THE SCHOOL OF DR/MA
•VALE- UNIVERSITY-
THE ROMAN TOGA
The Johns Hopkins University Studies in Archaeology, No. 1
Edited by David M. Robinson
THE ROMAN TOGA
by
LILLIAN M. WILSON, Ph. D.
BALTIMORE
THE JOHNS HOPKINS PRESS
1924
Copyright 1924, By
The Johns Hopkins Press
Baltimore, Md.
.Sorb Q0afttmore (puee
BALTIMORE, MD., U. S. A.
TO THE MEMORY OF MY SISTER
E. W. M.
INTRODUCTION
The peculiar place which the toga held in Roman life and
affairs, its symbolism, its long existence through many changes,
all give it an interest and a significance beyond that of an ordi¬
nary article of clothing. Like the letters, S. P. Q. R., it was repre¬
sentative of Rome itself. It seems appropriate, therefore, to
include this garment in the study of Roman life, history and liter¬
ature, and to determine as nearly as possible its various forms and
the manner of wearing it.
While a considerable amount of scholarly effort has been
expended upon the problem of the toga, it has been, for the most
part, in the nature of discussions of some one form. In the few
instances where the discussion has been extended to include several
forms, the reconstruction on the living model (the real test of a
theory as to form) has been only partially undertaken.
The object of the following study is to present a connected
history of the toga, to trace the derivation of each succeeding form
from those which preceded it, and to correlate the evidence
afforded by the monuments with that contained in classical litera¬
ture. In doing this, an effort has been made to face every problem,
and to present frankly the reconstruction of each form in detail.
The assertion is constantly stressed that no form of the toga was
ever absolutely and invariably fixed; and that a reconstruction,
at best, can only give a close approximation to the general shape
of each style. It is with this reservation that the results set forth
in the following pages are presented.
7
3
INTRODUCTION
Owing to the disturbed conditions during the war, the arrange¬
ment and numbering of many museum collections do not now
correspond with the previously published catalogues. Hence no
attempt has been made to give the museum numbers of the statues
and reliefs, but in nearly all cases where the monument is of
importance, a reproduction of it is given.
With three or four minor exceptions, the illustrations of works
of art are from photographs in the writer's collection, many of
which were made especially for her use; with a like number of
exceptions, her study was made from the original monuments.
In preparing the manuscript, the writer has tried to limit the
use of italics, and to this end, the italicizing of certain Latin
words is discontinued when their recurrence in the text becomes
frequent.
The wrriter extends her sincere thanks to all those who have
assisted her in her work; to Dr. David M. Robinson of the Johns
Hopkins University for careful, scholarly criticism of both the
manuscript and the proof sheets; to Dr. Tenney Frank of the
Johns Hopkins University, who read the original draft of the
manuscript and made important corrections and suggestions; to
Dean Gordon J. Laing of the University of Chicago, who first
suggested this study and whose interest and encouragement during
its progress have been unfailing. To Professor Gorham P.
Stevens, Director of the American Academy at Rome, to Pro¬
fessor F. P. Fairbanks of the School of Fine Arts, and to the other
members of the faculty of the Academy she is indebted for many
courtesies and for assistance in getting access to private collections
in Rome; also to Dr. Walther Amelung for securing for her
photographs which are not easily obtainable; to Dr. and Mrs.
INTRODUCTION
9
John Shapley of New York University for the loan of their large
collection of photographs of ivory consular diptychs, and to M.
Jean de Bardy of the University of Paris for assistance in getting
special photographs made.
It would be impossible to make full acknowledgment of all the
courtesies extended to her by the Directors and members of the
staff of the various museums which she has had occasion to visit,
and for all of which she is deeply grateful. For special privileges
and assistance, she is particularly indebted to Dr. Bartolomeo
Nogara, Director of the Vatican Museums; Dr. Frederick
Poulsen of the Ny-Carlsberg Museum of Copenhagen; Dr.
Frederick Eichler and Dr. Arpad Weixlgartner of the History
of Art Museum of Vienna; Dr. Miiller of the Albertinum,
Dresden; Dr. Cecil H. Smith of the Victoria and Albert Museum,
London; Dr. C. T. Currelly of the Royal Ontario Museum at
Toronto, Canada; Halil Edhem Bey of the Royal Ottoman Mu¬
seum of Constantinople; Dr. Theodore Wiegand, Director of the
Department of Classical Antiquities in the National Museum at
Berlin; Sig. Alessandro Frattini, Director of the Doria Para¬
philia Collections at Rome, and to the Director of the Museo
Archeologico at Florence. For permission to make photographs
in the museums and for other favors, she extends her thanks to the
Directors and members of the staff of each of the following mu¬
seums: the Musee du Louvre, the British Museum, the Museo
delle Terme and the Capitoline Museum at Rome, the Museo
Nazionale at Naples, and the Museum at Ostia.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
Introduction 13
Chapter I. The Toga of the Republican Period 17
Chapter II. The Toga of the Ara Pacis Reliefs 43
Chapter III. The Imperial Toga 6i
Chapter IV. Later Forms of the Toga 89
Appendix. The Toga for Today; Suggestions for Its
Reconstruction 117
Bibliography 129
Index 131
ILLUSTRATIONS
FIGURE
The Arringatore Facing page 17
Venus Genetrix. Louvre Page 24
The Toga of the Arringatore 011 the Living Model Facing page 30
The Draping of the Toga of the Arringatore on Living Model " " 32
Diagram of the Toga of the Arringatore Page 33
A Cross-Section of the Stripe on the Toga of the Arringatore " 37
Portrait Statues in the Museo delle Terme. Rome Between pages 40-41
A Portrait Statue in a Private Collection. Rome " " 40-41
12.I The Toga of Figs. 9, 10 and 11 (the Large Toga of the
13. J Republican Period) on Living Model " " 40-41
14. A Statue in the Museo delle Terme. Rome Facing page 42
15. Back View of Fig. 12. Living Model " " 42
16. Diagram of the Large Toga of the Republican Period Between pages 42-43
I7a-1
^ j'Reliefs from the Ara Pacis Facing page 43
I^C' iReliefs from the Ara Pacis " " 44.
i7d.J
17c. A Relief from the Ara Pacis " " 45
18. Diagram of the Toga of the Ara Pacis Page 47
20. > Reconstructions of the Toga of the Ara Pacis on Living Model Facing page 48
2I'J
22. A Wall Painting in Pompei " " 53
23. A Portrait Statue of Augustus " " 61
24. A Portrait Statue of a Roman. Vatican " " 61
25. A Portrait Statue of a Roman Boy " " 62
26. A Portrait Statue of a Roman. Later an " " 62
27a. Diagram of the Imperial Toga Page 64
27b. Diagram of the Imperial Toga " 65
28. A Portrait Statue in the Museo delle Terme Facing page 67
29a-|_A Portrait Statue in the Nv-Carlsberg Glyptotek " " 67
29I1.J
30. An Imperial Toga 011 the Living Model " " 63
13
14
ILLUSTRATIONS
flGURE
;ia-
J The Draping of the Imperial Toga on Living Model Facing page 69
32. Back of Fig. 30. Living Model " " 70
33. Back of Fig. 25 " " 70
34a. A Portrait Statue. Munich " " 73
34b. A Relief on a Flavian Altar. Vatican " " 73
35. A Relief of the Antonine Period. Rome Between pages 74-75
36. An Imperial Toga of the Antonine Period on the Living Model. " " 74-75
37. A Relief from the Arch of Trajan at Beneventum Facing page 75
38a. A Portrait Bust. Louvre " " 76
38b. A Portrait Bust. British Museum " " 76
39. Diagram of the Toga with Folded Bands Between pages 76-77
40. A Relief on a Sarcophagus in the Church of S. Saba. Rome Facing page 77
"J" Forms of Drapery with Folded Bands. Living Model Between pages 78-79
78-79
78-79
78-79
78-79
78-79
78-79
41a
41b. J
41c. Drapery with Folded Bands. Living Model
41 d. Back Arrangement of Drapery of Fig. 41a. Living Model
42. A Portrait Statue in the Barberini Collection. Rome
43. Fragment of a Statue in the Albertinum. Dresden
44. A Reconstruction of the Toga of Fig. 42. Living Model. .
45. A Reconstruction of the Toga of Fig. 43. Living Model. .
46. The Draping of the Toga of Figs. 44 and 45. Living Model Facing page 80
47a. An Illustration from a Manuscript of Vergil. Vatican " " 87
47b. "I
J-A Suggested Reconstruction of the Cinctus Gabinus " " 87
48. A Portrait Statue in the Museo delle Terme. Rome "
49. A Reconstruction on Living Model of the Toga of Fig. 48 "
50. Diagram of the Toga of Fig. 49 Page 93
51. A Portrait Statue in the Villa Doria Pamphilia. Rome Facing page 94
52a. I A Reconstruction of the Toga of Fig. 51. Living Model " " 95
52b. J
53. Diagram of the Toga of Figs. 52a and 52b Page 96
54. A Detail from a Relief from a Sarcophagus in the Museo delle
Terme. Rome Facing page 97
553-1
^ jA Reconstruction of the Toga of Fig. 54. Living Model " " 98
56. Diagram of the Toga of Figs. 55a and 55b " " 99
57a.l
^ J A Statue from North Africa. Louvre Between pages 100-101
58a.! A Reconstruction of the Toga of Figs. 57a and 57b. Living
58b. J Model " " 100-101
ILLUSTRATIONS
IS
FIGURE
59. Diagram of the Toga of Figs. 58a and 58b Page 102
60. The Draping of the Toga of Fig. 58a. Living Model Facing page 102
61 a.
g . r Reliefs from a Monument of Diocletian. Roman Forum " 103
62. A Portrait Statue in the Conservatori Palace. Rome Between pages 104-105
63. A Reconstruction of the Toga of Fig. 62, on Living Model.. " " 104-105
64. A Relief from the Roman Base of an Egyptian Obelisk.
Constantinople " " 104-105
65a. j
65b. > A Statue in the Royal Ottoman Museum. Constantinople. ... " " 104-105
65c. J
66. A Drawing of the Back of Fig. 62 Facing page 106
67. The Back of Fig. 63. Living Model " " 106
68a.~l
[The Draping of the Toga of Fig. 63. Living Model Between pages 108-109
68^1
rThe Draping of the Toga of Fig. 63. Living Model " " 108-109
69. Diagram of the Toga of Fig. 63 Facing page 110
70a. An Anonymous Consular Diptych of the 6th Century Between pages 112-113
70b. The Diptych of Orestes " " 112-113
70c. The Diptych of Boezia " " 112-113
7ia-l
k I Reconstructions of the Toga of Figs. 70a, 70b and 70c,
I respectively. Living Model " " 112-113
71c. J
72. The Draping of the Toga of Fig. 71c. Living Model Facing page 114
73. Back of the Drapery of Fig. 71c " " 114
74. Diagram of the Toga of Figs. 71a, 71b and 71c " " 115
75. An Approximate Reproduction of a Shade of Roman Purple Page 119
Fig. i.
The Arringatore.
Alinari. Florence.
THE TOGA OF THE REPUBLICAN PERIOD
The form of the outer garment worn by primitive people has
usually been some sort of rectangular shawl or blanket. Such
was the himation of the Greek, the tartan of the Gael and the
blanket of the American Indian. Probably this too was the origi¬
nal shape of the toga of the Roman; but not until the Roman
had advanced well beyond his most primitive state, do we have
any definite information regarding his clothing.
For the study of the toga, we have two sources of information.
The first one, literature, valuable as it is for corroboration, is
naturally vague. The references to dress or other ordinary and
personal affairs in Latin and Greek literature were naturally
casual, just as they are in the general literature of all races and
all ages.1 Occasionally an author has undertaken to comment
on dress, but such writings fall into two classes. In the first, the
writer, like Quintilian, was writing for the people of his own
age and naturally omitted the numerous details with which every
one was then familiar, but of which we, at this distant day, are
ignorant. His comments, therefore, do not enable us to visualize
the garment he is discussing, much less to reconstruct it. The
other class of writers, like Isidore and Dionysius of Halicarnassus,
undertook to write for posterity, but the scientific method of his¬
torical research and writing had not been developed in their day,
1 In our current literature there are numerous references to narrow dress skirts and
short dress skirts but the reader of 2000 years hence will search in vain for an explicit
statement in literature as to the exact length and breadth that was considered proper at
any given period.
17
18
THE ROMAN TOGA
and they contented themselves with generalizations and with
quotations from earlier authors, adding their own comments
which may or may not be well founded. Our other source, the
existing statues, relief sculptures and paintings of the Roman
period afford us more positive evidence. Indeed, written in
their own peculiar cipher, these monuments have preserved to
us a fairly consecutive record of several centuries of toga
existence.
Neither of these two sources give definite information regard¬
ing the origin of the toga, though a few ancient writers have
referred to it. Both Tertullian and Servius were cognizant of
a tradition that the toga was of Lydian and Etruscan origin.2
But such traditions have so often proven erroneous, that, unsup¬
ported, they cannot be accepted as conclusive evidence.
Pliny says that the toga was worn by kings, and mentions Tullus
Hostilius and Servius.3 In the latter instance he evidently had
in mind a wooden statue wearing a toga praetexta which once
stood in the Temple of Fortune, and which he seems to have
thought was a portrait statue of Servius; but this identification
is by no means certain.4 He does not assert that the toga was of
Etruscan origin, but says that the praetexta, the purple-bordered
garment, originated among the Etruscans.
The evidence from existing monuments is wholly negative.
In early Etruscan reliefs and paintings, the usual large, draped
mantle is rectangular. On later monuments, those dating from
about the third century B. C., a circular garment like the early
Roman toga occasionally appears, though less frequently than
2 See Tertullian, De Pallio, I, i; and Servius, Ad Aen., II, 781.
3 See Pliny, Nat. Hist., VIII, 74 and IX, 63.
4 See Ovid, Fasti, VI, 569.
THE TOGA OF THE REPUBLICAN PERIOD
19
the rectangular one. At the same period in Roman sculpture,
however, this circular garment is the usual one on figures of
Roman citizens. Apparently, therefore, the form of the Roman
toga was of Roman and not Etruscan origin. But on very early
Etruscan monuments, as well as later ones, there is a purple bor¬
der on the rectangular mantle, and so far as we know, the Etrus¬
cans may have been the first among Italian peoples to wear such
a border.
While the evidence from all sources is too slender to justify
a positive statement, it is reasonable to assume that the Romans,
like most other peoples, had, at a very early date, a rectangular
blanket or shawl. Since this is the usual shape of all textiles as
they come from the loom, there is no need to suppose that they
derived it from any other people, unless it be that they learned
weaving from the Etruscans or some other race, and acquired
this garment as a natural result. The Etruscans, we know, had
a rectangular mantle. The Romans called their own mantle a
toga, and they probably applied the same name to the Etruscan
garment. The Etruscan mantle was purple-bordered—a prae-
texta. The Romans adopted the purple border, using a toga so
decorated as an official garment of especial importance. At some
time, either before or after adopting the purple border, the
Romans appear to have made a slight change in the form of
their mantle, giving the lower edge a curving shape. Accepting
the foregoing theory, it is easy to account for a tradition of Etrus¬
can origin of the toga.
In this connection, a remark of Dionysius of Halicarnassus is
significant.5 The toga of Roman kings, he says, is like that worn
5 See Dionysius of Halicarnassus, III, 61, quoted in n. 16, this chapter.
20
THE ROMAN TOGA
by the kings of Lydia and Persia. But the likeness was in the
rich coloring. There was a difference in shape which he passes
as a mere exception to the general resemblance. The tradition
of Lydian origin, therefore, seems also to have been based on the
color and not the shape of the toga.6
But whatever its origin, the toga is probably the earliest dis¬
tinctively racial garment, that is, the earliest garment which was
both a necessary article in the wardrobe, and at the same time
a badge of citizenship, or membership in a political organiza¬
tion. The privilege of wearing it, its color and decoration were
prescribed by law as well as by custom. It was doubtless these
facts which account for the long survival of the toga, despite its
inconvenient form.
While the toga retained its original name throughout its entire
existence, it was subject to numerous changes in shape and in the
manner of draping. These changes can hardly be said to consti¬
tute a development. They were the results of efforts to make the
garment, first, more elaborate, and then less cumbersome, and
at the same time to retain certain features which were apparently
considered essential characteristics.
Concerning the early form of the toga, literary references are
most scanty. Isidore (evidently quoting the Scholia on Persius)7
is sometimes quoted. The paragraph in question states that the
toga is so called because it envelopes the body and covers and
conceals it; that it is a simple pallium, circular in shape and
very copious with a flowing curve; that it comes under the right
and passes over the left shoulder. The writer adds that we see
6 See also Miiller, Die Etrusker, II, 245 ff. for discussion of the origin of the toga.
7 Scholia on Persius, V, 14.
THE TOGA OF THE REPUBLICAN PERIOD
21
imitations of this garment in the draperies on statues and in
pictures,8 and that we call them togated statues.
But Isidore (or the Scholiast) is not at all explicit as to the
period to which the toga under discussion belongs, and the
remarks quoted above would apply equally well to either an
early or a very late form of the garment. Quintilian, discussing
the dress of an orator, remarks that " in olden times there were
no sinus; after that they were very short." 9
From the vagueness of these literary references, we turn to
the clearer and more definite evidence offered by the existing
monuments—statues, relief sculpture and wall paintings. But
even here it is necessary to proceed with caution, for one must
discriminate carefully between details that are true to actual
form and those which are due, either wholly or in part, to
artistic license. It is therefore advisable, before beginning a
discussion of the reconstruction of the toga on the living model,
to determine what is to be considered proof of an accurate
reconstruction, not only of one, but of all the forms of the toga.
Without entering in detail into the question of the lines of
drapery which are essential or characteristic and those which
are incidental or arbitrary, it may be stated as an obvious fact
that a given piece of drapery placed upon a figure will inevitably
produce certain folds and lines. Let us suppose that a hundred
shawls, of the same size and shape and of the same or similar
s Isidore, Etymologiae si<ve Origines, XIX, 24, 3, "Toga dicta quod velamento sui corpus
tegat atque operiat. Est autem pallium purum forma rotunda et fusiore, et quasi inun-
dante sinu, et sub dextro veniens supra humerum sinistrum ponitur, cuius similitudinem
in operimentis simulacrorum vel picturarum aspicimus, easque statuas togatas vocamus."
9 Quintilian, Institutio Oratoria, XI, 3, 137, "nam veteribus nulli sinus, perquam breves
post illos fuerunt."
