in real life.
                  • Once the law was changed, and Equestrian and Plebian women were no longer permitted to wear the stola, they stopped wearing the gap-sleeved tunica which was traditionally worn under the stola. The short-sleeved tunica was a less bulky, more comfortable option.
                    • It should be noted that the frescoes of the Vesuvian cities of Pompeii, Stabiae, Oplontis, and Herculaneum show very few garments identifiable as stolae. Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 CE.
                  • By the early 2nd century literary mentions of the stola as a worn garment disappear, and are replaced by infrequent use of the term "stolata" (stola-wearer) as a short-hand description for a good, faithful, morally pure wife. Engravings found on tombstones of wives from the later 2nd and 3rd centuries often depict the wife as wearing the short-sleeved tunica, but describe her as "stolata". In other words, she was "a good wife".
            • This style of tunica is somewhat similar to the Ionic Chiton, but with closed (sewn) sides. Worn by matronae under the stola, or by unmarried women and girls without the stola.
                  • It was probably worn over a sleeveless under-tunic
                  • Not usually worn with a long-sleeved undertunic, but can be worn with one when it’s cold. There are some artistic examples of gap-sleeved tunicas being worn over long-sleeved under-tunics.
                  • Ground length and belted under the bust with a simple cord
            • Constructed of two wide rectangles of cloth to create elbow-length sleeves. The shoulder seam is not sewn, but fastened at a number of points. The sagging of the fabric between the points creates the characteristic appearance of the sleeve.
                  • The fastenings vary in appearance, but are only 1-2 cm (3/4” or less) across. There are usually 3-5 fastenings shown on each sleeve, but sometimes there are as many as 7. Sometimes the last fastening was not at the very end of the sleeve, leaving short flaps.
                  • In the past it was assumed that these fastenings were metal studs, brooches or small fibula but their size means they are unlikely to be brooches (metal that fine was not strong enough to stand up to much wear and tear, and would also damage the fabric)
                    • It seems odd to us that, if they were made of metal (gold or copper alloy) they were not more decorated and treated as an opportunity for display of wealth (like other Roman Jewelry). It also seems odd to us that, some were made of metal, we have not found them in large quantities
                  • On statues:
                    • The fastenings tend to be depicted as either upstanding and roughly spherical, with uniform shapes (similar to modern globe-shaped buttons)
                    • Or they are depicted as being smooth, circular, and flat (similar to modern disk-shaped buttons, but without the holes in the center)
                  • In Paintings:
                    • They are not usually depicted as being perfectly round
                    • they often appear to have incisions or indentations in their surface, which may indicate texture or decoration
                    • An indication of the color of these fastenings could help, but while this form of tunica is often depicted on statues and busts, it is fairly rare on colored wall paintings and the painted, or attached, versions on statues have not survived.
                    • The clearest paintings show the fasteners in a paler color than the tunic, with darker shadows. This could represent light reflecting off metal, or it could simply be a way of making the fastenings more visible.
                  • Current theories:
                    • Metal fasteners may have been made of Discs, or hollow half-balls, with a bar or loop on the under side where it was sewn to the edges of the cloth. The fabric was probably gathered or pleated slightly prior to sewing on the fastining. This would create a stronger foundation for seing on the ornament and create more emphasis around the gapped openings in the sleeves. You can see these gather lines in some extant artwork.
                    • Non-metal fastenings were probably small “rosettes” of gathered and sewn/bound cloth from the edges of the sleeves. which would cause the folds often seen radiating from them. The fabric from the two edges can be lightly gathered or pleated together, and then wrapped with thread to form a small fabric "tuft" or rosette. The tufts could be left standing up, or opened and flattened. The pleating or gathering of the fabric creates the fold lines shown radiating from the fastenings in some of the extant art. [Example - Tomb of the Haterii in Rome]
    • Tunica Capitium and Tunica Chiridota: (coming into fashion)
          • Tunica Capitum are constructed by weaving the fabric to shape, with long or short sleeves woven directly with the body of the garment.
          • Tunica Chiridota have sewn on sleeves.
