DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.68501#0358
338
THE TOILETTE IN ANCIENT ROME.
And 2Eneas presents embroidered garments to the
Queen of Carthage :
“ A robe of tissue, stiff with golden wire,
An upper vest, once Helen's rich attire ;
From Argos by the famed adultress brought,
With golden flowers and winding foliage wrought.”
Linen clothes were not worn by the Romans till
the emperors introduced them from Egypt, but they
had woollen shirts, and the women vests or shifts. In
later ages a kind of great-coat was thrown over the rest
of the dress ; it was open in front, and fastened with
clasps or buckles, and was called lacerna. The mate-
rials of which it was made were various ; sometimes it
was made of many colours, and in later ages it usurped
the place of the toga to such a degree, that an-
cient writers relate that Augustus one day from his
tribunal seeing a number of citizens dressed in
the lacerna, gave orders to his officers not to allow
any one wearing that garment to enter the Forum or
Circus.
The Romans had another great-coat called penula,
which was shorter and narrower than the one we have
just described ; it had a hood, and was worn on
journeys and in the army. It was used by men and
women, and was often made of skins.
Their coverings for the feet were various ; they had
neither stockings nor breeches, but wrapped their
limbs with pieces of cloth. They had a kind of
shoe called calceus, which covered the whole foot,
and was tied with a latchet; also sandals, which pro-
jected the sole only. The calcei were worn with the
THE TOILETTE IN ANCIENT ROME.
And 2Eneas presents embroidered garments to the
Queen of Carthage :
“ A robe of tissue, stiff with golden wire,
An upper vest, once Helen's rich attire ;
From Argos by the famed adultress brought,
With golden flowers and winding foliage wrought.”
Linen clothes were not worn by the Romans till
the emperors introduced them from Egypt, but they
had woollen shirts, and the women vests or shifts. In
later ages a kind of great-coat was thrown over the rest
of the dress ; it was open in front, and fastened with
clasps or buckles, and was called lacerna. The mate-
rials of which it was made were various ; sometimes it
was made of many colours, and in later ages it usurped
the place of the toga to such a degree, that an-
cient writers relate that Augustus one day from his
tribunal seeing a number of citizens dressed in
the lacerna, gave orders to his officers not to allow
any one wearing that garment to enter the Forum or
Circus.
The Romans had another great-coat called penula,
which was shorter and narrower than the one we have
just described ; it had a hood, and was worn on
journeys and in the army. It was used by men and
women, and was often made of skins.
Their coverings for the feet were various ; they had
neither stockings nor breeches, but wrapped their
limbs with pieces of cloth. They had a kind of
shoe called calceus, which covered the whole foot,
and was tied with a latchet; also sandals, which pro-
jected the sole only. The calcei were worn with the