22
THE ROMAN TOGA
texture, be draped each upon a human figure and that these
figures are about the same size. Manifestly, on no two of the
figures will all the folds and lines of the shawl be absolutely
and photographically identical in every detail. But it is equally
obvious that each and every one of the one hundred shawls as
it falls over the human figure, will produce in all its parts
certain folds and lines, which, in a general way, closely resemble
the corresponding parts of the other ninety-nine shawled fig¬
ures. It is likewise obvious that if the size and shape of any one
shawl be changed and made different from the other shawls, its
general lines and folds as it is placed on the figure, will differ
materially from the corresponding folds and lines of the other
shawls.
These general lines and folds common to the one hundred
figures are the characteristic or essential lines. The numerous
other lines and folds which vary on each figure are casual or
incidental. For an illustration of this resemblance and varia¬
tion of lines and folds of drapery, see the togated figures on
the relief sculptures, Figs. 17a, b, c, d, and e.
The sculptor's chief interest is in the characteristic lines. In
proportion as he is able to recognize and successfully reproduce
them, excluding those that are casual, he has achieved the simpli¬
fication of his subject. Artists vary in their ability to do this.
Not only does the drapery on the living model have its casual
or incidental folds, but the artist often introduces into the drapery
on his statue casual folds of his own fancy; and indeed, some¬
times folds that are wholly arbitrary, that is, those which the
actual drapery could not produce under the conditions shown
on the statue. Moreover—and this point must be constantly
THE TOGA OF THE REPUBLICAN PERIOD
23
borne in mind—neither the sculptors nor the painters were pro¬
ducing fashion plates. They had no thought of making an exact
record of the precise form of the garments which appear on
their statues. Some of them achieved a great degree of realism
in the rendering of their draperies, others were content with
producing only a generalized statement of them; whereas still
others frankly aimed at nothing but artistic effect.
For this reason an accurate reconstruction of any sculptured
garment must be based on a study, not of a few, but of many
representations of it, and, in order to gain exact knowledge, a
large proportion of the representations which one studies must
be—not photographs and drawings—but the actual monuments
themselves on which the articulation and relative positions of
all parts of the garment can be carefully studied. One must
examine minutely the sculptor's manner of rendering drapery.
To what extent is the rendering realistic and true to the behavior
of actual draperies? Does the mass of sculptured fabric at any
one point produce the folds on other parts of the figure which
actual fabric would inevitably do? And are the folds properly
accounted for by the mass of fabric gathered at any point or
points? Do the folds and lines of the sculptured drapery on
one part of the figure articulate, as actual drapery would do,
with the lines and folds on other parts of the figure? Is the
sculptured drapery so placed on the figure, that if it were actual
fabric it would remain in place? By such investigation as this,
the student will soon find that many statues and relief figures
cannot be accepted as authority for the form and arrangement
of their draperies, and much less for any especially peculiar
detail which those draperies present.
24 THE ROMAN TOGA
Fig. 2.
The Venus Genetrix.
Louvre.
The several statues of the
so-called Venus Genetrix are
obvious illustrations of this
point. (See Fig. 2, the Venus
Genetrix of the Louvre.)
The drapery which lies on
the upper left arm can only
be imagined as having this
position for an instant as it
slips from the shoulder. The
curving folds which lie upon
the right leg, melt away at
the ends, and in no way ac¬
count for the depth of fabric
which appears at the lowest
point of the curves. The
drapery is in no sense realistic
but purely and deliberately
artistic.
In reproducing in actual
textiles a drapery shown on a
sculptured figure, one must
discriminate between the
folds which are inevitable or
characteristic and those
which are either casual or
wholly arbitrary, and, pro¬
ceeding with the argument
used in the case of the one
THE TOGA OF THE REPUBLICAN PERIOD
25
hundred shawls, if a piece of drapery be placed on a human
figure in the same manner as that shown on a sculptured figure,
and it produces in all its parts the essential lines and folds shown
on the statue, then the drapery must have practically the same
size and shape as that which the sculptor used on his model.
Pieces of fabric of widely differing shapes may be so draped on
the human figure that they will resemble certain parts of the toga
as shown on statues and relief sculptures, but no form can be
accepted as correct unless it closely approximates the garment on
the sculptured figure in all essential parts. On this principle,
then, we proceed to the reconstruction of the toga on the living
model.
As stated above, the origin of the toga antedates the historical
period of Rome and belongs to a date more remote than that
of any existing Roman sculpture. A considerable amount of
sculpture, both in relief and in the round, belonging to the middle
of the Republican period, or to about the 3rd century B. C., has
been preserved. Many of these monuments show male figures
simply draped in a garment whose upper edge is placed on the
front of the body and brought over the left shoulder, allowing
the end of the drapery in front to extend down well below the
knees. The upper edge is then brought diagonally across the
back, under the right arm-pit, thence diagonally across the breast
and again over the left shoulder, the second end hanging down
the left side of the back. The lower edge of the drapery is
curving. The statues on which this drapery is represented are,
as a rule, either mutilated, badly weathered, or so crudely ren¬
dered as to make a study of details impracticable.
Fortunately, there exists a monument in an almost perfect
state of preservation with which our study of the toga may begin.
26
THE ROMAN TOGA
It is a bronze Etrusco-Roman statue known as the " Arringatore,"
and is in the Museo Archeologico in Florence. It is attributed
to the 3rd century B. C. Artistically it is a model of simplifi¬
cation. The sculptor has excluded almost every fold that is not
actually characteristic, and such details as he includes are clear
and definite (see Fig. 1).
The outer garment or mantle which this figure wears, so far
as its shape and manner of draping are concerned, fulfills the
requirements of the literary reference cited above and must be
accepted as the earliest form of toga of which the monuments
have preserved to us a clear example. This statue shows a tunic
worn under the toga, but according to Aulus Gellius, the Roman
men at first were clothed only in the toga without tunics,10
which indicates that there was an earlier and more primitive
period of toga history than that represented by the " Arringa¬
tore." Asconius is authority for the statement that Cato, when
praetor, because he was oppressed by the heat of summer, used to
enter the forum and give judgment without his tunic, wearing
only a leather apron under his toga, and that he derived this
from an ancient custom, according to which the statues of both
Romulus and Tatius in the Capitol, and that of Camillus on the
rostrum were clad in the toga without tunics.11 As Cato's prae-
torship was fully a century after the probable date of the " Ar¬
ringatore " statue, it is evident that the custom of wearing the
toga without the tunic was not confined to remote ages, though
10 Gellius, Nodes Atticae, VI, 12, 3. " Viri autem Romani primo quidem sine tunicis
toga sola amicti fuerunt."
11 Asconius (ed. Clark), Ad Cic. in Scaurianam, 25. " Cato praetor iudicium, quia aestate
agebatur, sine tunica exercuit campestri sub toga cinctus. In forum quoque sic descendebat
iusque dicebat, idque repetierat ex vetere consuetudine secundum quam et Romuli et Tati
statuae in Capitolio et in rostris Camilli fuerunt togatae sine tunicis."
THE TOGA OF THE REPUBLICAN PERIOD
27
even in Cato's time it was rare enough to excite comment and
criticism.12
The sculptured figures of children of the period to which
this toga belongs are few, but in the cortile of the Museo delle
Terme there is a small sepulchral relief of the Republican
period showing a little boy wearing this early form of toga.
According to literary references, the toga in very early times
was also worn by women as well as by men,13 and we shall see
that the wearing of it by young girls was continued at least until
about the beginning of the imperial period. But in later times
the plain inference from literary passages is that the wearing of
it was discontinued by women excepting those of the disreputable
sort.14
The general shape of the toga which the " Arringatore " wears
is obvious. The upper edge of the garment, which is brought
diagonally across the breast and over the left shoulder and al¬
lowed to hang down the back, is straight. The lower edge of the
garment is curved, but just how much it is curved or rounded
admits of some discussion. On this point, as on nearly all others
in connection with the actual reconstruction of Roman garments,
literary references give us but little help. According to Isidore
or the Scholiast, quoted in note 8, the garment is circular
{rotunda). Quintilian discussing the dress of an orator says, " I
should wish the toga itself to be rounding and cut to fit, for other¬
wise there are many ways in which it may be unshapely." 15 The
truth of the last phrase in the foregoing sentence will be strongly
12 See Plutarch, Cato, 6, and Plutarch, Coriolanus, 14.
13 Varro, Non. p. 540, 31, M. "toga non solum viri, sed etiam feminae utebantur."
14 See Juvenal, II, 68 and Martial, X, 52.
15 Quintilian, Instituiio Oratoria, XI, 3, 139, " ipsam togam rotundam esse et apte caesam
velim, aliter enim multis modis fiet enormis."
28
THE ROMAN TOGA
impressed upon any one who attempts an accurate reconstruc¬
tion of the toga. This remark of Quintilian together with a
statement made by Dionysius of Halicarnassus,16 has been taken
as proof positive that the toga was absolutely semi-circular.17
Quintilian, describing the shape as above, uses the same word
as does Isidore, " rotunda " which certainly does not mean abso¬
lutely semi-circular, but round or rounding, and since obviously
the toga was not round (a circle) the correct translation must
be rounding. In note 16 I have given the full text of the passage
from Dionysius. He is writing of the dress of Roman kings,
and after enumerating several articles with a brief phrase de¬
scriptive of each, he continues, " and a bright, many-colored
garment thrown around the body such as the kings of Lydia and
Persia wear, excepting that it is not rectangular in shape as these
are, but semi-circular." The sentence closes here; beginning
the next sentence, he continues, "And garments of this sort the
Romans call togas, the Greeks tebennos; whence it is derived I
do not know." Dionysius has described a garment worn by
Roman kings, which was rich in color and semi-circular in shape.
Then he makes the general statement that the Romans call gar¬
ments of this sort, togas. If, on such evidence, it is to be asserted
that the shape of the toga must be an absolute semi-circle, then
it can, with equal justice, be asserted that it must always be bright
and many-colored, which is wholly contrary to other evidence.
As a matter of fact Dionysius' statement is not precise. In the
first place, the Romans did not call all circular cloaks togas; and
16 Dionysius of Halicarnassus, III, 61. . . . /cat nepi(3o\aiov nopcpvpovv ttoiklXov, ola Aidwv
re ical IIepawv e(popovi> oi /3aai\eis, n\7]v oi) rerpaywvdv ye ry crxviJLaTL> xadanep eKelva -qv, aXX'
rjfjlikvkxiov. ra de roiavra ruv apLcjueopLaTuv Pw/xatoi /xev royas, EXX^fes de rrifievvov kcl\ov-
aiv, ovk old' oTrodev fiadovres.
17 See Leon Heuzey, Histoire du costume antique, pp. 231 and 239. Paris, 1922.
THE TOGA OF THE REPUBLICAN PERIOD
29
as already pointed out, togas were not always, nor even as a
general rule " many-colored." Dionysius was writing a history
and this particular part of it is concerned with the period of the
Tarquins which was more than 500 years before his own time.
His aim, in this paragraph, was merely to give, according to his
lights, a general idea of the costume of Roman kings.
It will be observed in Fig. 1 that the toga as it passes around
the body and legs, forms practically a sheath or narrow skirt,
and at the lower edge it is so scanty that were it not eased by the
manner in which it is draped over the left arm, it would be too
narrow for any free movement of the legs. As it is, the drapery
permits free movement and has no unnecessary and inconvenient
fullness. But a piece of cloth which is a complete semi-circle,
when draped as a toga, produces a full ruffle on the left side of
the body and greatly increases the folds to be carried on the
left arm. The drapery will also dip much lower on the right
side than it does on Fig. 1, while the ends, both back and front,
will hang in sharp, elongated points. These defects produce a
drapery which is clumsy and ungraceful as compared with Fig. 1.
The impossibility of properly draping as a toga, a piece of
cloth which is a full semi-circle or even a complete segment of a
circle, is still more apparent in the later and more elaborate forms
of the toga.18
A number of experiments made by the writer have resulted
in the form of toga shown on the living model, Fig. 3, which
reproduces the proportions and essential lines of Fig. 1. The
form of this reconstructed toga is shown by diagram, Fig. 7.
In the reconstruction of this toga as well as of all the forms
discussed in this monograph, the unit of measurement is the
18 See n. 6, Chap. III.
30 THE ROMAN TOGA
height of the model from the floor to the base of the neck in
front. But in determining the length, we must also reckon with
the girth measurement, since the required length of a toga is
conditioned upon the slenderness or corpulence of the model as
well as upon the height.
The extreme length of this toga (the line AB) equals the girth
measure plus twice the unit; the extreme width, cd is ij the
unit; the portion CD of the lower edge is straight and is about
equal to the unit; the ends Aa and Bb are also straight and each
equals £ the unit.19 See " Schedule of Proportions " I, Appendix.
One can think of this toga as a rectangular piece of cloth with
the corners rounded off by the curves aD and bC. But it must
be borne in mind that the measurements and proportions of a
draped garment like the toga in all its forms, are comparatively
flexible. For practical use, they need not be given with the exact¬
ness which would be required in giving the measurements and
proportions of a tailored suit. (See note 19.) It is most im¬
probable that any two togas were ever absolutely identical in
every curve and line.
The diagrams which follow, illustrating the forms of the toga
are developed from Fig. 7, the diagram of the Arringatore toga.
Each succeeding form of the toga was developed from the pre¬
ceding form, which is the general rule in the evolution of all
garments. The diagrams will, therefore, present graphically the
successive changes in the form of the toga.
19The unit of measure used in the diagram is 56 inches; that is, the height of the model
from the floor to the base of the neck in front was 56 inches. Naturally there will be,
in some of the proportions, unwieldy fractions which may be varied slightly without mate¬
rially affecting the drapery as a whole. According to the extant monuments the straight
edges Aa, Bb and CD varied in length in different togas, as did also the curvature of the
lines aD and bC of diagram Fig. 7 and the succeeding diagrams. Similar variation in
length occurs in line EF of the succeeding forms.
Fig. 3.
The Toga of the Arringatore.
Fig. 4.
THE TOGA OF THE REPUBLICAN PERIOD
31
The literary references concerning the draping of the toga,
while leaving much to be desired in the way of information, are
usually clear enough to enable one to reconcile them with the
drapery appearing on the sculptured figures. Quintilian in the
passage previously referred to says that " the front part of it
should reach to the middle of the shin, the back part being higher
in the same proportion as the girding." 20 Girding or girt used
in connection with the costume, without other specification,
meant to the Roman the girding of the tunic. In the paragraph
immediately preceding the quotation in question, Quintilian
gives instructions regarding the tunic. " He who has not the
right to wear the broad stripe," he says, " should be so girded
that the tunic in front will reach a little below the knee, in the
back to the middle of the knees ..." 21 That is, the tunic is to
be girded so that it will be about two or three inches shorter in
the back than in the front; and what Quintilian evidently means
is that there should be the same difference between the front and
back of the toga.
20 Quintilian, op. cit., 139-140, "Pars eius prior mediis cruribus optime terminatur,
posterior eadem portione altius qua cinctura."
The last word in the above quotation "cinctura" has sometimes been translated
"girdle"; see this passage in Butler's translation of Quintilian in the Loeb Classical
Library. The explanation which I have given, as well as the form of the word itself,
seem fully to justify my translation.
21 Quintilian, op. cit., 138, " Cui lati clavi ius non erit, ita cingatur, ut tunicae prioribus
oris infra genua paulum, posterioribus ad medios poplites usque perveniant."
The word "poplites" is ambiguous, especially when we try to reconcile this passage
with the existing monuments. It is variously translated "hams" (which on the human
figure can only mean "thighs") and "knees." As the sculptures and paintings show the
short tunic of civilians as reaching well over the lower part of the knee joint in front,
and to about the middle of the joint in the back, it seems probable that "knee" is the
better translation, and that Quintilian used the word " poplites " to avoid a repetition of
the word " genua."
32
THE ROMAN TOGA
He further says, " that part which is under the right shoulder
is brought diagonally to the left like a sword belt, neither too
tight nor too loose." 2~ Quintilian was writing fully two hundred
years after the probable date of the Arringatore statue, and the
full text of his remarks show that he was discussing the toga of
his own time, but, as we shall see, the passages quoted above are
also applicable to the Arringatore toga.
The method of draping the Arringatore toga is simple, but
as it forms the basis of the more elaborate styles which follow,
it seems best to illustrate it fully. The toga is placed upon the
left shoulder so that it falls over the left side of the body and is
supported on the left arm; the end Aa extends about half way
between the knee and ankle, and hangs in front of, or between
the legs. A few inches along the upper edge are gathered into
folds which lie on the left shoulder. See Fig. 5. This roll of folds
is then brought diagonally across the back, under the right arm,
then diagonally across the breast to the left shoulder and is again
supported by the left arm. See Fig. 6. The end hanging down
the back corresponds approximately in its disposition to the part
that is first put on the front of the body with the end hanging
between the legs, excepting that the end of the garment in the
back is about three inches higher above the floor than the corre¬
sponding end in front of the body. See Fig. 4. Three features
of this drapery should be especially noticed:
First—The end which hangs down the front of the body and
in front of, or between the legs. See Fig. 5.
Second—The double set of folds on the left shoulder; that
is, first, the folds formed by the garment as it is first put on the
22 Quintilian, op. cit., 140, " Ille, qui sub umero dextro ad sinistrum oblique ducitur velut
balteus, nec strangulet, nec fluat."
Fig. 5. Fig. 6.
The Draping of the Toga of the Arringatore.
Fig. 7.
The Form of the Toga of the Arringatore.
33
34
THE ROMAN TOGA
shoulder (Fig. 5) ; and second, the continuation of these folds
which is brought diagonally across the breast and passes over the
left shoulder above the first group of folds. See Fig. 6.
Third—The supporting of the toga on the left arm. These
three features of the drapery, with numerous modifications, occur
in all, save one,"'3 of the various ways in which the toga was
draped in the course of its long existence.
Literary references to the material of the toga are scanty, but
as wool was the usual material for outer garments, there can
be no doubt that the toga at least at the period which we are now
discussing was a woolen garment. Its texture, as we shall see,
varied. Pliny says that the toga undulata was very popular at
first: that the toga rasa and the toga Phryxiana are said to have
come into use in the time of Augustus. But as the meaning of
undulata and of Phryxiana is uncertain, excepting that they
are evidently in contrast with rasa (smooth) the passage gives
us but little help.24 On account of the nature and size of the
toga, the fabric must always have been relatively light and
flexible. Perhaps at no time during the period represented by
the existing monuments, was the material heavier than the lightest
homespun flannel of our ancestors of two or three generations
ago, while the extremely large togas were much lighter and
thinner in texture. This statement is based on a careful study
of the nature of the folds and their quantity in the different
forms of the toga to be found on existing statues. The toga
shown on the Arringatore is probably of the heaviest fabric
used in any toga of which we have an illustration in existing
23 See Fig. 71 b.
24 Pliny, Nat. Hist. VIII, 74.
THE TOGA OF THE REPUBLICAN PERIOD
35
monuments. The ridges are stiff, and the folds are of the sort
produced by relatively heavy, unpliable textiles.
