Every item of male clothing made a statement about their position in society. Even if a man did not wear his toga, colour, design and materials all told the onlooker something about his place in society.
The Roman Toga
The toga was the most obvious way of identifying a roman citizen as it was a garment forbidden to foreigners and slaves. An uncomfortable, dignified garment, it became usual only to wear it on ceremonial and formal occasions.
The toga could be worn alone or as became more usual, over a tunic.
The Roman Tunic
The tunic was the standard garment for all classes of Roman men. It was worn as a base garment or on its own. Its design was basic. Two knee length pieces of cloth were sewn to leave openings for the neck and arms. The garment was fastened with a belt or cingulum at the waist. This could be used to adjust the length of the garment.
The tunic was the only item of clothing a slave could wear. Often, this made them indistinguishable from working men of the lower class although slaves from rich household could often be more richly dressed than the free poor. The tunics of manual workers were usually hitched above the knee to allow a greater freedom of movement. The materials were also cheaper and plainer, wool being usual.
The more leisured the class, the longer the tunic was worn, usually to the knee. Tunics were also made of silk or linen and often decorated with embroidery.
The decor of the tunic also signified the particular class a citizen belonged to or any public office they held. This was usually in the form of a stripe or border known as a clavis.Members of the equestrian order wore a special tunic known as the tunica angusticlavia which was a tunic with a narrow purple stripe running from shoulder to hem. Senators wore the tunica laticlavia, a similar plain white tunic with a broader purple stripe.
Ordinary citizens could not wear tunics with these vertical stripes. The only person who could wear an exclusively purple tunic was the emperor.
As with women’s clothes, fashionable Roman male tunics became fancier in the Imperial period. Julius Caesar reputedly introduced the wearing of fringed sleeves. By the second century AD, tunics with sleeves had become the norm after being initially shunned as decadent and effeminate garments that were against austere roman ideals.
Outdoor Wear for Roman Men
Outdoor wear was fairly standard. In bad weather, most people would wear a pallium, a woollen cloak with travellers favouring a paenula, a long sleeveless woollen cloak like a poncho.
Those in the army had a special kind of cloak, the lacerna. Made of dark coloured wool, it replaced the impractical toga as a kind of dress uniform as well as offering protection against the elements.
Roman Footwear
It was usual to wear sandals known as Soleae or sandalia indoors. The solea was a simple sole fastened by cords fixed to the instep. The oldest and simplest form of sandal was the carbatinia. Made of ox hide, it was fastened at the ankles and instep by thongs.
Outside the house, shoes known as calcei were worn that completely covered the toes. These shoes were also the only form of footwear allowed with the toga. Slaves often carried their master’s sandals for them when they were out visiting so they could change their calcei on reaching their destination.
Slaves were not allowed to wear the calcei of citizens. The colour of footwear also had a social significance. The wealthy wore brightly coloured shoes as they could afford the dyed leather. Traditionally, those of patrician status wore red shoes.
Sources
Gibbons Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (abridged and illustrated) 1979. Bison Books
Natasha Sheldon - A writer since 2000, Natasha Sheldon holds a BA Hons in ancient history and archaeology and MA in ancient history and historiography.
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