          • Made in the same style as men’s tunics, but longer (calf to ground length depending on the age and social class of the wearer). The old rules regarding clavi are falling by the wayside. Women begin wearing clavi on their short-sleeved tunicas. At first the clavi are simple, narrow bands of contrasting color but by the middle of the 2nd century everyone, including slaves, is wearing clavi on their tunics. These later clavi can be narrow or wide, depending on the individual's taste and pocketbook. Wide clavi may contain multiple smaller stripes of color, but are very rarely patterned at this time.
          • Serving girls (presumably slaves?) are often shown in calf-length tunicas that are usually worn unbelted.
          • Middle- and upper-class women wore their short-sleeved tunicas belted under the bust, as they had done with the gap-sleeved tunica and stola.
          • Middle- and upper-class women usually wore short-sleeved tunicas over a white under-tunic which would show at the neckline. By the later 2nd century, the neckline of the undertunic is frequently decorated with simple embroidery or a woven band. The under-tunic could also have a short fringe at the hem, which would show underneath the hem of the over-tunic.
                  • There is an extant under-tunic found in a cemetary in Jordan which has both a decorated neckline and a fringe at the hem.
                  • A full-length painted shroud from Egypt also shows both a decorated neckline and a fringed hem.
              • The relief carved on the Tomb of the Haterii shows mourners wearing unbelted short-sleeved tunicas – a way of visually depicting their distress by being less then perfectly clothed.
    • Vestis Cenatoria (Dining clothes), also known by the Greek term Synthesis:
          • Also known as Cenatoria, Cenatorium, and Habitus Cenatorius
          • Cenatoria ( or Synthesis) were outfits worn for dinner parties and other special occasions
              • The word "Cenatorium" comes from the Latin word "Cena" meaning "dinner", so these were clothes worn for eating dinner, but were primarily used for dinner parties and social occasions, rather than for family dinner time at home.
              • The work "Synthesis" is Greek, and means "put together", suggesting that these may have been coordinated outfits rather than individual pieces of clothing. In other words, an ensemble designed to be worn together.
          • These outfits appear to have been most popular during the Early Empire period, from the mid-1st to early-2nd centuries CE.
          • We have no precise descriptions of a Cenatoria/Synthesis, but Martial (Marcus Valerius Martialis c.38 - c.104CE) mentions the cenatorium several times:
                • We know that the cenatoria was typically colorful
                • We know that it was worn less frequently than the toga, and was rarely worn outside of the cities
                • The only occasion when it was acceptable to wear the cenatoria outdoors in public was during Saturnalia
                • This restriction was sometimes ignored. Nero, for example, was known to wear the cenatoria when he pleased
                • We know from Martial that the cenatoria was worn *instead* of the toga, rather than with it.
          • Some Romans felt that it was a "feminine" fashion. Quintus Mucius Scaevola Pontifex (140 - 82 BCE) is quoted by Pomponius as saying that a certain senator used to wear women's clothing to dinner as if it were a man's.
          • By the mid-1st century CE, the toga was considered to be too cumbersome to be appropriate dinner-party clothing. The expense of purchasing a toga, and maintaining the pristine whiteness of the fabric, may have also played a part in considering the toga to be inappropriate for dinner parties.
              • At the same time, exposing to much of one's body was also considered inappropriate behavior at dinner (Dining scenes in Roman art that show naked torsos have religious or symbolic meanings and are not evidence of typical practice!)
          • The palliola, or small mantle, may have appeared first, as a replacement for the toga, and possibly the large palla, at dinner parties. This may have then evolved into these fashionable cenatorium.
              • We know that fashionable urban Romans might own several cenatorium
              • We know that cenatorium were conspicuously expensive
                  • Martial teased his friend Zoilus for changing his cenatoria eleven times in the course of one dinner, while Martial himself only owned one cenatoria (Zoilus was pretending to overheat, but really just wanted an excuse to show off!)
          • Both the terms cenatorium and synthesis imply that a "set" consists of two or more items intended to be used together - so it was likely a set containing a tunic/tunica and a mantle – possibly small mantles called Palliola which would be less cumbersome than the large toga or palla.
                • They were possibly made from fine materials in the same, or complementary, fabrics and colors, or otherwise designed to be worn together. It is also likely that they were more embellished than ordinary clothing.