A few details in the rendering of the toga on this particular
statue are of especial interest. There is a border about three
inches in width on its lower edge. It has been assumed that this
border was sewed to the edge of the toga, and as evidence, atten¬
tion is called to the ridge formed by its joining with the toga.25
On examining this statue, one finds that the edges of the toga—
both the upper edge which comes diagonally across the breast,
and the extreme lower edge of the border—are finished with a
cord. The ridge already referred to along the upper edge of
the border has the appearance of a braid, or of two parallel
cords. The arm-hole and neck opening of the tunic are finished
with a cord like that on the edge of the toga.
An explanation of this detail is to be found on certain of the
tunics from the Coptic graves now in the Musee des Tissus,
Lyons, France, and the still larger collections of tunics in the
Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and in the Royal
Ontario Museum of Archaeology, in Toronto. Several of these
tunics are finished around the arm-hole and neck with this same
sort of cord. In places on these ancient garments, this cord is
broken and the strands untwisted, showing plainly that it is
made of the threads of which the fabric is woven. The cord on
the edge of the toga of the Arringatore has exactly the same
appearance as that on the tunic; and since the cord on the tunic
is explained by the Coptic garments, we can safely assume that
the cord on the edge of the toga of the Arringatore was pro¬
duced in the same way. That the border of this toga was, in all
25 See Daremberg et Saglio, Diet, des Antiq. V, p. 350; Heuzey, Histoire du costume
antique, pp. 246 ff.
36
THE ROMAN TOGA
probability, attached in the weaving is fully demonstrated by
an actual experiment on a hand loom; ~G and the cord on the upper
edge of the border, or along its joining with the toga, was pro¬
duced in the weaving by a process similar to that used in making
the cords above mentioned.
On the tip end of this toga in the back, there is a loop formed
by threads left in the weaving. There was doubtless a similar
loop on the front end, but it has been broken away. We find
such loops similarly placed on togas for more than three cen¬
turies following the date of the Arringatore.
Latin literature mentions but two kinds of bordered toga, the
toga praetexta 27 and the toga trabea. So far as we know, these
two togas differed only in color; the toga praetexta being of one
color (sometimes white, sometimes dark, pull a) with a purple
border, while the toga trabea was party-colored and purple-
bordered.
To one or the other of these two classes therefore the Arringa¬
tore toga must belong, and the statue presents an unusual detail
which seems to offer a possible clue to the solution. This detail
consists of a number of stripes worked into the bronze. One of
these stripes is under the right arm, or midway between the two
ends of the toga and evidently extends from its upper edge to
the border. There are indications of two and possibly three
transverse stripes which would cross this under-arm stripe at
right angles, and extend the length of the toga. The first of
these stripes can be traced a few inches above the knee; a second
appears near the middle of the body, and there are indications
of a possible third in the folds on the breast. The bronze has
See discussion of the toga -praetexta, Chap. II.
2' See discussion of the toga praetexta, Chap. II.
THE TOGA OF THE REPUBLICAN PERIOD
37
suffered from exposure so that these stripes cannot be traced
clearly throughout their entire supposed length. They are about
an inch or a little more in width, and consist of a rounded ridge,
and on either side of the ridge and about § of an inch from it,
an incised line. Fig. 8 gives approximately the contour of a
cross section of this stripe. The stripe over the shoulder of the
tunic is indicated by incised lines similar to those which outline
these stripes on the toga. As there are extant bronze statues on
which the stripe on the tunic, worked in this way, retains traces
^ r~
Fig. 8.
of paint,2S it is wholly probable that the stripes on both the tunic
and toga of this statue were originally painted.
These stripes bring to mind passages in literature referring
to a toga trabea. As usual, these literary references do not
enable us to identify the garment in question. Servius states that
Suetonius in his book on the kinds of garments says " there are
three kinds of trabea; one consecrated to the gods which is wholly
purple; another for kings which is purplish; it has, however,
some white. The third belonging to augurs is purple and scarlet
mixed." 29 Again he states that the trabea is the toga of augurs and
is of scarlet and purple.:!0 Another comment is to the effect that
28 See a bronze statue known as the " Camillus " in the Capitoline Museum; Von Mach,
A Handbook of Greek and Roman Sculpture, pi. 326.
29 Servius, Ad Aen., VII, 612. "Suetonius in libro de genere vestium dicit tria genera
esse trabearum; unum diis sacratum, quod est tantum de purpura; aliud regum, quod
est purpureum, habet tamen album aliquid; tertium augurale de purpura et cocco
mixtum."
30 Servius, op. cit., VII, 188. " Succinctus trabea; toga est augurum de cocco et
purpura."
38
THE ROMAN TOGA
the curule chair and trabea are the insignia of authority among
the Romans.31 Dionysius describing the Salii says that in their
festivals they put on a brooch-fastened, purple-bordered garment
called a trabea, which, he adds, was a Roman garment and held
in highest honor.32 While the above passages agree as to the
rich colors of the trabea, they make no mention of stripes. The
generally accepted theory of the origin of the word trabea is that
it is derived from trabes (the beams of a building) and that the
name was applied to the garment because it was woven with
stripes or bands which resembled trabes.33
Numerous casual references might also be cited, all to the effect
that the trabea was the garment of royalty, or at least of persons
of distinction, and that it was worn on ceremonial occasions,34
but no further or more definite description of it has been brought
to light. So, from the literary references we can neither prove
nor disprove that the toga of the Arringatore is a trabea, nor
can we even be sure that the trabea was always in the form of a
toga. Mr. F. Courby defines it as a circular cloak,35 and Dionys¬
ius says it was broach-fastened so that he evidently thought it a
cloak. It is quite probable that the name was given at different
periods to garments of varying shapes. However, we have on
the Arringatore a striped toga, and literature tells us nothing of
31 Servius, op. cit., XI, 334. " Romanorum enim imperatorum insigne fuit sella curulis
et trabea."
32 Dionysius, 11,70 (R.) ". . . /cat Trjfievvas e^iveiTopirriiAivoi nepnropcpvpovs (poiviKonapv-
0ods, as Ka\ouai Tpafieas. 'ccttl 8' e7rtx«pios avrr) 'Pw/xaiois etrGrjs ev rois iravv ri/xia,"
33 See " trabea " in Lexicon Totius Latinitatis.
34 See Claudius, In Rufinum, I, 249; Ovid, Fasti, II, 503; Pliny, Natural History, VIII,
48, 74, 195; also IX, 63.
In the last mentioned reference Helbig, Toga und Trabea, Hermes, XXXIX, 1904, p. 174,
sees an implication on Pliny's part that the trabea was a striped garment.
35 See Daremberg et Saglio, Diet, des Antiquites, Vol. V, p. 382.
THE TOGA OF THE REPUBLICAN PERIOD 39
any striped toga unless it be the trabea. Even the assumption that
the trabea is striped rests, as has been explained, on an etymolog¬
ical theory. The Arringatore, though not a king, was, at least,
a distinguished person; otherwise a bronze statue of him would
not have been erected; and if a person of distinction, he might
have been permitted the trabea, and here the argument must
rest.36
Soon after or even contemporaneous with the probable date
of the Arringatore, changes appear in the form of the toga, as
will be seen by examining a large number of statues belonging
to the 3rd and 2nd centuries B. C. Several of these statues are
in the garden of the Museo delle Terme. See Figs. 9 and 10.
The toga on these statues is much larger and longer than that on
the Arringatore, the folds are looser and softer and the curves
more graceful. The front end of the garment trails on the ground
between the feet. These changes in the toga, and those which
follow for nearly three centuries, were inspired by a growing
love of luxury and elaboration, noticeable in all phases of Roman
life during the centuries just mentioned.
The manner of draping this toga as shown by this series of
statues is also different; instead of passing under the right
shoulder and arm, it comes over both, muffling the right arm to
the wrist. It could, however, have been draped like the Arrin¬
gatore toga. It is doubtless this sort of toga to which Quintilian
36 Similar stripes are to be found in Roman sculpture on garments other than the toga,
as on the cloak of the centurion on one of the piers of the Arch of Septimius Severus. Also
in the Metropolitan Museum there is a bronze portrait statue of a Roman boy draped in
a himation on which there are stripes resembling those on the toga of the Arringatore,
and it also has a similar border. See Greek, Etruscan and Roman Bronzes (Metropolitan
Museum), pp. 149 ff. No. 333; also "A Bronze Statue in the Metropolitan Museum of
Art," American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. XIX, 1915, pp. 121-128, pis. I-IV inclusive;
both by Gisela M. A. Richter.
40
THE ROMAN TOGA
refers immediately after his remark that in olden times there
were no sinus. He says that the orators in those times must have
used some other gesture, since their arms, like those of the
Greeks, were confined by their garments.37 Quintilian, it is true,
was writing particularly of the dress of orators, but the opening
sentence of the paragraph from which the above quotation is
taken, indicates that what he has to say concerning dress, does
not apply alone to orators, though it is of greater importance to
them.38
The numerous extant statues on which the toga appears draped
as on Figs. 9 and 10 offer fair evidence that this was the general
if not the universal way of wearing this style of the toga, since
it is hardly probable that all of these persons were orators. More¬
over, we find that nearly all of the succeeding forms of the toga
were, at least occasionally, worn with a portion of the drapery
drawn over the right shoulder and arm.
The lower edge of this toga, Figs. 9 and 10, as it comes across
the ankles and is carried up over the left arm, has practically
the same outline as the lower edge of the Arringatore toga;
its curves and proportions must, therefore, be similar, since it
also resembles the Arringatore toga in all its parts. On the
upper edge of the garment, however, a variation appears. On
the Arringatore toga, it will be remembered, this edge is straight.
The end of the toga between the feet of Fig. 9 shows the upper
edge of the garment turned over from right to left; the corner
is rounded and the upper edge as it ascends takes a slightly
37 Quintilian, op. cit., XI, 3, 138, " Itaque etiam gestu necesse est usos esse in principiis
eos alio, quorum brachium, sicut Graecorum, veste continebatur."
38 Quintilian, op. cit., XI, 137, " Cultus non est proprius oratoris aliquis, sed magis in
oratore conspicitur. Quare sit, ut in omnibus honestis debet esse, splendidus et virilis:
nam et toga et calceus et capillus tarn nimia cura quam negligentia sunt reprehendenda."
Fig. 9. Fig. 10.
Portrait Statues in the Museo delle Terme.
Rome.
Fig. 11.
A Portrait Statue in a Private
Collection.
Moscioni. Rome.
Fig. 12. Fig. 13.
The Toga of Figs. 9, 10, and 11.
The Large Toga of the Republican Period.
THE TOGA OF THE REPUBLICAN PERIOD
41
diagonal direction, indicating that the upper corner or corners
of the toga are cut off by a slightly diagonal line. This detail is
still more clearly shown on a statue in a private collection in
Rome, Fig. 11, where the diagonal edge of the toga as it folds
upon itself and ascends between the feet is unmistakable.
In diagram Fig. 16 the space enclosed by the heavy line gives,
according to the present study, the shape of this second form of
the toga. The dotted line AB shows the extreme length of the
garment; the smaller space enclosed by the dotted line is the
form of the Arringatore toga (Fig. 7).
Fig. 16 shows that this second form of the toga is simply an
enlargement of the Arringatore toga. Had the lines from A
and F respectively been extended to M, and those from B and E
respectively been extended to O, this second toga would have
had the same shape as the Arringatore toga, but would have
been longer and considerably wider in proportion to its length.
The change in shape consists in cutting off the triangular pieces
AFM and BEO, which gives a convex shape to the upper edge
of the toga.
Why this change in shape? The statues themselves give the
answer. By comparing Fig. 1 with Figs. 9 and 10 and 11, it will
be seen that the heavy compact roll into which the upper edge
of the garment is gathered on the Arringatore, and which
comes under the right arm and diagonally across the breast and
passes over the left shoulder has, in Figs. 9 and 10 and 11,
given place to a broad band of folds which could only have been
formed by easing or elongating the upper edge of the garment.
Moreover, this upper edge as it falls over the left shoulder of
Figs. 10 and 11 likewise indicates a looseness or fullness which
would hardly be so pronounced unless the edge of the garment
42
THE ROMAN TOGA
were longer than the actual length of the garment itself, which,
as we have seen was accomplished by cutting off the corners. As
already suggested, this change made possible a greater grace
and softness in the disposition of the folds. The necessity for
lengthening the upper edge of the toga and the results attained
by it will be more apparent in the succeeding forms of the
garment.
Many of the statues having this form of the toga, and in fact
all forms of the toga, were only intended to be viewed from the
front and sides, the back being left rough, or only roughly
blocked out. In the cortile of the Museo delle Terme, however,
there is a headless statue, now badly weathered, which belongs
to this series of togated figures. The characteristic folds of the
drapery in the back are worked out with admirable simplicity.
Fig. 14.
A reproduction of this toga with the shape given in Fig. 16 is
showrn on the living model, Figs. 12 and 13. The arrangement
of the drapery corresponds to Figs. 9 and 10 respectively, and
Fig. 15 shows the arrangement in the back, corresponding to
Fig. 14.
A detail noticeable on many of the togated figures of this
series is the arrangement of the folds just over the left hip. If
these sculptured folds are true to form, they could only have
been produced by the garment being caught up in some way and
held at this point, which could be done either by tucking it
under the girdle of the tunic or by fastening it to the girdle.
This detail with a varying degree of emphasis occurs on numer¬
ous sculptured figures; sometimes it is rendered as a decided
catching up of the drapery, and in other cases, as in Fig. 11, it is
so slightly indicated that it would seem to be merely an artistic
convention, as indeed it may have been in many cases.
Fig. 14.
A Statue in the Museo delle Terme.
Rome.
Fig. 15.
Back View of Fig. 12.
o
d
Fig. 16.
The Large Toga of the Republican Period.
FIG. 17A.
A Relief from the Ara Pacis.
Alinari. Vatican.
Fig. 17B.
A Relief from the Ara Pacis.
Brogi. Florence.
II.
THE TOGA OF THE ARA PACIS
In the latter part of the Republican period and in the early
Empire, the form of the toga was again changed. The numerous
figures on the Ara Pacis, see Figs. 17a, b, c, d and e, furnish
excellent examples of this third form of the toga.
No small part of the enormous value of this monument for
the study of the toga is due to the fact that it presents so many
figures, and such a large number of slightly varying ways of
wearing the toga; and illustrates the point already mentioned,
that, in its minor details, the arrangement of the toga varied with
each wearer and at each time it was put on. While the sculptor
or sculptors of the Ara Pacis have inserted a good many arbitrary
and unnaturally broken folds in the drapery, the characteristic
folds and lines are strongly brought out, so that we have in
these reliefs a good general statement of the senatorial toga at
the time this monument was produced.
The end of the toga on these reliefs does not lie on the floor as
in Figs. 9 and 10, nor is the garment draped so low on the
ankles. The end of the toga which hangs between the feet shows
plainly that both the upper and lower edges of the garment
have a sloping or slightly curved line. This detail is especially
clear on the figure in the foreground at the extreme right of
Fig. 17c and on all of those in Fig. 17b. This end of the toga
on most of the figures of the Ara Pacis is finished with a loop
similar to that on the Arringatore. Possibly in some cases a
weight may have been attached to this cord, such as was some¬
times used on Roman and Greek garments.
43
44
THE ROMAN TOGA
But the most noticeable change is in the upper edge of the
toga, which has been still further eased or lengthened, so as to
allow it to be brought loosely across the back of the neck, along
the top of the shoulder and to fall in a curve well below the
right hip, as on the central figure and the one at the extreme
right in the foreground of Fig. 17a. Or it is brought up well
over the right shoulder and forearm as in the second figures from
the right in Figs. 17a and 17c; or again it is drawn up over the
head as in the second figure from the left in Fig. 17a and the
central figures in 17b and i7d.
The curve thus formed by the drapery is accepted as the sinus
to which reference is made in numerous literary passages. As
usual, these references throw little or no light on the appearance
of the feature in question nor on the way it is produced. Quin-
tilian, as already quoted (note 1, Chapter I), says that the earlier
form of toga had no sinus and after that the sinus were small.
As the sinus shown on the Ara Pacis are as small as any of which
we have clear evidence, we may conclude that we have here the
small or short sinus to which Quintilian refers.
These reliefs give evidence, such as we shall also find on later
monuments, of the persistence of an earlier style side by side
with one of later development. The second and fourth figures
from the right in the foreground of 17b each wears a toga of
practically the same shape and manner of draping as that of
Figs. 9 and 10. The upper edge is perhaps eased a little more
so as to enable the folds to fall more loosely and indicate the
beginning of the sinus.
As there is nothing to cause us to suppose that these two per¬
sons are of a rank or status different from the other togated
figures in the group, we can only conclude that we have here
FIG. 17D.
Reliefs from the Ara Pacis.
Brogi. Florence.
Fig. 17e.
A Relief from the Ara Pacis.
Brogi. Florence.
THE TOGA OF THE ARA PACIS
45
two conservative dressers who were slow to yield to what they
considered the extremes of the prevailing style and continued to
wear togas of the older fashion, making only the slight changes
already mentioned.
The second adult figure from the left in Fig. 17c shows that
the left arm was not always bent at the elbow to support the
toga, but might be dropped and part of the toga held up in
the left hand.
While the taste for elaborate dress already mentioned probably
accounts for the development of the sinus, once it was added to
the toga, it was put to practical use. As we see from the reliefs, it
could be brought up over the shoulders for additional warmth
or for protection against the weather. Regarding the drawing
of the sinus over the head, references in literature are scanty.
Since the emperor or other person offering a sacrifice or taking
part in a religious rite is usually if not always represented with
the sinus drawn over the head and as Romans in ordinary civilian
dress are usually represented with the head bare, the belief is
current that the sinus was only drawn over the head during a
religious ceremony. The figures on the Ara Pacis in no way
contradict this assumption, since the scene represented is, in part,
a religious observance. But as the reliefs show a few laurel
crowned heads covered, and a much greater number uncovered,
the question as to just what the distinction was remains un¬
answered.
The numerous literary references to the sinus as a place for
concealing articles about one's person have no particular bearing
upon the present discussion, excepting as they prove the practical
use made of this part of the garment.
46
THE ROMAN TOGA
While this toga is more elaborate and complicated than the
one on Figs. 9 and 10, there is, as a matter of fact, no great
difference in the size of the two garments. Their length is about
the same and while the ends of the Ara Pacis togas, instead of
trailing between the feet, are well above the floor in each case, the
length is taken up by draping the garment loosely under the
right arm instead of bringing it closely around the neck as in
Figs. 9 and 10.
