Roman Textiles

The Romans used two types of looms: warp-weighted looms and two-beam looms

• Both the warp-weighted loom and the two-beam loom were in use in Rome, and probably in the provinces.
• Italian loom weights of the period are smaller and lighter than Romano-British, and later Anglo-Saxon, loom weights (250g compared to 600-2885g).
  • Lighter weights are used for thinner threads because you cannot simply tie more threads to a single heavier weight without also affecting the quality of the weave. This strongly suggests that the fabrics woven in Italy were thinner and finer than those woven in the northern provinces.
• Tabby and twill were both common weaves.
• Tablet woven borders were also standard in the Roman Republic.

Warp-weighted Looms:

• Rest against the wall at an angle
• Threads hang vertically with clay weights attached to the ends to keep them taut during weaving
• The warp threads are pre-cut to length, plus some extra for tying onto the loom and tying on the weights. The excess thread is wrapped around the weights until it is needed.
• The cloth is woven from the top down; the woven cloth is wrapped around the pole at the top
• There is very little thread waste and the warp threads can be used to make long fringe

Two-beam looms (also called Tubular Looms):

• This was the more popular loom type in the Roman period
• The warp is looped around the two beams, so the width of the loom dictates the width of the cloth
• Depending on how it is set up, this type of loom can produce a rectangle of cloth or a continuous tube of cloth
• No wasted warp thread

Roman fabric was usually woven to the shape of the garment, rather than woven into lengths and cut up to assemble into a garment.

• Some Egyptian looms were wide enough to be operated in teams of two weavers and produced cloth wide enough to make long-sleeved tunics in one piece
• Necklines were woven as a simple selvage slit long enough for the head to go through. The slit neckline creates the distinctive appearance of the neck on Roman tunics for both men and women.
• Seaming was primarily attaching one selvage edge to another with simple stitches.
• Piecing of garments, when used was minimal. Construction was almost universally based on the rectangle.

Garments could be woven as:

• Tubes – used with the shoulders pinned together or sewn, or straps attached (as with the stola)
• Rectangles – used as is for mantles and pallas; used with a slit woven in for the head and the selvages sewn together as side seams; or the rectangle could be turned sideways and sewn together at one side with the selvage edges at the top pinned or sewn closed
• T-shapes – used with a slit woven in for the head and the selvages sewn together as side seams
• Togas were woven to shape – the only known Roman garment with a woven curved edge

Embellishments on clothing:

• Clavi were woven into the garment as it was being created, rather than applied later
• Borders were also usually woven into the garment as it was being created, rather than applied later
• Some encaustic paintings show simple embellishment around the slit neckline of the white undertunic, which may have been woven or embroidered.

Clavus/Clavi:

• “Clavus” means “stripe.”
  • The plural is “clavi,” which is the term most often used in regards to Roman clothing as the stripes appeared in pairs, with one at each shoulder (just outside the neck slit).
  • Clavi run parallel to each other from the shoulders to the hem of the tunic on both front and back.
• Clavi were woven into the fabric of the tunic, as the cloth was being made, using contrasting wefts.
• Clavi *only* appear on closed-shoulder tunics, *never* on gap-sleeved tunicae or stolae.
• During the Republic and early Empire there were several distinct forms of clavi:
  • Praetexta clavi – two extremely narrow purple stripes on the tunics of young boys – 3/8” wide
  • Angusta clavi (Clavus Angustus) – two narrow purple stripes, 3 times as wide as praetexta clavi, worn on the tunics of male members of the Equestrian class (approximately equivalent in the SCA to the AoA or above) – 1 1/8” wide
  • Lati clavi (Clavus Latus) – two wide purple stripes, 3 times as wide as angusta clavi, worn on the tunics of Senators (approximate SCA rank of Bestowed and Royal Peers) – 3 3/8” wide
• The rigid rules for clavi seem to have fallen to the wayside by the later Empire period:
  • Women did not start wearing clavi on their tunics until the closed-shoulder short-sleeved tunic became the fashionable dress for upper class women in the early 1^st century CE
  • During this time the rank distinctions of clavi width were also becoming disregarded, so the width seems to be based on cost and personal preference
  • By the second half of the 1st century CE men, women, children, and even slaves are all depicted wearing clavi
  • Clavi also appear in a multitude of colors during this period, including gold.
  • Clavi are still primarily simple stripes of color contrasting with the color of the body of the tunic (dark clavi on light colored tunics, or light clavi on dark colored tunics), but some clavi in fairly simple woven patterns can be found on extant textiles and extant art.

Go to:

• Wool in Ancient Rome
• Other Fibers in Ancient Rome
• Industrial Textile Production in Ancient Rome
• Textile & Clothing Professions in Ancient Rome
• Roman Color Names