We possess scarcely any information about the costume of the ancient kings; but the state dress of the consuls consisted of the toga firertexta, which had a purple border throughout, and white shoes in contrast to the black ones of the senators. To indicate their supreme power as judges, the consuls were each attended by a train of twelve lictors (fig. 8), who bore bundles of rods enclosing an axe. They were obliged to remove the axe when inside the city limits. A dictator alone, who moreover had twenty-four lictors, was exempt from this obligation.
Domitian was the first of the emperors to assume the purple toga (toga fiurparea), though it had already been worn by Cxsar; Augustus, for political reasons, did not assume it. Later emperors, Elagabalus, Diocle tian, and others, even sought pompous Oriental costumes: the last-named ruler introduced the diadem of pearls and other articles as official decora tions. Constantine, whose position was in no danger from constitutional changes, increased still more the external splendor of the imperial office. The policy of his predecessors had been to add to the splendor of the state officers, especially that of the consuls, in proportion as they deprived them of real power and reduced them to the condition of mere court officials. Thus we find the consuls wearing embroidered garments (figs. 13, 14) and honored by special distinctions, such as golden shoes, the sceptre, the cnrule chair, etc.
It would lead us too far to follow in detail the manifold variety of cos tumes of the numerous staff of courtiers and officials. But it is note worthy that the state dress or toga disappeared with the glory of the Republic. Augustus endeavored to retain it by law, requiring it to be worn in office and probably at court. But, as though its inner life and meaning had departed, it shrank from its old dimensions. In Figure 14 it appears as a narrow band wound about the body, very unlike its original shape. It continually diminished in size until it became in the Byzantine costume a mere ribbon no wider than the hand, and finally it survived only in the stole still worn by the clergy of the Roman Catholic Church.
Indeed, in order to move about or feel at ease in the heavy folds of the toga it was necessary to have the consciousness of being an actual sharer and supporter of the majesty of the people. When the Roman citizen was relieved of the burden of public cares, and was consequently more at liberty to feel and act simply as a man, lie needed a freer garb. Later, when the army, which constituted the real support of the Empire, became more and more prominent, especially when its importance became absorbed in the overpowering influence of the Prctorian guards, the civilians adopted the military costume, above all the mantle (sagurn or sagulum) fastened at the shoulder. Figure 12 (p1. 29) exhibits the military uniform
of a late period. It is from an ivory relief preserved at Monza which formed a companion-piece to the picture of the empress Galla Placidia (fig. to) and her son, afterward Valentinian III. (fig. it). It probably represents one of the noted generals of that time, either Aetius or Boethius. We notice that trousers (braccer) are already fully developed, not only in the representation of the general (fig. 12), but also in that of the prince (fig. it). The lower classes alone (fig. 15) left the legs unpro tected, and even they covered at least the lower part of the limbs.
But variations in the cut and use of dress must necessarily have occurred in the vast empire, with its variety of climates and multitude of different peoples. We give in Figure 16 an illustration of the dress worn in more northerly regions. It is from the tombstone of Blussus, otherwise unknown, found in the Palatinate. It consisted, besides the trousers and the long tunic, of a sleeveless upper garment provided with a hood. We recognize in the picture of the empress (fig. to) the type of female attire belonging to this period—a toga-like garment worn in the ancient manner over a complete dress of under-clothing, whereas the wife of Blussus (fig. 17) has several upper garments fastened by clasps.
The simple house-dress of the Roman matron (fig. 5) consisted of a long sleeveless gown (inhtsium or interida) fastened on the shoulders and girdled below the breasts. In going out she wore over this, unless she were a person of rank or dignity, a shorter one with sleeves (stoic). De partures from the above-described style also occurred, more decided in the case of female dress than in that of male attire: such variations are par ticularly to be ascribed to the manifold relations which Rome maintained with foreign nations. For further protection a piece of cloth, or a mantle, or similar article, was worn. The matron of rank, however, appeared in public dressed in the paila (fig. 6), a kind of toga identical with the Greek himation, which, if possible, was worn even more artistically than the toga of the men, and with a veil Ulammoun or over the back of the head.