A comparison of the form of the Ara Pacis toga with that of
the toga on Figs. 9 and 10 is shown in diagram, Fig. 18. The
space enclosed by the heavy line is the form of the Ara Pacis toga,
while the dotted line outlines the toga on Figs. 9 and 10. See
Fig. 16. We see that the variations, as compared with the toga
of Figs. 9 and 10 are, first, a considerable increase in the width;
and, second, a much larger triangular section cut from the upper
corners giving the upper edge of the toga a greatly increased
convexity. Here again we see that had the lines from B and E
been extended to O and the lines from A and F extended to M
this Ara Pacis toga would have had practically the same shape as
the Arringatore toga, but would have been much larger. A
peculiarity of all the togas on these reliefs is the shortness of the
lines Aa and Bb, that is the end of the toga hanging between
the feet and the corresponding end in the back. On all of these
figures this end appears to be almost a point, as if the lines AF
and BE almost joined the curves at " a " and " b " respectively.
This shape of the end of the toga appears occasionally on other
sculptures, contemporaneous with those which show these ends
as being several inches in width. This variation is another proof
that the toga at no time had an absolutely hard and fast shape.
The Toga of the Ara Pacis.
47
48
THE ROMAN TOGA
This increased width makes it possible (and necessary) to fold
the toga and allow the edge AFEB to form the sinus. The fold
follows approximately the line AB, though naturally, in draping,
this straight line is not maintained.
In diagram 18, and in all diagrams of the forms of toga given
in this volume, the end Aa is the end which hangs between the
feet or legs in front of the body. If we conceive the diagram as
showing the toga spread out and lying upon the page, the side
which is uppermost would be placed next to the body of the
wearer, and the sinus would be folded over so as to lie next to the
page. Fig. 27b shows the reverse side, that is, the toga is turned
over so that the folded sinus is uppermost.
A reconstruction of this form of toga on a living model is shown
by Figs. 19 and 20. The Ara Pacis reliefs show no full back
view of any of the togated figures, but judging from the portions
of the figures which we see and from the arrangement of the
back of the toga on the figures previously discussed, the arrange¬
ment shown by Fig. 21 seems fully guaranteed.
In Fig. 17c the second figure from the left furnishes further
evidence regarding the catching up and fastening of the toga
above the left hip. In view of the not infrequent appearance of
this detail, the question arises as to whether it was ever customary
to secure the toga by fastening it either to itself or to the tunic.
On this point, literary references give us no help, and extant
monuments show no brooch or visible means of fastening worn
with the toga. Among the accessories of a Roman wardrobe,
however, were pins resembling, in their general construction, the
modern safety pin. Many of them are not ornamental, and the
great number of them in present day museum collections prove
that they were in common use, and nowhere would there appear
Fig. 19.
Fig. 20.
Reconstructions of the Toga of the Ara Pacis.
Fig. 21.
THE TOGA OF THE ARA PACIS
49
to have been greater need for them than in securing the cumber¬
some toga. On the other hand, the Romans were accustomed to
wearing draped garments, and naturally managed them with less
difficulty than is conceivable to us. But the case under discussion
(and other instances might be cited) is a clear example of the
toga attached in some way to some other part of the costume; and
on statues of a later date, as we shall see, there is equally good
evidence that the toga is attached at some point to itself, though,
as in Fig. 17c the means of attachment is concealed.
A wholly new feature in the draping of the toga makes its ap¬
pearance in these reliefs. In Fig. 17b on the first, third and fifth
figures from the right, the edge of the toga as it comes from
between the feet and ascends to the left shoulder is drawn over
the sinus fold and forms a small loop or boss near the waist line
in front of the body. This feature has been identified as the umbo
referred to in a few literary passages.1 The further development
of this feature will appear in the next style of toga to be con¬
sidered.
Many of the persons represented on the Ara Pacis were ob¬
viously men of distinction and official position, and this brings up
the question of the probable color of the toga which they wore.
The monuments give us no light on this matter, and the literary
references by earlier writers are comparatively few and for the
most part indefinite.
White was apparently assumed to be the usual color and par¬
ticular comment is made only when some other color is used.
Thus Cassius Dio tells us that Augustus commanded that no one
but senators and those holding public offices should wear purple
1 See n. 18, Chap. Ill, also Tertullian, De Pallio, V; and Persius, V, 33.
50
THE ROMAN TOGA
clothing and that he did this because in certain cases it had been
appropriated by private individuals.2
From this statement we may infer that the wearing of the
purple toga was a privilege rather than an obligation; that it
was forbidden to all except certain classes of persons, and while
these persons were permitted to wear it, it is not at all certain
that they were commanded to do so. However, as it was a mark
of distinction, it was doubtless worn by those to whom it was al¬
lowed; and so we may be reasonably sure that there would have
been purple togas in such a procession as that represented on the
Ara Pacis.
A dark-colored toga, the toga pulla, was worn on certain
occasions.3 The color of this dark toga cannot be asserted posi¬
tively, but it was probably a dark shade of brown or gray.
There was a color much used on garments among the Romans,
according to extant wall paintings, which resembles a very dark
reddish shade of modern purple. As we see this color today,
it is much darker than the color which we accept as the purple
of the Romans. It is possible that it has changed with age. But
in a wall painting in the more recent excavations at Pompeii,
there is a female figure wearing a full dress of this dark rich
color, and in an adjacent painting similarly exposed, there is a
tunic having stripes of the brighter color which we accept as
Roman purple.4. On the Coptic garments and textiles in the
Victoria and Albert Museum there are instances of this color
and it is described in the museum literature as purple, but it is so
dark and dull that it now suggests a dark brown rather than
2 Cassius Dio, XLIX, 16.
3 See Festus, Pauli Excerpta, p. 237, Lindsay.
4 This painting has not yet been published, hence no more explicit reference to it can be
given here.
THE TOGA OF THE ARA PACIS
51
purple. The usual white toga could, by some process, be made
exceedingly white and glistening. Such a toga—the toga Can¬
dida—was worn by those seeking election to office.4a They were
therefore called candidati (candidates).
While the Ara Pads gives us no help on the question of color,
it does furnish a clue to the solution of other problems, among
them, that of the dress of Roman children, the toga of the flamen,
and incidentally, of the toga praetexta.
Among primitive peoples generally there is little difference
in form between the garments of children and those of adults.
Doubtless from the beginning of its existence the toga was worn
by boys as well as by men, but it is not until after the development
of the sinus that extant monuments tell us much about the dress
of Roman children. On the Ara Pacis, Fig. iye, we see children
apparently from 4 to 10 or 12 years of age wearing togas longer
and more cumbersome than those of their elders, and one of the
children is a young girl.5 There are a number of extant statues
in the round showing a similar toga on Roman boys. See Fig. 25.
Literature furnishes positive evidence that the toga worn by
these high born young Romans was the toga praetexta, or a toga
with a purple border. Isidore defines this toga, the praetexta
worn by boys, as the pallium which the sons of the nobility to
the age of 16 years, in school, wore, from which, he says, they
were called praetextati pueri, and adds that the word praetexta
was used because these togas were edged with a wider purple
border.6 This definition, however, does not define, since the toga
4a See Isidore, Orig., XIX, 24, 6.
r' See page 27 for mention of the wearing of the toga by women.
0 Isidore, op. cit., XIX, 24, 16. " Praetexta puerile est pallium quo usque ad sedecim annos
pueri nobiles sub disciplinae cultu utebantur; unde et praetextati pueri appellati sunt.
Dicta autem praetexta quia praetexebatur ei latior purpura."
52
THE ROMAN TOGA
praetexta was not the garment of boys alone, though the toga of
youths was probably distinguished by the wider border which
Isidore mentions. At the age of sixteen the young Roman was
permitted to wear the toga virilism which was the toga of man¬
hood and the badge of Roman citizenship. A special ceremony
attended his investiture. The toga given him at this time was
white, and is therefore sometimes called the toga pura.6h There¬
after, as we shall see, his right to wear a purple border or a
colored toga depended upon his official position.
A toga praetexta was granted as a privilege to certain officials
whom Lucius Valerius, as quoted by Livy, enumerates, and
argues the injustice of forbidding the use of purple to women.
" Shall we men have the use of the purple," he says, " being
praetexta clad in magistracies and priesthoods and in priestly
offices; shall our children wear purple-bordered togas; shall we
permit the privilege of wearing the toga praetexta to the magis¬
trates of the colonies and borough towns, and to the very lowest
of them here in Rome, the magistri vicorum, and not only of
wearing such an ornament while alive, but of being burned with
it when dead; and shall we interdict the use of purple to women
alone? "7
As to the exact width of this purple border and its place on
the toga after the appearance of the sinus, literature gives us
no evidence and the existing monuments but little. The Arringa-
6a See Cic., De Amicitia, I, i. Pro Sest., LXIX, 144. Livy, XXVI, 19, 5. XLII, 34, 4.
6b See Cic., Ad Att., IX, 61. V, 209. VI, 1.
7 Livy, XXXIV, Chap. 7, 2, " purpura viri utemur, praetextati in magistratibus, in
sacerdotiis; liberi nostri praetextis purpura togis utentur; magistratibus in coloniis,
municipiisque, hie Romae infimo generi, magistris vicorum, togae praetextae habendae
ius permittemus, nec ut vivi solum habeant tantum insigne, sed etiam ut cum eo crementur
mortui: feminis dumtaxat purpurae usu interdicemus ? "
Fig. 22.
A Wall Painting.
Pompei.
THE TOGA OF THE ARA PACIS
53
tore, as already stated, is the only statue (so far as I know) on
which the toga is represented with a border. Probably borders
were painted on togas on other statues and relief sculptures, but
not one of them (of which I have any knowledge) retains more
than a barely possible trace of paint on the toga.8 Singularly
enough, togated figures are very rare in extant ancient paintings.
One single example is to be found at Pompeii. It is in the House
of the Vettii; see Fig. 22. This is a purely decorative painting
and the artist's aim was artistic effect rather than realistic repre¬
sentation. The form and drapery of the toga are substantially
the same as on the togated statues. There is a very deep purple
border on the sinus, but there may well be doubt as to the correct¬
ness of the width of the border shown in this painting. The
purple stripe on the tunic, visible on the right shoulder of the
figure, is nearly twice the width of the stripe shown on this
garment, so it is not improbable that there is a similar exaggera¬
tion in the width of the border of the toga.9 On this slender
evidence, therefore, our knowledge of the actual appearance of
the purple border is based.10
8 A few togated statues are said to have retained traces of paint, when first discovered.
Notable among these are the so-called Labicana statue of Augustus (see Fig. 23 and
Bull, della Com. Arch. . . . Roma XXXVIII, p. 99) and a statue of Titus in the Braccio
Nuovo of the Vatican (see Amelung, Vatican Catalogue, I, 26, pi. IV). But if any of the
stains visible on these statues to-day are the remains of paint, they are now too indefinite
to be used as evidence.
°To be sure, the width of the purple stripe on the tunic was, to some extent, determined
by the status of the wearer.
10 M. Leon Heuzey believed that a painting from the necropolis at Vulci (see his
Histoire du costume antique, Fig. 126) furnishes further evidence that the purple border
was on the edge of that part of the toga which forms the sinus. While it is possible that
the garment shown in this painting is a toga praetexta, the evidence seems to me far from
conclusive. However, as M. Heuzey has pointed out, the place for the border, from an
aesthetic point of view is on the edge of the sinus, and added to this argument we have
the wall painting in Pompeii, Fig. 22.
54
THE ROMAN TOGA
We have seen, in our discussion of the origin of the toga, that
the praetexta was adopted at a very early period, and numerous
literary passages might be cited to prove that its use was con¬
tinuous. Pliny states that is was used in the time of Tullus
Hostilius and of Tarquinius;11 and, coming down into the repub¬
lic, he tells of a centurion who having distinguished himself in
the Cimbrian War (109-107 B. C.) received numerous honors,
among which was the privilege of making a sacrifice in a toga
praetexta.12
The praetexta was, therefore, certainly used during the period
to which the toga of the Arringatore belongs. That particular
toga has a border, but as we have seen, there is a possibility
that it may be a toga trabea instead of a toga praetexta; but
there is no reason to doubt that the toga praetexta of that period
had a similar border similarly attached to its lower edge, since
such a decoration would not have been effective on the upper
edge which is gathered in close compact folds. But when the
toga was increased in size and the lower edge trailed about the
ankles, the purple border was placed on a more effective and
suitable part of the drapery which was the graceful, curving
sinus. In view of the clear evidence of a border on the curving
edge of the Arringatore toga there should be no difficulty in
regard to such a border on the edge of the sinus of these later
togas, even though that edge was not a straight line.
11 Pliny, Nat. Hist., IX, 39 (63), " Nam toga praetexta et latiore clavo Tullum Hostilium
e regibus primum usum Etruscis devictis satis constat."
Also, XXXIII, 1, 4, 10, " Sed a Prisco Tarquinio omnium primo filium, cum in praetextae
annis occidisset hostem, bulla aurea donatum constat . . ."
12 Pliny, Nat. Hist., XXII, 6, ix, " Invenio apud auctores eundem praeter hunc
honorem adstantibus Mario et Catulo coss. praetextatum immolasse ad tibicinem foculo
posito."
THE TOGA OF THE ARA PACIS
55
The theory has been advanced, however, that in order to be
a praetexta, the purple border must be woven into, and be an
actual part of the web of the toga itself; and therefore the edge
of the sinus must have been straight, else the border could not
have been woven upon it.13 The meaning of the verb praetexo
and its use in literature do not support the first clause of this
theory. It is used with reference to a border, but frequently
where the border in question was not an actual part of the object
to which it was applied. Thus, Tacitus says that the two coun¬
tries (Gaul and Germany) are bordered by the Rhine.14 Pliny
speaks of the mountains which border or surround certain races,15
and Vergil speaks of the reeds with which the Mincius borders
its banks and of the ships at anchor, whose sterns bordered the
curving shore.16
In each of these four references, a form of the verb praetexo
is used, though in neither case was the border a part of the
object with which it was connected. An object to which the
term praetexta is applied must surely be bordered; and the bor¬
der can be woven upon the edge, but it can just as well be attached
in some other way.
13 See Heuzey, op. cit., pp. 245 ff.
14 Tacitus, Germania, 34, 1, 4, " Utraeque nationes usque ad Oceanum Rheno prae-
texuntur . . ."
15 Pliny, Nat. Hist., VI, 25 (29), "Quod Parthos attinet, semper fuit Parthyaea in
radicibus montium saepius dictorum, qui omnes eas gentes praetexunt."
is Vergil, Eel., VII, 12,
Hie viridis tenera praetexit harundine ripas
Mincius . . .
Vergil, Aeneid, VI, 3,
; turn dente tenaci
Ancora fundabat naves et litora curvae
Praetexunt puppes.
56
THE ROMAN TOGA
The last clause of this theory—that the border could only
have been woven upon a straight edge—is easily contradicted
by actual results produced by hand weaving. An experiment
undertaken at the writer's request proved that on a hand loom a
border can readily be woven on either or both edges of a web
having the shape here given as that of the imperial toga, or
other similar togas.17
The weaving of this border is somewhat tedious and requires
a good degree of skill, but we have ample proof in the Coptic
and other ancient textiles that the ancient weavers were exceed¬
ingly skillful. We also have convincing evidence that in Roman
industries in which the abundant and often highly skilled slave
labor was used, the time and work required to accomplish a
desired object was scarcely taken into the reckoning.
Moreover, the toga was of durable material and there were
long intervals between the changes in its style, so that even a
high Roman official would need but few of them during his
whole lifetime. We may, therefore, conclude that the weaving
of the border upon either the curving or diagonal edge of the
Roman toga was not only possible but wholly probable.
In the passage from Livy quoted in note 7 of this chapter,
the priesthood is mentioned as a class to whom the toga praetexta
was permitted. Elsewhere, Livy, relating the incident of Caius
Flaccus, states that the praetexta was the privilege of the flamines.
This person in his youth had led a debauched life, and incurred
the displeasure of even his closest relatives. He was chosen
flamen by Publius Licinius, chief pontifex, and the duties of
this sacred office had such an wholesome effect, that he com-
17 For this experiment the writer is indebted to Mrs. Law rence H. Baker, who has in
preparation at the Johns Hopkins University, a study of ancient looms and weaving.
THE TOGA OF THE ARA PACTS
57
pletely reformed and regained the esteem, not only of his own
family but of the conservative patrician class generally. This
gave him courage to demand a seat in the senate, originally the
privilege of the flamines, but which for years had been denied
them on account of their worthless character. Therefore, when
he appeared in the senate the praetor led him out, whereupon,
Livy says, " He demanded back the ancient privilege of his
priesthood, a seat in the senate which was given together with
the toga praetexta and the curule chair to the office of flamen." 18
This episode occurred about the year 209 B. C.
There has been much uncertainty on the part of modern writers
concerning the toga of the flamen,19 due to the fact that Latin
writers have mentioned in connection with this toga, another
garment worn by flamines, the laena. Varro in his dictionary
prepared in the first century B. C. says, " laena, so-called because
it contains much wool [lana] even like two togas." 20 Some
writers have understood from this definition that the laena was
twice the thickness of the toga.21 But Varro's expression is ex¬
plicit, " even like two togas " and Servius writing about 450
years after Varro compiled his dictionary evidently accepted the
latter interpretation. He says22 " Laena; a sort of cloak. But it
18 Livy, XXVII, 8, "Flamen vestustum ius sacerdotii repetebat; datum id cum toga
praetexta et sella curuli ei flaminio esse."
19 See Helbig, Toga und Trabea in Hermes, XXXIX, 1904, pp. 161 ff. Also C. Julian,
"Flamen" in Daremberg et Saglio, op. cit., Vol. Ill, p. 1167.
20 Varro, De Lingua Latina, V, 133 (Goetz und Schoell, Leipsic, 1910) "L(a)ena, quod
de lana multa, duarum etiam togarum instar."
21 See Helbig, Toga und Trabea, op. cit., pp. 165 ff. Also Smith, Diet, of Greek and
Roman Antiquities, 3d ed. Vol. II, p. 3.
22 Servius, Ad A en. IV, 262, "Laena: genus vestis. Est autem proprie toga duplex,
amictus auguralis . . . Alii amictum rotundum, alii togam duplicem in qua flamines
sacrificant infibulati . . . Togam autem duplicem, quam purpuream debere esse non du-
bium est, hoc versu declarat: 'Tyrioque ardebat murice laena'."
58
THE ROMAN TOGA
is really a double toga, the garment of augurs," again he says,
" some say it is a circular garment, others a double toga in which
the flamines, brooch-fastened, sacrificed." Then after an extended
discussion of the laena he adds that there is no doubt that it is
a double toga which should be purple, and quotes a line from the
passage in the Aeneid which he is discussing, to the effect that the
laena glowed with Tyrian purple.