                    • Roman Court Case: a woman named Sempronia Pia inherited three tunics and some small mantles (tunicas tres cum palliolis) which, by the terms of the will, she was allowed to pick out for herself. The question raised to the court was - could she choose them from among the dining clothes (synthesi), or only from among the separate tunics and mantles (tunicas singulas et palliola)? The response from the court was that if there are any separate tunics and mantles left, she must choose from among these. Otherwise the heir must either furnish Sempronia with synthesi, or pay her the full value of three tunicas singulas et palliola.
                    • This reinforces the idea that they were not only intended to be worn as a "set", but that they were more expensive than regular tunics and palliolas.
    • Cingulum or Zona (Belt or sash):
            • Roman women appear to have always tied their tunics and stolas high under the bust, rather than at the waist.
                  • Depictions of women wearing their tunic belted at the waist or hips are likely to be goddesses or priestesses, or copies of Greek artwork
                  • Roman women also did not use the style of belting common to earlier Greek women, where the belt cord was tied around the shoulders and waist.
          • Belts consist of twisted cords (wool, linen, or possibly silk for the very rich), narrow strips of cloth, or narrow woven bands
          • Roman women frequently tied their belts in a reef knot, or Hercules knot, with only short ends hanging down
          • Another common style of tying the belt looks similar to the bow on the traditional Laurel wreath
          • The visible belt was usually in a contrasting or complementary color to the tunica or stola. When the stola was worn the second belt was wider but hidden under the hip fold.
          • Modern scholars and reenactors often say that belting under the bust is “unnatural” because, unless you are pregnant, there is nothing to hold the belt up. This depends entirely on your build. Slender women may have difficulty with under-bust belts slipping down if they aren't pinned to the garments or run through hidden belt loops. If you are built like the ideal Roman woman, on the other hand, high belting is not a problem!
          • Belting under the bust when wearing long, loose-fitting clothing actually creates along visual line and make you look less “dumpy”.
    • Palla (mantle):
          • The palla consisted of a long rectangle of cloth, with straight edges on all sides, which could cover the body from the head or shoulder to the knee or lower calf. They were probably 5 yards long x 45-60” wide.
          • Usually plain colored fabric, but could have solid color, contrasting borders on the edges and /or ends
          • The palla was worn by draping one end in front of the left shoulder, bringing the rest behind the back, passing either over the right shoulder to conceal most of the wearer, or brought under her right arm. The remainder could then be draped over the left shoulder, over the left arm, or secured in some other way.
                • It is believed that the palla was not pinned into place, although the use of small, hidden fibula cannot be entirely ruled out. Like the toga, the bulk of the palla was probably held in, or controlled by, the hands.
                • This would not present much of a problem for the rich who had slaves to accompany them and carry things for them, but would have presented a problem for working class women who were also required to protect their modesty and reputation by wearing the palla.
                    • There are a number of depictions of working-class women wearing their pallae tied in large knots on their hips in order to keep their hands free to do their work.
          • Throughout most of the Republican period, women traditionally wore the palla draped over their head when in public, and truly modest women protected their pudicitia (modesty and moral purity) by using the palla to fully conceal their body and clothing, from their feet to below their knees when in public.
                • Gaius Sulpicius Gallus, co-consul in 166 BC with Marcus Claudius Marcellus, divorced his wife for going unveiled in public, thereby allowing everyone to see what should be reserved for her husband alone.
          • These moral standards became more relaxed over time. By the late Republic the majority of Roman art shows women in both public and private settings with unveiled heads. For example, the Ara Pacis frieze, which was commissioned in 13 BCE, depicts outdoor, public processions which include both women who are veiled and women who are not. (The woman on the far left of the frieze, who is holding a child's hand, is wearing a long-sleeved tunica, stola, and palla, but does not have her head veiled. The woman in the center, on the other hand, has her palla pulled up over her head.)
          • It's possible that by the late Republic period it was up to the husband whether he expected his wife to be veiled while in public or not. On the other hand, by the early 1st century CE men were complaining about how the palla shrouded women from view. Nevertheless, the palla was the necessary covering for a modest woman and no respectable woman would leave her house without her palla, even if she did not wear it over her head or conceal her body with it