Cicero states that on one occasion when the plebeians were
being incited to revolt, the Consul Marcus Popilius, who was
also a flamen, was sacrificing at the time, wearing the laena, and,
the sedition being announced, he went out into the crowd just as
he was and quelled the disturbance both by his authority and by
oratory.23
Since Cicero takes care to state that Popilius was sacrificing
in a laena, and that he went out into the crowd just as he was,
it is evident that the laena of the flamen was a purely sacrificial
garment and was worn only while the flamen was actually offer¬
ing a sacrifice, and therefore the appearance of Popilius in the
street wearing it was worthy of comment. The reference pre¬
viously cited by Livy is positive evidence that a toga praetexta
was the usual garment of flamines, as it was of senators and
magistrates. We have, however, evidence that the toga praetexta
of the flamen differed both in draping and probably in shape
from that of other Roman officials.
23 Cicero, Brutus, 56, " Licet aliquid etiam de M. Popilii ingenio suspicari, qui cum
consul esset eodemque tempore sacrificium publicum cum laena faceret, quod erat flamen
Carmentalis, plebei contra patres concitatione et seditione nuntiata, ut erat laena amictus,
ita venit in contionem seditionemque cum auctoritate turn oratione sedavit."
THE TOGA OF THE ARA PACIS 59
On the Ara Pacis, there are the figures of several flamines, one
of which is perfectly preserved.24 See the flamen on left hand
side of relief, Fig. 17&. A little observation will convince one
that the toga on this figure is actually double; not only is the
edge worked to indicate this, but in the curve which crosses the
middle of the body and just below the left hand, the two thick¬
nesses fall distinctly apart. The straight edge of the portion
which hangs between the legs, and the curve which ascends the
left leg, crosses the left wrist and hangs down the left side,
warrant the conclusion that this toga as it is folded has approxi¬
mately the shape of the Arringatore toga; that is, it is like two
Arringatore togas joined together along their straight edges.
The first step in draping this toga is the same as that of the
Arringatore (see Fig. 5) : then the toga is brought over the right
shoulder, instead of under it; but instead of muffling the right
arm the edge is brought up and rests on the right fore-arm.
The toga is then draped loosely across the breast and front of the
body, and is brought over the left shoulder and fore-arm, the end
hanging down the back. This end terminating in a loop of
threads, such as we have noticed on the other togas in these reliefs,
is plainly visible.
We have here, then, a clear and definite representation of a
flamen, not in the act of sacrifice, hence wearing, not the laena
(which was a brooch-fastened garment), but the toga praetexta—
24 While existing illustrations of the toga of the flamen are not numerous, a few of
them exist in sculpture in the round. In the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek there is a statue in
the round of Antoninus Pius (museum No. 544a), in the toga of a flamen but owing to the
restorations it has undergone the statue throws but little light on the arrangement of
the toga in the back. Also there was formerly in the Palazzo Scripante in Rome a similar
statue which was restored as St. Joseph. It was sold to a Florentine antiquarian in 1878.
See W. Amelung, Rom. Mitth., XII, 1897, p. 74.
60
THE ROMAN TOGA
the privilege of his office. The edges of this toga, it being folded
so as to be double, are circular yet one, and possibly both of these
edges had a purple border.
In view of this evidence regarding the form of the praetexta
of the flamen, the comments of Servius (see note 22) are espe¬
cially interesting. He wrote his commentary in the late 4th or
early 5th century of our era. For more than half a century the
pagan temples had been closed by imperial edict, and even prior
to that event, the temple ritual had doubtless lost much of its
ceremonial. The dress of the flamen was, therefore, a question
for archaeological discussion even to Servius. He had doubtless
seen in sculpture and painting flamines represented, sometimes
wearing a laena, sometimes the double toga praetexta, and in
accordance with the unscientific method of the time, he confuses
the two garments.
Fig. 23.
A Portrait Statue of Augustus. Museo delle
Terrae.
Alinari. Rome.
Fig. 24.
A Portrait Statue of a Roman.
A linari. Vatican.-
\ll
THE IMPERIAL TOGA
At the very period of the Ara Pacis reliefs, Augustus, if we
may trust the extant portrait statues of him, was wearing a toga
of the same general style of draping as those shown on the Ara
Pacis, but much larger and consequently more elaborate in ap¬
pearance, see Fig. 23. On this particular statue there is an over-
elaboration of folds, many of which are arbitrarily and con¬
ventionally rendered. But the general lines of the drapery, the
way in which it falls in curves and folds by its own weight, giving
the appearance of richness and pliability, are well reproduced.
The front end of the toga as it trails on the ground between
the feet and lies on the left instep closely resembles this part of
the drapery in Fig. 9. As this elaborate toga appears on the
statues of emperorsof the century and a half following Augustus,
I shall call it the " imperial toga," though, apparently, the wear¬
ing of it was not confined to royalty. It seems more than probable
that this massive garment was only worn on ceremonial occasions,
as it is scarcely credible that a white woolen garment with the
end trailing on the ground would have been worn ordinarily
on the streets of Rome. According to Suetonius, Augustus him¬
self was not an extremist in dress, his togas being neither close
nor full.1 A shorter toga, such as we shall find on the Trajanic
reliefs, is a much more plausible garment for every day wear.
The deep sinus, however, continued in vogue, and as we shall
see, became the main part of later forms of the toga.
1 Suetonius, Augustus, LXXIII. . . . " togis neque restrictis, neque fusis . . ."
61
62
THE ROMAN TOGA
Fig. 26 is representative of an enormous series of these heavily
togated statues. On this statue the folds and edges of the drapery
are more elastic than on Fig. 23, but there is an exaggeration of
the end of the garment between the feet, where it appears as a
huge bundle of folds, whose disposition as it ascends the front
of the body would have been impossible. The reasonable ex¬
planation of this exaggeration is that it served to support and
protect the feet and to give weight and stability to the lower
part of the statue, which, with its mass of drapery, was exceed¬
ingly top heavy. Like other such devices, when once introduced,
this one became a convention, though not a universal one, and
appears often in relief sculptures where it was not needed for
support.
The impression given by the togas on both Figs. 23 and 26
is of a soft fine clinging fabric having none of the wiriness
characteristic of so much of our modern textiles. But not all
togas were of the same texture producing the numerous fine folds
of these two togas. Fig. 24 shows drapery having an entirely
different appearance. The rendering of it on this particular
statue is Greek rather than Roman in spirit, and in judging the
texture of the fabric one must not be misled by the sculptor's
individual manner of treating it. It is true that the folds are
broader and less numerous than on many togated statues, but even
so, the fabric, though doubtless heavier than that represented
in Figs. 23 and 26, must have been of comparatively light weight.
Had it been of any considerable thickness the number of folds
shown on the shoulder would have been impossible while those
resting on the left fore-arm would have been intolerably clumsy.
Very fine, thin and even transparent fabric became popular
with foppish dressers but was condemned by the more conserva-
Fig. 26.
A Portrait Statue of a Roman.
Alinari. Later an.
THE IMPERIAL TOGA
63
tive Romans and by commentators of Roman customs. Diodorus
after contrasting the simplicity of early Roman life with the
luxury which followed says, that in accordance with this deca¬
dence, the younger generation wore in the market place, garments
which were remarkable for their softness, and which were trans¬
parent, and in their delicacy resembled women's garments.2
Varro speaks deprecatingly of togas so transparent that they
did not conceal the purple stripes on the tunic,3 and Ovid refers
to a toga of finest thread.4 No statue has been preserved to us,
if indeed one was ever made, of a person wearing one of these
extremely diaphanous togas.
That the form of the imperial toga is practically the same
as that of the toga of the Ara Pacis reliefs is too evident to
require argument. Diagram, Fig. 27a, gives us its form and
proportions as compared with the toga of the Ara Pacis reliefs,
whose development from the Arringatore toga is shown by
Figs. 16 and 18. Fig. 27a shows that the imperial toga is longer
than the toga of the Ara Pacis reliefs and that the sinus is much
deeper; that is, the imperial toga is the wider of the two, and
a still larger corner is taken off, permitting a greater width
of fabric to be folded over to produce the sinus. It will be
readily seen that the greatest increase in size is in the depth
of the sinus. Naturally, this change greatly increases the length
of the edge of the sinus and makes possible the deep graceful
umbo.
2 Diodorus, Fragmenta, XXXVII, iii. 4. (Teubner, Dindorf), a.Ko\ov0cos 8e roirois oi
veoi kara ttju ayopav ecpopovv eadrjras diacpopous fxev rais /j.a\aKOTr]crit Siacpavels 5e nal Kara tt)v
XenroT^Ta rais yvvaiKeiais Trape/u-rpepels.
3 Varro, Modius, VIII, Riese, Leipsic 1865. " Quam storum, quorum vitreae togae osten-
tant tunicae clavos."
4 Ovid, Ars Am., Ill, 445, " Nec toga decipiat filo tenuissima . . ."
Fig. 27 a.
The Imperial Toga.
64
D C
Fig. 27b.
The Imperial Toga.
65
66
THE ROMAN TOGA
All of the foregoing illustrations of the imperial toga give
plain evidence of the shaping of the sinus edge, excepting Figs.
25 and 26 in which the device above referred to of the heavy
supporting column of folds between the feet, has been employed.
An overwhelming number of examples might be cited as clearly
showing that the edge of the sinus is a diagonal line, but Figs. 28
and 29a and b are representative. In Fig. 28 it will be observed
that the upper or sinus edge, as it ascends along side of the right
leg, produces an undulating line, similar to that produced by the
corresponding (purple-bordered) edge of the toga on the living
model, Fig. 31a. Now this edge of the toga measures itself with
the extreme length of the toga, and as it lies upon the length of
the toga this outer edge must be longer than the real length of
the toga in order to produce this undulating line.
Naturally the evidence of the elongation of this line does not
always appear on the same part of every statue. For instance, in
Figs. 23 and 24 this edge does not form undulations between the
feet because its additional length is used in drawing the sinus
over the head and also in permitting the lowest part of the curve
of the sinus to fall loosely against the knee. But it suited the
wearer in Fig. 28 (or the sculptor) to draw this edge of the
sinus up so as to produce a heavy curving ridge of folds above
the right knee, and allow the edge of the sinus to produce the
rippling line between the feet. If this statue had been worked
out in the back and the drapery rendered with the same degree
of realism as appears in the front, the edge of the toga as it hangs
from the left shoulder would probably have produced an undu¬
lating line similar to that which appears in Fig. 29b, which is
the back view of Fig. 29a. On this statue the edge of the toga
between the feet has been broken but it evidently had little or
Fig. 28. FIG. 29A. FIG. 29B.
A Portrait Statue in the Museo A Portrait Statue in the Ny-Carlsberg Glyptotek.
delle Terme. Copenhagen.
Rome.
THE IMPERIAL TOGA 67
no undulations. The edge of the sinus curve across the knee is
drawn into folds, though not as deep as those on Fig. 28; the
umbo is considerably restricted,5 and as the drapery hangs down
from the left shoulder in the back it forms the rippling line
which appears in Fig. 29b.0 These details will be further illus¬
trated in the reproduction of the imperial toga on the living
model, to which we now proceed.
Fig. 30 shows, on the living model, an imperial toga having
the same form and proportions as shown in diagram Fig. 27a. In
this instance the reconstructed toga is provided with a purple
border which is placed on the sinus in accordance with Fig. 22.
The width of this border, as previously explained, is not, and
cannot be guaranteed.
A clear comprehension of the disposition of the various parts
of this toga as it is draped on the human figure is necessary
to an understanding of the subsequent changes which took place
and the forms which resulted from them. For this reason, we
shall consider the manner of draping, not only in connection
with Figs. 31a and b, which illustrate the process, but also in
connection with diagram, Fig. 27b.
5 This statue has undergone repairs, but none that affect the details under discussion.
G In view of the clear evidence above presented as to the general shape of the toga, it
seems needless to enter into further discussion of the theory that the shape of the toga
was a complete semi-circle or segment of a circle and that the upper or sinus edge was a
straight line.
Proof of the absolute fallacy of this theory is afforded by the draping of a semi-circle
(or a segment of a huge circle) on a living model. See Heuzey, op. cit., Fig. 125. This
is a photographic illustration, which is the only kind that can be accepted as evidence for
the reconstruction of garments. The full ruffle formed by the toga on the model's left side,
the cramped and restricted sinus, and the considerable length of drapery which apparently
lies on the floor behind the model, all attest the incorrectness of the form.
68
THE ROMAN TOGA
Before considering this diagram, I stress- the statement that
the location of the various parts of the toga on the body as
indicated by Fig. 27b are approximate and not absolute; and
I repeat what I have previously said, that it is scarcely possible
that any toga was ever draped twice in precisely the same lines.
Fig. 27b and the discussion which follows aim to give a general
statement of the draping of the toga and not to establish hard
and fast lines to be followed.
The toga shown in Fig. 27b is the same as in Fig. 27a. The
upper or sinus portion has been folded over, and the toga
is now ready to be placed upon the wearer. The side which we
conceive as lying next to the page is placed next to the body,
with the end Aa lying between the feet. While for convenience
the toga is folded along the line AB, this line is not rigidly
maintained, and in some parts of the drapery it is wholly ignored.
In draping this toga, it is first placed on the shoulder exactly
as was the Arringatore toga, Fig. 5, excepting that instead of
having only a few inches of fabric along the straight line AB
gathered into folds and placed on the left shoulder, the whole
width of the sinus section, JK has also been included in this
bundle of irregular folds which rest on the shoulder approxi¬
mately at point K producing the effect shown on the left side of
the model in Fig. 31a. The bordered edge of the sinus AJ
being longer than the line AK falls in ripples or undulations as
appear in Fig. 31a.
The lower section of the toga is brought up and passes over
the left fore-arm at about point Z. Let us bear in mind that
there has now been gathered up in folds on the left shoulder, the
fabric represented by JK, which on a man of average height
would mean a width of fully one and one-half yards, and in
fig. 30.
A Reconstruction of an Imperial Toga.
Fig. 3 i a. Fig. 31 b.
The Draping of the Imperial Toga.
THE IMPERIAL TOGA
69
addition there is included the original few inches of the under
section of the toga along the line AB; also, we note the con¬
siderable amount of fabric which is gathered up over the left
fore-arm at Z.
The toga along the line KH is then brought diagonally across
the back, passing under the right arm about midway between the
points K and H; the bordered edge of the sinus passes from the
top of the left shoulder across the back of the neck, lies on top
of the right shoulder and descends along the right upper arm.
The sinus section in the back is therefore turned up upon itself.
See right shoulder of model in Fig. 31a, also back view of toga,
Figs. 32 and 33. The remaining portion of KH is then brought
diagonally across the breast. The sinus section is gathered into
folds along the line HG and with it a portion of the under
section of the toga at H. This is illustrated by the action of
the assistant in Fig. 31b. This second accumulation of folds,
duplicating the one we have seen at point K, is also placed on
the left shoulder. The lower section of the toga is then caught
up and brought over the left fore-arm at about point X, so that
the folds at X lie on the arm above the folds at Z, already placed
there. The remaining portion of the toga from points H and G
to the end Bb is then arranged in the group of folds which hang
down the left side of the back. See Figs. 32 and 33. These
folds are not schematic, but in a general way they follow the
diagonal line BG. Naturally the fold BH is entirely abandoned
in the folds hanging down from the left shoulder in the back.7
The purple-bordered edge may hang straight from the shoulder
7 In the toga used in Figs. 30, 31a and b and 32 there is a seam along the line AB and
on Fig. 32. This seam may be seen crossing diagonally the lower part of this group of
folds.
70
THE ROMAN TOGA
as in Fig. 32; or by a slightly different arrangement of the sinus
it may form undulations as does the corresponding edge of
Fig. 29b. The edge EFG surrounds the right side of the body
and ascends the left side in front, forming the sinus. In Fig. 31b,
the model with his right hand is drawing up the fullness of the
edge AJ to form the loop known as the umbo.
The arrangement in the back, resulting from this drapery, is
shown by Fig. 32. Like the series of statues of which Figs. 9
and 10 are examples, these imperial togated figures are often
not worked at all in the back, and those that are worked are
usually treated in a sketchy manner or merely blocked out. Fig.
33, which is the back of Fig. 25, is among the best sculptured
representation of the back of the toga (see also Fig. 29b). While
the sculptor has indulged in the usual artistic license in rendering
the drapery, the general disposition of it is well shown—the
long folds hanging from the left shoulder, the curving folds on
the right side, and the sinus section turned up over the right
shoulder—all of which correspond in general to the disposition
of the same parts of the drapery in Fig. 32.
The size which the toga attained along with the development
of the sinus, and more particularly the evidence already cited
as to the cutting off of the corners in order to produce the sinus,
naturally raises the question as to how the toga was made. Was
it woven all in one piece or was it woven in separate pieces which
were sewed together? Was it shaped in the weaving or was it
cut to the desired shape?
Those skilled in hand weaving know that a web having the
shape of diagrams Figs. 18, 27a, 39, etc., can be woven on a hand
loom, and this was demonstrated by the experiment already re¬
ferred to (see note 17, Chap. II). The weaving of a web of
Fig. 32.
Back View of Fig. 30.
Fig. 33.
Back View of Fig. 25.
THE IMPERIAL TOGA
71
the size of the imperial toga is considered impossible on a
modern hand loom. Existing textiles prove that the ancient
weavers probably using an upright loom often wove a wider web
than is convenient or practicable on the modern horizontal hand
loom. One of the widest specimens of ancient weaving in the
Victoria and Albert Museum is a tunic with sleeves, woven all in
one piece. Its width, including the sleeves, is six feet, seven
inches.8 As the sleeves are very large, this great width was
required for about one-third the entire length of the tunic, and
the weaving of it must have been exceedingly laborious.
The reconstructed imperial toga, diagram Fig. 27a and Fig. 30,
which is of proper proportions for a man of average height, has
a width (line cd) of nine feet ten inches or over one-half more
than the greatest width of the tunic mentioned above. The weav¬
ing of such an enormous web, even if possible, would have been
needless since there is no disadvantage in having a seam through
the middle of the toga,9 and numerous togated statues give evi¬
dence that such a seam actually existed.
At the intact corner of the toga of the Arringatore we have
noticed a loop evidently made of the ends of threads left after
the cord which surrounds the toga was completed. There are
representations in art of a piece of cloth as it comes from the
loom with long threads hanging from each corner.10 A loop or
tassel formed of these threads often appears at the corners of
rectangular mantles. From all this evidence we may conclude
8 See pp. 40-1 and pi. I, Vol. I, Catalogue of Textiles from Burying Grounds in Egypt
(Victoria and Albert Museum), A. F. Kendrick.
9 The person who attempts the draping of the toga at the present day will find this
seam a decided advantage.
10 In the new excavations at Pompeii (not yet published) there is a wall painting of a
fuller's shop in which there is a tunic with these threads at the corners.
72
THE ROMAN TOGA
that it was the usual custom to finish in this way the corners of a
piece of cloth intended for a specific garment. This finishing
touch being at the corners was, therefore, at the end of a selvage
edge.
On a very large number of extant togated statues, this loop
appears, and always on the ends of the toga at a place corre¬
sponding to some point on the line Aa of diagram Fig. 27a, and
where the statue is worked in detail in the back, on the line Bb,
and often near the point where the diagonal edge of the sinus
begins.11 While it cannot be asserted as an absolute fact that these
loops mark the end of a selvage edge (and therefore, on the toga,
the end of a seam) the evidence cited makes it wholly probable.
If a toga were woven in two sections, so that there would be a
seam parallel to the line AB of Fig. 27a, neither section would
need be more than five feet wide, which was not an unusual
width for ancient textiles. The cutting required would be the
cutting of the warp threads, leaving ends long enough to finish
the edges of the web.
A few sculptured figures show us some of the ways in which
this difficult costume was managed when the wearer was seated.
See Figs. 34a and b. The position in Fig. 34a is suitable for
formal occasions. The toga is draped in the usual way. The
end of the toga which hangs from the left shoulder down the
back, when the wearer is standing, is here brought from the
shoulder down back of the left upper arm, under the wrist, and
across the left thigh, the extreme end falling between the legs.
In this way, the folds on the left shoulder are not disturbed and
11 See Figs. 17a, b, c, and d; also the entire group of portrait statues in vestibule of
National Museum at Naples. Other examples too numerous to mention might also be cited.
For this detail on the end of the toga in the back see also Figs. 29b and 33.
FIG. 34A.
A Portrait Statue in the Glyptothek.
Pettendorfer. Munich.
FIG. 34B.
A Relief on a Flavian Altar.
Moscioni. Vatican.
THE IMPERIAL TOGA
73
when the wearer rises, the drapery, with slight rearrangement,
falls into proper position.
Fig. 34b shows a pose that is easy and intimate. The part
of the toga which normally hangs from the left shoulder down
the back, has been entirely removed from the shoulder and
doubled upon itself so that part of it forms a loop that lies across
the left thigh. The remaining length falls between the knees,
with the end hanging in front of the left ankle. The opposite
end of the toga hangs between the feet and iust back of the
left heel.12
The length of the toga can here be easily traced and closely
estimated. Beginning at the end in front of the left ankle, we
see that the upper or sinus edge of the toga must pass along the
left leg, around the loop into which the toga is folded on the
left thigh, thence under the right wrist and up along the right
arm and shoulder, across the back of the neck, down the left
side of the breast, around the curve of the umbo, and thence to
the end which hangs back of the left heel. A little calculation
will prove that this entire length on a man average size cannot
be much in excess of four and a half yards (thirteen and a half
feet) which is about the length of the toga on the living model,
Figs. 30 and 36, and this toga when arranged as shown in the
relief produces the same effect.
The draping of the toga was a serious business. Macrobius
describing the fastidious Hortensius, says that he was clothed
with care, even with elegance, and in order that he might go out
well dressed he looked at himself in the mirror and placed the
12 This figure clearly contradicts the theory that the imperial toga had a length of more
than eighteen feet as asserted by M. Heuzey. See Heuzey, op. cit., Fig. 123 (p. 238).
74
THE ROMAN TOGA
toga on his body so that a graceful knot drew up the folds, ar¬
ranging them, not by chance, but with care; and the sinus by its
arrangement flowing down surrounded the outline of the side.
Once when he had arranged it with great care, he brought
charges against his colleague who brushed against him in a nar¬
row passage and destroyed the arrangement of his toga; and he
thought it a crime that the folds should be moved from their
place on his shoulder.13
The statues themselves give evidence that the necessity of
securing the toga became somewhat imperative, for, following
the period of the Flavian emperors, there are numerous statues,
busts and reliefs showing that the loose umbo had been aban¬
doned and in its stead, the sinus, gathered into irregular folds
is drawn well over the left shoulder in such manner as to give a
degree of security to the folds which pass over the shoulder and
hang down the back.14 This manner of draping the toga is par¬
ticularly characteristic of the sculptured figures of the Anto-
nines, and there were numerous slightly varying forms of it
(see Fig. 35). That this arrangement of the toga was produced
by merely changing the drapery and not by altering the form,
is proven by Fig. 36 which is the same toga as is shown in Fig.
30, but draped to correspond with Fig. 35. The only difference
13 Macrobius, Saturnalia, III, 13, 4 and f. " Fuit enim vestitu ad munditiem curioso,
et ut bene amictus iret, faciem in speculo quaerebat, ubi se intuens togam corpori sic adpli-
cabat, ut rugas non forte sed industria locatas artifex nodus astringeret et sinus ex con-
posito defluens modum lateris ambiret. Is quondam cum incederet elaboratus ad speciem,
collegae de iniuriis diem dixit, quod sibi in angustiis obvius offensu fortuito structuram
togae destruxerat et capital putavit, quod in humero suo locum ruga mutasset."
14 The date of the first appearance of this manner of draping the toga, like most other
changes in style, cannot be definitely fixed. It may have appeared even during the
Flavian period, but judging from the extant statues and busts its general use belongs to
a little later date.
Fig. 35.
A Relief of the Antonine Period, in the Palazzo dei Conservatori.
Alinari. Rome.
Fig. 3 6.
A Reconstruction of an Imperial Toga of the Antonine Period.
Fig. 37.
A Relief from the Arch of Trajan at Beneventum.
Moscioni.
THE IMPERIAL TOGA
75
is in the length of the garment; the end hanging between the
feet in Fig. 35 instead of trailing, is well above the floor, while
the togas in other reliefs of the Antonine Period are still shorter.15
This shorter toga was evidently popular even in Trajan's time;
see Fig. 37 which is a detail of a relief from Trajan's Arch at
Beneventum. In this relief, the toga of the emperor, as it crosses
the right leg is considerably above the shoe top, while that of
each of the two men facing him is half way between the knee and
ankle. The sinus, however, is longer and fuller than is usual
on the figures of Augustus and the Flavian Caesars. The person
at the extreme right in the relief, Fig. 37, has caught up the
sinus of his toga and holds it in his left hand. This shows us
the beginnings of a style which became a marked feature of
later forms of the toga.
But another method of disposing of the mass of toga fabric on
the left shoulder and breast came into use about the same time
as the style shown in Fig. 35, or perhaps a little later. The
style in question consisted of heavy folded bands; the first ap¬
pearing in the front or at one side of the breast, encircles the
upper part of the left shoulder; the second, following the edge
of the sinus ascends the left side of the body in front and dis¬
appears under the first just in front of the left shoulder. Some¬
times this second folded band is wanting, the edge of the sinus
being arranged as in the draperies already considered. These
folded bands appear on a very large number of portrait busts,
where, as a rule, they are conventionalized and exaggerated.
Moreover, a large proportion of the busts having these folded
bands are later than the period we are now considering (the 2nd
15 See reliefs from a monument of Marcus Aurelius on the Arch of Constantine; E.
Strong, Roman Sculpture, Pis. XCI, 8 and XCII, 12.
76
THE ROMAN TOGA
century A. D.) and the toga represented on them was doubtless
one of the later forms, with which, as we shall see, the folded
bands were more constantly used than with the imperial toga of
the second century.
On Figs. 38a and b the form of these folded bands is shown
with a fair degree of realism, but on the former their thickness
is exaggerated. The busts alone offer practically no solution
of these seemingly mysterious folds; but fortunately they appear
on an occasional figure in relief sculpture, where the whole toga
is represented, and on a few full length figures in the round. On
these statues it may be seen by a little observation, that the folded
band which lies along the edge of the sinus on the left side
of the body is formed by beginning at the edge of the sinus
and folding the cloth back and forth upon itself until all of
the fabric which, on Fig. 35, is gathered into the cluster of
irregular folds, is taken up into the folded band. And, since this
folded band ascending the left side of the body is accounted for,
it is obvious that the folded band which crosses the breast and
surrounds the left shoulder is made by similarly folding the
opposite part of the sinus, or the portion which in Fig. 35 is
brought out over the point of the shoulder to hold the toga in
place.
A crude relief, showing the toga draped in this way, appears
on an early Christian sarcophagus in the Church of S. Saba in
Rome. See Fig. 40. A crudity which appears in many reliefs of
the grade of workmanship of this sarcophagus is the childish
rendering of the crease which the folded band naturally
forms as it comes from under the toga in front or at the side of
the breast as the case may be; see "A" on Fig. 38a. In Fig. 40
and other reliefs of its class, this crease appears as an unintelli-
FIG. 38A.
A Portrait Bust.
Louvre.
Fig. 38B.
A Portrait Bust.
British Museum.
c
LQ
d
Fig. 39.
Imperial Toga with Folded Bands.
Fig. 40.
A Relief 011 a Sarcophagus in the Church of S. Saba.
Moscioni. Rome.
THE IMPERIAL TOGA
77
gible little slot, and it has added to the confusion of the problem
of these folded bands.
Figs. 41a, b and c illustrate on the living model three of the
numerous less formal arrangements of these folded bands which
appear on the portrait busts. Fig. /(.id shows the back of Figs. 41a
and b, while the back of 41c closely resembles Fig. 32 excepting
that the folded band takes the place of the loose irregular folds
which lie across the back of the neck and along the right shoulder.
On numerous portrait busts of which Fig. 38b is representative,
and on a few statues, the folded bands are more formal than in
the preceding examples. One of these statues is in the Barberini
Collection, Fig. 42, and a part of another is in the Albertinum in
Dresden, Fig. 43.16 On both these statues, the band which crosses
the breast has a fixed and rigid appearance; and by a schematic
arrangement, the one which descends from the left shoulder may
be made to form a fold surrounding the curve of the sinus as on
Fig. 40 and Fig. 51.17 These wide bands, like the narrower ones
of Figs. 41a, b and c, differ in their arrangement. Sometimes the
one surrounding the left shoulder extends entirely across the
breast as in Fig. 42 and sometimes it disappears beneath the
drapery a little to the right of the middle of the breast as on
F'g- 43-
While this drapery appears to be highly conventionalized and
sculptural, it is, as a matter of fact, fairly realistic, and its recon-
10 This fragment has been published as a complete statue (see Reinach, Rep. de la stat.
grec. et rom., I, 548) but the portion from the hips downward was a restoration, which
has since been removed.
17 The general appearance of the drapery of the statue Fig. 51 would seem to place it
in the same group as Figs. 42 and 43. It presents one detail, however, which, if true to
form, is a step in the development of the later forms of the toga, and I have so consid¬
ered it.
78 THE ROMAN TOGA
struction on the living model is not especially difficult—not
more so at least than the Romans themselves evidently found it;
for it was doubtless to a toga draped in this fashion that Tertul-
lian refers, though his remarks are likewise applicable to a later
form of the toga. After speaking of the simplicity of the early
toga, he says, " so that there was no need of a skilled person who
the day before should from the beginning, make folds and smooth
them down more elegantly and place in forceps the whole mass
of the contracted umbo; then in the morning when the tunic is
girt, which is better if it is woven of fine threads, examining and
replacing the umbo, if any part of it is out of place; a portion
of it he draws out from the left; the circular part of which the
sinus is composed, if the folds are insufficient, he draws away
from the shoulder blades and uncovering his right shoulder, he
heaps it on his left shoulder along with another equal fold in¬
tended for the back, and so the garment covers him. Therefore,
I appeal to your judgment; what is your first idea about the toga,
is it a garment or a burden? Did one have a garment or a
pack? " 18
It is difficult to reconcile Tertullian's reference to the umbo
to this style of draping, since the fabric forming the umbo has
been taken up in the band of folds crossing the breast. Possibly
this part of the toga was still called the umbo, even though in
the draping it had lost the form from which it took its name;
18 Tertullian, De Pallio, V. " Adeo nec artificem necesse est qui pridie rugas ab exordio
formet et inde deducat nitidius, totumque contracti umbonis figmentum custodibus for-
cipibus assignet; dehinc diluculo tunica prius cingulo correpta, quam praestabat modera-
tiorem texuisse recognito rursus umbone et si quid exorbitavit reformato, partem quidem
de laevo promittaf, ambitum vero eius ex quo sinus nascitur iam deficientibus tabulis
retrahat a scapulis et exclusa dextera in laevam adhuc congerat cum alio pari tabulato in
terga devoto, atque ita hominem sarcina vestiat. Conscientiam denique tuam perrogabo
quid te prius in toga sentias indutum, anne onustum? habere vestem, an baiulare? "
Fig. 41A. FIG. 41B.
Forms of Drapery with the Folded Bands.
Fig. 41c.
Drapery with the Folded Bands.
Fig. 41D.
Back View of Figs. 41a and 41b.
Fig. 42.
A Portrait Statue in the Barberini Collection.
Rome.
Fig. 43.
A Fragment of a Portrait Statue of a Roman Youth in
the Albertinum.
Dresden, v
Fig. 44. Fig. 45.
Reconstructions of the Toga with the Broad Folded Bands.
THE IMPERIAL TOGA
79
or Tertullian may have been speaking loosely of the difficulties
and encumbrance of the various styles of draping the toga.
With the loose, informally draped togas which we have pre¬
viously considered, the folds naturally changed with every move¬
ment of the wearer, and slight readjustments of the drapery were
frequently necessary and easily made. But it is apparent that a
toga draped with the heavy folded bands would lose its character
and style and become embarrassing to the wearer unless these
precise folds retain their exact form and their place on the
human figure; and this they will not do unless secured in some
way.
Fig. 44 shows a reconstruction on the living model of the
drapery of Fig. 42 where the folded band extends entirely across
the breast to the right armpit; and Fig. 45, the same toga with
this band disposed as on Fig. 43. The toga used for both these
draperies is the same as that used on Figs. 41a, b, c. The first
step in producing the drapery was to lay the folds; but instead
of securing them by means of the forceps which Tertullian men¬
tions, and which have not yet been identified, they are secured
by concealed stitches. When properly folded and secured, the
bands form a border which nearly surrounds the sinus. The toga
is then placed on the wearer in the usual way, see Fig. 31a.
On Fig. 41a when the folded band is drawn over the shoulder,
it lies naturally across the breast, and is held in place only by
the support which the drapery gives. But on Figs. 42 and 43 this
band is much wider and lies in an almost horizontal line across
the breast. Obviously it could not retain this position unless given
a firmer support than is afforded by the drapery beneath it. In
the reconstruction, this support is given by arranging the band
in the required position and attaching it to itself, as shown by
80
THE ROMAN TOGA
Fig. 46. The draping then proceeds in the usual manner. The
band which the assistant holds in his right hand passes over the
model's left shoulder, so that the sinus with the heavy band on its
edge is draped over the front of the figure, and a continuation
of the same band hangs in a straight line from the left shoulder
down the back. The drapery is completed by adjusting the band
across the breast and around the left shoulder. The continuation
of this band crosses the back diagonally to the right side of the
figure, as on Fig. 41 d. When the drapery is completely adjusted
it has the stability of a fitted garment. In Figs. 41b and 51 the
wearer grasps the edge of the sinus with his right hand, thus
holding the folded band in its diagonal position across the back.
But since this action of the right hand is only a pose, it is necessary
to furnish permanent support for this band. This is done by
attaching it to the drapery at the right side of the back.
Fig. 42 is not worked out in the back, but the disposition of
the drapery must closely resemble that of Fig. 41 d. Fig. 43 is
partially worked in the back, but as is usual in such cases, the
chiseling is rough as if done by a workman instead of an artist
and at some of the essential points there is no connection between
the folds of the drapery in the back and those in front. But,
making due allowance for such deficiencies, the arrangement of
the drapery on the back of this fragment is the same as on
Fig. 4id.
Diagram Fig. 39 shows the form and proportions of the toga
of Figs. 41a, b, c, d and Figs. 44 and 45. Its similarity to Fig. 27a
is too apparent to require graphic comparison, the difference
being one of size only; but even this difference is not necessary
since the larger toga can be draped in this way, though with
greater difficulty. The very limited number of extant portrait
Fig. 46.
The Draping of the Toga with Folded Bands.
THE IMPERIAL TOGA
81
statues wearing the imperial toga with heavy bands warrants the
conclusion that they were not generally worn with that form
of toga.
The toga of Figs. 39 and 41a, b, and c when draped in the
same manner closely resembles the toga on the figure of the
emperor in the Trajanic relief, Fig. 37. It is, therefore, a toga
whose fabric, size and proportions were suitable for ordinary use.
The principal literary evidence which we have concerning the
actual measurement of the toga is from the Scholium on Persius
which is also evidently quoted by Isidore. The bare statement is
made that the proper length of the toga is six ulnae.19 But which
dimension is considered the length? In the present discussion I
have taken as this dimension the measurement of the toga from
the end which hangs down between the feet in the front to the
corresponding end in the back. There is great obscurity as to
the exact length of the ulna, and it evidently meant different
lengths at different times. Scholars differ in their opinions, some
giving it a length of six feet, others 45 inches (the length of
the ell) and still others, 18 inches. Manifestly, neither the first
nor the second figure could have been the measurement which
the scholiast had in mind, since the toga thirty-six feet or even
22o feet (according to the second figure) in any of its dimensions
would be unthinkable.
On the other hand, six times the last mentioned figure (18
inches) is nine feet which is much less than the possible length
of any form of the toga from end to end, as we have been reckon¬
ing the length.
19 Scholia, Persius, V, 14, " Mensura togae iustae senas ulnas habebat." Isidore, Orig.,
XIX, 24, 4, " Mensura togae iusta si sex ulrias habeat."
9
82
THE ROMAN TOGA
But after the form of the toga of diagram Fig. 39 had been
worked out on a living model whose height is about that of an
average man, an actual measurement of the garment showed
that its extreme depth, that is, the line cd was 108 inches or six
times 18 inches. To be sure, this is not proof that cd is the
dimension which the scholiast regarded as the length, nor that
18 inches was the measure of the ulna he had in mind. But a
toga of this width or depth (cd) is, as we see, one of moderate
size as compared with togas on various imperial statues, and
could well have been the depth or width of the togas shown in
the Trajanic relief, Fig. 37. However, as the toga varied greatly
in all of its dimensions at different periods, any hard and fast
statement regarding its measurements could only apply to some
specific form of the garment, and even then the measurements
would depend upon the size of the wearer.
Whenever it is said that this or any other style of toga is of
convenient size for every day wear, the statement is made with
reservations. According to our ideas, the toga was never a con¬
venient garment, nor did the Romans find it so. All Roman
citizens were privileged to wear it, but the only persons who
used it as an every day garment were those of the leisure patrician
class whose occupation was attending to political affairs. For
more active occupations, traveling, hunting, and the like, a cir¬
cular cloak was worn as is proven by numerous wall paintings
and by relief sculptures such as the medallions on the Arch of
Constantine. Soldiers wore a similar cloak. When at work, the
poor Roman citizen, as well as the slave, wore only his tunic.
Literary references to the wearing or the omission of the toga
are naturally casual, but the inferences to be drawn from them
are clear. A few examples will be sufficient to illustrate them.
THE IMPERIAL TOGA
83
Suetonius says that Augustus20 " desired to revive the ancient
fashion of dress, and once when he saw in an assembly a throng
of men in dark cloaks he cried out indignantly, ' Behold them,
Romans, lords of the world, the nation clad in the toga,' and he
directed the aediles never again to allow any one to appear in the
Forum or its neighborhood except in the toga and without a
cloak." (Rolfe's translation).
Livy,21 describing the calling of Lucius Quinctius " the sole
hope of the Roman people " says that the senatorial legation
found him at work on his farm and requested him to put on his
toga and respond to the commands of the senate. He accordingly,
bade his wife bring his toga from his hut.
Juvenal22 remarks, "Let our juniors attend [the circus] . . .
Better for us that our wrinkled skins absorb the spring sunshine
and we be relieved of the toga."
Literature, therefore, supports the evidence of the reliefs and
wall paintings. The toga was worn by Roman citizens on all
formal occasions, and omitted when permissible or when one's
occupation made such a garment impossible. The Antonine
reliefs show togas, which are much shorter even than the togas
on the Trajanic relief (Fig. 37), many of them extending only a
little below the knees. This was doubtless the toga of the ordi¬
nary Roman citizen.
A few of the sculptured togas with heavy bands present a detail
worthy of especial mention. On Fig. 43 there are to be seen on
the band which crosses the breast, two stripes; one of them
crosses the band obliquely at about the middle of the breast, and
20 See Suet., Aug., 40, 5.
21 Livy, III, 26, 7-10.
22 Juvenal, XI, 203.
84
THE ROMAN TOGA
the other just below the left shoulder. The first stripe is care¬
fully worked into the marble; the second is only scratched upon
the surface. A similar scratch on the vertical band on the front of
the figure indicates the intended position of another stripe. There
are evidences on other parts of this fragment that the statue was
never wholly finished, which may account for these scratches
being left without further working. Two similar stripes are
visible on the folded band across the breast of Fig. 42, but their
inclination is from right to left instead from left to right as on
Fig. 43. On Fig. 51 two such stripes appear on the band across
the breast and four on the vertical band on the left side of the
body. On neither of these statues do stripes appear in other parts
of the drapery.
Stripes in this part of the toga could have been produced in
the weaving by laying in, at intervals, heavy threads parallel
with the woof threads, but extending them only a short distance
from the edge instead of carrying them clear across the web.
There are numerous instances of stripes woven in this way in the
Coptic tunics. Another explanation is also possible. May not
these stripes represent metal clamps or the forceps of which
Tertullian speaks, and which were used to hold the folds in
place? 22a
An occasional literary passage mentions a distinctive style of
toga, the toga picta, perhaps in later times also called the toga
palmata. The actual information contained in these passages is
meager. From them we gather that the wearing of this toga was
22a It has been suggested that these stripes represent creases caused by folding the toga
to lay it away. But the precise and schematic rendering of them, and the fact that they
appear only on the folded bands and in no other parts of the drapery, make the acceptance
of this theory a little difficult.
THE IMPERIAL TOGA
85
granted as a special honor to a victor at his triumph, and to
other persons of distinction on special occasions.23 Originally it
was worn with the tunica palmata. This doubtless accounts
for the use of the term toga palmata, by some classical writers.24
In early times the triumphal toga picta appears to have been
the property of the state and kept in the Capitoline temple of
Jupiter.25 Later it became the official dress of the emperors and
according to Capitolinus, Gordianus was the first Roman to own
a tunica palmata and a toga picta as private property.26
As to the appearance of this garment, a few points may be
fairly inferred. Purple is spoken of as the color of the toga worn
with the tunica palmata, even though the specific term toga picta
is not used,27 therefore the color of this toga was doubtless purple.
Its name indicates that it was decorated with figures or designs
embroidered upon it, and gold would have been the appropriate
color for such decoration. But what were the exact forms of the
designs? Were they palms or palmettes or were they various
small figures?
Some scholars have accepted the garment of Roman kings de¬
scribed by Dionysius of Halicarnassus as the toga picta,2* and
Florus states that it was used by Tarquinius.29 The wearing of
it was, therefore, a very ancient custom. Did it retain its original
shape, or was its form changed from time to time to correspond
23Tac., Annates, IV, 26; Livy, X, 7, 9; XXX, 15, 11; Florus, I, 5, 6.
24 Martial, VII, 2, 8; Servius, Ad Bucol., X, 27.
25 Scriptores Hist. Aug., Alex. Severus, 40, 8.
26 Scriptores Hist. Aug., Gordiani Tres, 4, 4.
27 Livy, XXXI, 11, 11.
28 Dionysius of Halicarnassus, III, 61.
29 Florus, I, 5, 6.
86
THE ROMAN TOGA
with the togas in general use? To these questions we find no
answer.
On one class of monuments, the ivory consular diptychs, there
is represented an elaborately embroidered toga, which will be
referred to in a succeeding chapter.
The ductus Gabinus is also mentioned in connection with the
toga. Literary references indicate definitely that it was not a
separate garment but a manner of draping the toga, and that it
was used only when one was engaged in a sacrifice or some other
especially solemn religious rite.31 The consul was girt with it
when he unbarred the gates of war,32 and also Decius, when he
devoted himself to the gods for the people and the legions.33
As to the manner of the girding, Servius says: "girt in the
Sabine manner, that is, with part of the toga drawn over the head,
and with part girded; " 34 and again, " the gabinus ductus is the
toga so thrown in the back that one edge of it brought again
from the back girds the figure.35 Isidore says, " It is the ductus
Gabinus when the toga is put on in such manner that the edge
of the toga which is thrown back is drawn to the breast so that
from either side from the shoulders embroidery may hang down
30 For further discussion see: Amelung, Die Gewandung der alten Griechen und
Romer, p. 50; Miiller in Baumeister, Denkm., Ill, 1832-3; Marquardt, Das Pr'watleben der
Romer, II, 542 and 562; Courby, Toga in Daremberg et Saglio, op. cit., V, 352; Heuzey,
op. cit., p. 267.
31 See Livy, V, 46, 2.
32 See Verg., Aen., VII, 601 ff.
33 Livy, X, 7, 3.
34 Servius, Ad Aen., V, 755, " et incincti ritu Sabino, i. e. togae parte caput velati, parte
succincti . . ."
35 Servius, Ad Aen., VII, 612, " Cinctuque Gabino; Gabinus cinctus est toga sic in tergum
reiecta, ut una eius lacinia a tergo revocata hominem cingat."
Fig. 47B. Fig. 47A. Fig. 47c.
Fig. 47a is an illustration in a manuscript copy of Vergil in the Vatican, showing what is supposed to be the Cinctus Gabinus.
A suggested reconstruction is shown on Figs. 47b and 47c.
THE IMPERIAL TOGA
87
just as the priests of the gentiles used to arrange it, or as the prae¬
tors were girt.30
In the first place, then, with the cinctus Gabinus the toga
is drawn over the head; but, as we have seen, this was frequently
done (see Figs. 17a, b, c, d and e and 22 and 23). Servius' second
statement is a little vague, but taken in connection with what
we have already learned about draping the toga, it enables us to
make a plausible solution of the problem. The part of " the
toga which is thrown back," must be the part which hangs from
the left shoulder down the left side of the back.
Turning to Fig. 31b, let us suppose that the sinus instead of
lying along the back of the neck and on the right shoulder had
been brought up over the head as on Figs. 23 and 24. And then
suppose that the assistant, instead of placing on the left shoulder
the folds which he is holding up had drawn them under the
left arm, and around the waist in the back, bringing the end
under the right arm and tucking it under the drapery just below
the model's right hand. The toga would then have " girded the
figure " according to Servius' description. Figs. 47b and c show
this arrangement of the toga on a little working model. The toga
used is the toga of Figs. 12 and 13, though any form of toga can
be draped in this way.
This draping produces a firm, stable garment. The drapery
on the left shoulder and arm is held in place, leaving the left
arm practically free. Girt in this way Aeneas and his associates
could easily have held the " curved handle " of the plow with
which they marked the boundaries of their city.37
30 Isidore, Orig., XIX, 24, 7, " Cinctus Gabinus est cum ita inponitur toga ut togae
lacinia quae post secus reicitur, adtrahitur ad pectus, ita ut ex utroque latere ex humeris
picturae pendeant, ut sacerdotes gentilium faciebant aut cingebantur praetores."
37 Servius, Ad A en., V, 755.
88
THE ROMAN TOGA
In an illustration in a manuscript of Vergil38 there is a figure
of Anchises wearing a drapery which some modern scholars
believe to be the cinctus Gabinus. Drawings have been made of
this figure in which the artists have given their own interpreta¬
tion to the lines and have drawn them with great clearness and
precision.39 As a matter of fact, this figure in the illustration is
now so blurred and dimmed by age that no authoritative repro¬
duction of its drapery is possible, see Fig. 47a. Moreover the
whole aim of the illustrator was artistic; at most, he has only
suggested the nature of the garment which Anchises was wearing.
Why, under the circumstances, it should have been a cinctus
Gabinus is not clear. However, so far as one can judge, the
drapery corresponds in a general way with that of Figs. 47a and b.
Isidore in the passage quoted above assumes that an embroi¬
dered toga was used for the cinctus Gabinus, but the inference is
clear from other writers that the ordinary toga was used. Evi¬
dently Isidore refers to the toga of the ivory consular diptychs
which was the official Roman toga of his day.
38 See Fragmenta et Picturae Vcrgiliana Codicis Vaticani 3225 (Rome, 1899), pi. 57.
39 See Heuzey, Histoire du costume antique, Fig. 135, p. 265; also Baumeister, Denkm.,
Ill, 1884, Fig. 1924.
IV
LATER FORMS OF THE TOGA
Broadly stated, the changes thus far traced in the toga have
been first, an increase in its length, and a much greater one in
its width, so that considerably more than one-third of the width
could be folded over to form the sinus; second, a change in the
form by cutting off the upper corners, which greatly elongates
the upper or sinus edge of the garment, making it convex and
permitting more varied and elaborate styles of draping; third, a
change in draping in order to dispose more conveniently of the
mass of fabric, and at the same time preserve the elaborate
appearance of the garment.
From this point onward in the solution of the toga problem,
one must appeal almost entirely to the existing monuments, for
extant literature gives no specific account of the later forms
of the toga. To be sure, in the foregoing discussion, references
from a few late authors have been cited, but with the exception
of Tertullian (note 18, Chap. Ill) the quotations are from
commentaries on Roman customs prior to the commentator's own
day.
The difficulty is further increased by the fact that many of
the existing monuments of this later period are of poor work¬
manship, with many inconsistencies in the rendering of the drap¬
eries and in the proportions and poses of the human figure.
But these inferior sculptures are of value for our study because
they were produced by men who, following a decadent tendency
in art, often reproduce details which better artists would omit;
89
90
THE ROMAN TOGA
and though the rendering of these details, in many cases, is
clumsy and incorrect, they frequently furnish clues to the actual
form of the drapery. Many of these sculptors were incapable of
giving to their draperies the appearance of actual fabric, which
the better artists were able to do. As a result of these defects, the
resemblance between the sculptured figure and the living model
is much less pronounced than in the case of sculptured figures
of better workmanship.
With the imperial toga, the garment reached the limit of size
Not only literature, but also the extant monuments indicate that
Romans generally agreed with Tertullian in his opinion of its
inconvenience, so that by the latter part of the second century
of our era, or even earlier, the wearing of the toga was, to a great
extent, discontinued. Juvenal asserts that in his time there was a
great part of Italy in which no one wore the toga unless dead,1
and a passage from Martial indicates that it was worn only on
special or festive occasions. " On the Ides," he says, addressing
a certain Linus, " and on the rare calends, your poor toga is
shaken out..." 2 These statements are possibly a little exagger¬
ated, but existing monuments, particularly the reliefs on sar¬
cophagi indicate that a plainer garment, " the simple pallium,"
was much in vogue. There is equally positive evidence, however,
that the imperial toga was punctiliously worn, at least as a badge
of office, for two or three centuries after the time of Juvenal and
1 Juvenal, III, 171,
" Pars magna Italiae est, si verum admittimus in qua
Nemo togam sumit nisi mortuus."
2 Martial, IV, 66,
Idibus et raris togula est excussa Kalendis.
Duxit et aestates synthesis una decern.
Fig. 48.
A Portrait Statue in the Museo delle Terme.
Rome.
Fig. 49.
The Toga of Fig. 48 on the Living Model.
LATER FORMS OF THE TOGA
91
Martial, for it occasionally appears on sculptured figures at¬
tributed to the fourth century of our era. It may well be doubted
whether it was actually worn at so late a date, unless on some
unusual occasion. But the continued appearance of it in sculpture
proves the attachment of the Roman to this stately costume,
even though he found it an intolerable burden in every day life.
While the toga until well into the first century of our era
expanded in size and in the magnificence of its drapery, and re¬
tained these qualities for a considerable period, the next step was
in the direction o£ shrinkage and distortion. Reference has
already been made to the figures on the Arch of Trajan at Bene-
ventum (Fig. 37) which show a tendency to extend the sinus and
to narrow the under section, which was originally the main part
of the toga.
Several extant statues attributed to the second century of our
era, or a little later, show the advance of this tendency. One of
them is in the Museo delle Terme at Rome. See Fig. 48. On this
statue the sinus and the under section of the toga appear to be
of about the same width or depth both extending midway between
the knee and ankle. But as a matter of fact, in order to be
draped in this way, the sinus needs to be slightly wider than the
under section, since considerably more of its width is taken up
in the draping. For convenience, I shall designate this as the
" double toga." While the workmanship of this statue is inferior,
the drapery having a metallic, unnatural appearance, fretted by
numerous confused and arbitrary folds, it and others of its class
are important for the study of the toga, since they illustrate the
half way stage between the style represented by Fig. 10, where
the sinus is only barely suggested, and the latest forms where it
becomes the principal part of the garment.
92
THE ROMAN TOGA
Experiments in reproducing this style of toga resulted in the
form surrounded by the heavy line in diagram, Fig. 50. The
dotted line gives the previous form—the full imperial toga of
Fig. 27a. Fig. 50 shows that the double toga is shorter than the
imperial toga, even though its end trails the ground as does that
of the imperial toga. This is accounted for by the fact that the
double toga is brought up more tightly under the right arm and
across the body than is the imperial toga, thus taking up less
of the length in draping.
The diagram shows that on each toga, the sinus has the same
depth, but that on the double toga the under section has been
considerably narrowed. In Fig. 50 the portions represented by
HG and JK and the points X and Z correspond to the portions
indicated by the same letters on the folded toga, Fig. 27b. Fig. 49
shows this toga draped on the living model. While the resem¬
blance between the statue and the living model is less positive
than in the case of statues on which the drapery is more realis¬
tically rendered, the general form and characteristic lines of
both are practically the same.
We see in Fig. 48 that with the contracting of the lower
section of the toga, so that it no longer conceals the legs, there is a
corresponding lengthening of the tunic, so that it reaches half way
between the knee and ankle, instead of just below the knee as
was the correct length in earlier times. As the toga became still
scantier, two tunics were often worn.
It would seem that the change in the toga which we have just
considered made little improvement, unless it be that the legs
were less hampered. But the trailing end between the feet and
the mass of folds on the left shoulder and left fore-arm remain.
Fig. 50.
The Double Toga.
10
93
94
THE ROMAN TOGA
A more radical change appears on some of the late togas of
imperial size—a change which might escape notice, or the detail
which gives evidence of it be attributed to artistic convention,
were it not that it is unmistakable on later forms of the toga.
Reference has already been made to Fig. 51, which is a portrait
statue in the Villa Doria Pamphilia in Rome. The drapery on the
upper part of this statue differs in no essential point from that
of Figs. 42 and 43, but the lower part of the drapery, particularly
the end between the feet, has a decidedly different appearance.
It is arranged in a narrow, flat double fold. On Fig. 42 this end
of the toga is drawn out so that it falls in a broad irregular mass.
That this is its natural disposition with this form of drapery is
proven by Fig. 46 which shows how the drawing of the band
across the breast naturally brings the toga across the front of the
body with its edge well over to the right side. The closer the
fold across the breast is brought to the right armpit, the broader
will be the disposition of the toga between or in front of the
ankles. On Fig. 45 this band extends only a little to the right of
the middle of the breast, but on Fig. 44 it is brought entirely
across the breast, and the lower end of the toga in front of the
ankles falls in a correspondingly broader mass. On the statue,
Fig. 42, this end of the drapery is treated with a degree of
artistic license, but it forms a broad mass as on Fig. 44.3
Fig. 46, therefore, shows plainly that a formal folded band
between the feet would not retain its shape and position unless
relieved of the pull exerted by the drawing of the folded band
across the breast. In order to accomplish this the lower part of
the sinus which joins this band must be eliminated, so that the
3 The lower part of this statue has been restored, but the rendering of the end of the
drapery in the restoration seems to be fully guaranteed by the folds above it.
Fig. 51.
A Portrait Statue in the Villa Doria Pamphilia.
Rome.
Fig. 52a.
A Reconstruction of the Toga of Fig. 51
Fig. 52B.
LATER FORMS OF THE TOGA
95
portion of it which forms the band across the breast can be
arranged without disturbing the lower end of the toga. The
evidence of such elimination is very clear on later forms of the
toga. It is impossible to say just how much of the sinus has been
discarded, but enough is retained to form the fold across the
breast and to produce the other necessary parts of the drapery.
The form which was found to satisfy these conditions is shown
by the solid outline in diagram Fig. 53. The general shape is
the same as that of other imperial togas excepting that the section
designated by the letters AFR has been eliminated. A toga of
this shape is draped on the living model, Fig. 52a. In order to
make clearer the manner of producing these complicated folds, a
few details are added to the diagram, Fig. 53, but here again
the statement is emphasized that the points indicated on the
diagram and the explanations which follow are only approximate.
Before placing it upon the wearer, the toga of diagram Fig. 53
is folded along the line AB, as in diagram Fig. 27b. But first the
double fold which lies between the feet is laid along the line
AK as indicated by the parallel lines. This fold must have been
stayed at some point between A and R. Between R and K the
precise arrangement of this fold was probably not maintained.
The heavy band which crosses the breast is formed by folding
back and forth upon itself the section OFS beginning at the
corner F, and the folds are produced in the direction of S far
enough to form a band which will extend across the breast. The
final arrangement of the folds in this band will need be made
after the toga is placed on the wearer. The band which descends
from the wearer's left shoulder down the left side of the front
of the body is folded from the section between the lines BE and
hn. Fig. 51 is not worked out in the back, but the arrangement
C . d
Fig. 53.
A Transitional Toga.
96
Fig. 54-
Detail from a Relief on a Sarcophagus in the Museo delle Terme.
Alinari. Rome.
LATER FORMS OF THE TOGA
97
of the drapery must have been practically the same as that of
Fig. 52b which is the back of Fig. 52a. As on Fig. 4id, the
broad band which passes diagonally across the back, is attached
to the drapery just back of the right arm.
The changes we have just discussed prepare us for the still
greater ones appearing in sculptured togas in the early part of the
third century A. D. These changes did not produce one fixed
form of toga which was characteristic of the period; instead,
there were several forms in vogue at the same time, all differing
but slightly from each other. With all of these forms, three
features, whose development we have already traced, continued
to appear. The first one, the heavy folded bands, while not
invariably used with the later togas, were exceedingly popular.
The second feature, the narrowing of the under section and the
widening of the sinus becomes still more pronounced; the elimi¬
nation of a portion of the sinus becomes a characteristic feature
and was accompanied by a similar contraction of the lower
section.
On a sarcophagus relief in the Museo delle Terme, attributed
to the third century of our era, there is a togated figure which
closely resembles many others in relief sculpture of the same
period. It presents many of the details of the later togas, and
at the same time has some features which closely connect it with
the preceding forms: see the male figure of the central group,
Fig. 54. While this figure is small and its proportions faulty,
producing corresponding discrepancies in the drapery, the work
as a whole is of better quality than is often found in relief sculp¬
tures of this class.
Comparing the entire costume of this figure with any of those
which have already been discussed, we find several unfamiliar
98
THE ROMAN TOGA
features. The toga is shorter and scantier than any which we
have thus far encountered. Instead of one tunic, the lower edge
of a second is clearly shown. The end of the toga in front extends
only slightly below the knees, but its shape closely resembles
the corresponding end of the toga of Fig. 51. The under section
of the garment, as we see it on the left thigh, has approximately
the original shape, but it has shrunk in size. The outer edge of
it as it crosses the thigh is rolled back upon itself, which at first
glance is a little deceptive. But if we conceive of this edge as
lying in its natural position, we would have the usual curve on
this edge of the garment. With the exception of the end hanging
between the knees, and the folds lying on top of the left wrist,
the lower section of the toga has almost disappeared in this drap¬
ery. Of the full curve which on earlier togas was brought across
the front of the body and gracefully draped over the left forearm,
so that its edge fell to the ankles, nothing is now visible but
the close-drawn stinted curve which appears on the right thigh
just below the part of the drapery which the wearer holds in
his left hand.
The upper section of the toga which is draped across the front
of the body, and which we must still identify as the sinus, is held
so that it forms a pouch. The beginnings of this manner of hold¬
ing the toga we found on the Arch of Trajan at Beneventum,
Fig. 37. If the sinus were released from the wearer's left hand
and let fall, it would reach nearly if not quite to the floor.
We see, therefore, that this toga combines the changes noted in
the two preceding examples. Fig. 56 gives the resultant form
and compares it with the form of the double toga (diagram
Fig. 50). Figs. 55a and 55b show the front and back arrange¬
ment of this toga when draped on the living model.
Fig. 55a.
A Reconstruction of the Toga of Fig. 54.
Fig. 55b.
E c F
Late Form of Toga No. i.
LATER FORMS OF THE TOGA
99
We see by the diagram that the later toga is much the shorter
of the two, that the lower section is much narrower and the sinus
considerably wider. We also see that while its proportions are
different, its form is the same as that of diagram Fig. 53.
For the most part, the later forms of the toga are, like the
one just discussed, represented to us in relief sculpture. Fortu¬
nately there are a few statues in the round wearing some of the
later forms of the toga, and one of them, which illustrates the
next decided change, is in the North African collection in the
Louvre, Fig. 57a. The back of this statue is not worked in detail,
the folds of the drapery being represented by formal lines and
flat ridges; yet they show the disposition of the parts of the
garment, and their articulation with the drapery on the front of
the statue. See Fig. 57b.
By comparing the togas of Figs. 54 and 57a, we see that the
under section of the latter is the wider of the two, extending half
way between the knee and ankle. There is also a difference in the
shape of the front end of the two togas. On Fig. 57a this end is
a straight folded band. Apparently both the sinus and the curved
edge of the under section have disappeared from this end of the
toga. Otherwise this toga closely resembles that of Fig. 54, ex¬
cepting that it is larger, that the under section as it comes across
the right thigh is more prominent; and that the folds over the
shoulder are gathered in an irregular mass instead of being laid
in a formal folded band.
Experiments on the living model show that the form of this
toga must approximate very closely that indicated by the heavy
line in diagram Fig. 59, the dotted line giving the form of the
double toga, diagram Fig. 50. Comparing the form of this toga
with that shown in diagram Fig. 56, we see that the only marked
100
THE ROMAN TOGA
difference is that in Fig. 59 a considerable portion of the under
section of the toga adjacent to the curve DZa has been dispensed
with, leaving only the straight strip AaOo which forms the
folded band hanging between or in front of the knees.
A toga having the form shown in Fig. 59 appears on the living
model, Fig. 58a, which establishes its own identity with Fig. 57a.
Fig. 60 illustrates the first step in draping this toga, which, it
will be observed, is identical with this stage in the draping of
all the other togas. But nearly all the mass of cloth, which in
Fig. 31a we see hanging from the left shoulder and arm and
sweeping the floor, has been shortened and reduced to a folded
band, which extends from a point about half way between the
knee and ankle to a point well above the waist line, where the
sinus and under section of the toga make their appearance. They
are designated V and W respectively and correspond to the por¬
tions of the toga so marked on Fig. 59. Naturally, neither the
exact length of this folded band, nor the exact points where
the sinus and the curve of the lower section of the toga appear
can be determined with absolute certainty. As in the case of the
toga of Fig. 54, there must be enough of the sinus retained at
this end of the toga to produce the folds on the shoulder. Like¬
wise there must be enough of the lower section of the toga
retained to make the proper draping on the back of the model.
The remaining steps in the drapery are the same as shown in
Figs. 31a and b excepting that the sinus instead of being brought
up across the back of the neck and along the right shoulder, is
brought under the right arm, across the front of the body and
held up in the wearer's left hand. Also the folds brought over
the shoulder take the place of the umbo. Fig. 57b gives the back
view of the statue, Fig. 57a; and Fig. 58b is the back view of the
toga on the living model.
Fig. 57A. FIG. 57B.
A Statue from, North Africa.
Louvre.
Fig. 58A. Fig. 58B.
A Reconstruction of the Toga of Figs. 57a and 57b.
LATER FORMS OF THE TOGA *
101
In this toga, therefore, all of the advantages achieved by the
toga of Fig. 54 have been retained, and the amount of drapery
held on the left arm has been still further reduced. The left
hand and arm, however, are still hampered by the garment.
With all of these changes, the toga has retained, though in a
modified form, the three characteristics to which attention was
called in the early part of this discussion, viz., the end of the
toga hanging between the feet or knees; the two sets or groups
of folds passing over the left shoulder, and the portion of the
drapery supported on the left arm.
From this time on (the early third century of our era) the
representations of the toga are mainly in relief on sarcophagi.
These reliefs show many forms of the toga differing in various
details from the two forms just discussed, but the modifications
are generally so slight that they cannot be said to produce a
separate form. The width of the straight end of the garment
hanging between the knees varies, sometimes being narrow and
hanging free; sometimes wider and folded into a band, heavier
and broader even than that on Fig. 57a. Nor does it appear that
these minor changes occur in chronological order; indeed, the
reverse seems true. As with the earlier forms of the toga, there
are numerous ways of disposing of the drapery. Sometimes the
sinus instead of being held up by the left hand is thrown over
the left forearm; sometimes it is drawn up over the right shoulder
and arm.
While these later forms of toga were the usual ones repre¬
sented on the monuments after the beginning of the third century
A. D., the earlier forms were also apparently in use. In the
Roman Forum there is a sculptured base of a huge column which
is one of the monuments of the reign of Diocletian. Despite its
E c f
Fig. 59.
Late Form of Toga No. 2.
102
Fig. 60.
The Draping of the Toga of Fig. 58a.
Fig. 6ib.
Reliefs from a Monument of Diocletian in the Roman Forum.
LATER FORMS OF THE TOGA
103
mutilated condition and inferior workmanship, it is of unusual
importance in our study since it can be closely dated. The column
was probably erected in 303 A. D.4 On one side of this base there
is a procession of togated figures, see Fig. 61 a. Four of these
figures in the foreground wear a late form of toga. The sinus
is thrown across the left wrist instead of being held in the hand.
Of the fifth figure, the one at the extreme left of the relief,
we have a back view, but the toga is evidently of the imperial
form with the edge of the sinus brought up across the back of
the neck and along the right shoulder as on Figs. 32 and 33.
On an adjacent side of the base (Fig. 61b) we see the emperor
pouring a libation. He wears the typical imperial toga with the
drooping umbo. The person just behind him wears the same
form of toga but with the folds on the left shoulder arranged
in the style characteristic of the Antonine reliefs (Fig. 35) while
the toga on the figure at the extreme left resembles some of those
which we see on the arch of Trajan at Beneventum. No positive
reason can be given for these differences in costume. Since
Augustus had so strictly enforced the wearing of the toga,5 it is
possible that through force of custom, the toga of his period
continued for three centuries or more to be the official garment
for important ceremonies, such as that in which the emperor is
here engaged. It is most probable that Diocletian himself did not
always wear it, or at least did not always drape it in the style
shown on his figure in this relief; for on his portrait bust in the
Capitoline Museum at Rome, there are the heavy folded bands,
hence the toga must have been either one of the late forms or else
the imperial toga draped as on Fig. 38a or 41a or 41b.
4 See Huelsen, The Roman Forum, 97 ff.
5 Suet., Augustus, 40.
104
THE ROMAN TOGA
Following close upon the reign of Diocletian came the transfer
of the seat of government from Rome to Constantinople, and
with it went the toga. It was perhaps inevitable that this badge
of Roman authority, which for centuries had followed the vary¬
ing fortunes of Rome, should be radically affected by this radical
change in Roman affairs.
Of the first form of toga of this period, two representations only
are known to be in Italy.0 They are on statues in the Conservatori
Palace. One of them Fig. 62 is an excellent specimen of the
best Roman sculpture of this period. The other, excepting the
head, is a dull, lifeless copy of Fig. 62 in which is slavishly
reproduced every line and detail, arbitrary, inconsistent or other¬
wise, of the original.7
In Constantinople the extant monuments of the Roman period
are relatively few. A notable one is the base of the Egyptian
obelisk which was erected in the reign of Theodosius, Fig. 64.
In the reliefs on this base are numerous figures whose togas are
of the same style as that of Fig. 62, which proves the popularity
of this form in the Byzantine capital. Also in the Imperial
Ottoman museum there is a torso on which this same toga appears,
Fig. 65a. But owing to its excellent preservation, Fig. 62 fur¬
nishes the better basis for our study.
This is a portrait statue of a Roman magistrate. Beneath the
toga we see that there are two tunics, one of which has long
sleeves. It will be observed that the under section of the toga,
in front, at least, has seemingly disappeared. Between the knees,
6 It is impossible to say just what sculptures of this late period may or may not exist.
Many specimens of little or no artistic value are in obscure or private collections and
have not been published. Not all of these collections are accessible to the student of
archaeology.
7 See Strong, Roman Sculpture, pi. CXXIX.
Fig. 62.
A Portrait Statue in the Palazzo dei Conservatori.
Alinari. Rome.
Fig. 63.
A Reconstruction of the Toga of Fig. 62.
Fig. 64.
A Relief from the Roman Base of an Egyptian Obelisk.
Sebah and Joaillier. Constantinople.
Fig. 65a. Fig. 65b. Fig. 65c.
A Statue in the Royal Ottoman Museum.
Sebah and Joaillier. Constantinople.
LATER FORMS OF THE TOGA
105
the end of the garment is a straight strip similar to that of
Fig- 57a, excepting that on Fig. 62 it hangs naturally instead
of being laid in folds.
Perhaps the most distinctive feature of this drapery is the
band which crosses the breast and surrounds the left shoulder.
It has no folds excepting the creases which would naturally be
formed by its arrangement. We at once associate this part of the
drapery with the folded band, such as appears in Fig. 54. But
in Fig. 54 and in other sculptures showing this detail, the folded
band emerges either in front of or at the right side of the breast.
On Fig. 62, however, the band is brought from the back under
the right arm, hence it must pass completely around the body.
The upper edge of it, as it comes from under the right arm can
be traced across the breast, around the back of the neck, along
the top of the right shoulder, and then passing downward behind
the upraised arm, around the curve which the drapery forms
over the right knee and in front of the body. In this curving
drapery we again recognize the sinus, and therefore this band
across the chest, like the folded bands we have seen on other
statues, is a part of the sinus, or a continuation of it.
Another puzzling detail is the group of folds just in front of
the left upper arm. Folds of this nature can only be produced
by attaching the fabric at two opposite points and allowing the
space between to sag.
The statue, Fig. 62, is only roughly blocked out in the back;
many of the folds of the drapery are blurred and indistinct and
show no apparent articulation with those on the front of the
statue. To increase the difficulty in studying this drapery, the
statue is attached to a base which is built into a wall, there
being a space of only about fifteen inches between the wall and
106
THE ROMAN TOGA
the back of the statue, so that it is impossible to see the whole
back from any one point of view. Under these conditions it is
impossible to secure a photograph and most difficult to make a
drawing; and in making one, many of the lines which cannot be
clearly seen, would have to be interpreted and rendered accord¬
ing to the judgment of the draughtsman. It is to the skill and
kindness of Mr. F. P. Fairbanks, professor in charge of the
American School of Fine Arts in Rome, that the writer is
indebted for the drawing reproduced in Fig. 66.
It will at once be observed that the back of this statue is
wholly different from any which has thus far been considered.
The long column of folds which, on the other statues, hang from
the left shoulder down the left side of the back, has disappeared,
and in its stead, there is a peculiar form (marked M, Fig. 66)
which suggests a scholar's hood. The end of the sinus, which in
Figs. 54 and 57a is held in the left hand, lies on the fore-arm of
this statue; but with this exception, the left arm is relieved of all
the drapery with which it has heretofore been burdened, and in
Fig. 62 the sleeve of the tunic on the left arm is clearly defined.
The only suggestion of the under section of the toga is in the folds
which hang down from about the middle of the back, below point
L and which are indicated lower down on the figure by the
bracket at point R. The scanty working which was given to the
upper part of the drapery was practically discontinued on the
lower part of the statue, so that the folds and lines from R and S
downward are unintelligible; and had it not been for revelations
made by other statues, Fig. 62 would probably have kept the
secret of its toga.
But we have seen in Figs. 54 and 57a, especially in the former,
that the under section of the toga in front is almost covered by
Fig. 66.
A Drawing of the Back of Statue, Fig. 62.
(By F. P. Fairbanks.)
Fig. 67.
Back View of Fig. 63.
LATER FORMS OF THE TOGA
107
the sinus. On Fig. 62 the sinus extends much farther down on the
body than on either Fig. 54 or 57a; and we have also seen that
on Fig. 66 (at R) there is a portion of the drapery which can
only be accounted for as a part of the under section of the toga.
We may therefore conclude that at least a portion of the under
section of the toga has been retained, but that in front it is
concealed by the long, drooping curve of the sinus. This theory
is confirmed by the back of the torso, in the Imperial Ottoman.
Museum, where despite the rough and sketchy character of the
chiseling, the under section is clearly indicated. See Fig. 65b.
Before discussing in detail the back drapery of this toga, we
will turn to its reconstruction on the living model, Fig. 63, and
to diagram, Fig. 69, on which the exact form of the toga on the
living model is shown by the heavy outline. As the dimension of
this toga along the line cd is so much greater than that of the late
togas we have been considering, the comparison is made with
the large imperial toga, whose form is shown by the dotted out¬
line in the diagram. We see that this toga may be thought of as
a large section taken right out of the middle part of the imperial
toga, but with the dimension cd increased. We may consider that
a little less than one-third of the imperial toga has been elimi¬
nated along the line Ii and the corner of the lower section cut
off by the curve iC and that of the sinus by the line IE; also
that the same thing has happened to the front end excepting that,
from points O and o a long strip has been retained, and extended
much beyond the points Aa of the imperial toga.
The first step in draping this toga is illustrated by Fig. 68a.
The long strip has been placed on the left shoulder so that its
end extends nearly to the bottom of the over tunic; then the strip
was brought diagonally across the back of the shoulders, under
108
THE ROMAN TOGA
the right arm, then diagonally across the breast and again over
the left shoulder. This brings point O (Fig. 69) to the left side
of the back of the neck and point o to the back of the left
shoulder. The long strip has now passed entirely around the
body. The toga is then folded approximately along the line bo,
and brought diagonally across the back. Fig. 68a also shows the
small under section of this toga, and the long sinus which trails
on the floor. The point marked M hanging down from the assist¬
ant's right hand is the portion of the toga so marked on the back
of the statue, Fig. 66, and is approximately the portion between
the points B and b on the diagram Fig. 69.
The assistant then brings the toga under the model's right
arm, turning the sinus up so that it lies across the back of the
neck and on top of the right shoulder. See Fig. 68b. Then
in his right hand he holds point marked M in Fig. 68a and with
his left hand he gathers folds along the straight edge of the
sinus (line IB of Fig. 69). He then places these folds on the
left shoulder of the model, so that the part of the garment which
he holds up in his right hand will form the hoodlike section of
drapery marked M on Fig. 66. The upper part of this portion of
the drapery is then attached to the toga back of the left shoulder,
see Fig. 68d.
In Fig. 68b the under section of the toga with its curve Ci
(see also Fig. 69) appears just below the model's left hand, and
back of the assistant's left arm. This curve is caught up and
fastened to the folds already on the shoulder, in such manner as
to produce the folds which we have already noticed in front of
the left upper arm of Fig. 62. See Fig. 68c. On Fig. 62 it is
impossible to distinguish the edge of this curve on the upper left
arm from the folds of the sleeve of the tunic. But it is clearly
Fig. 68a. Fig. 68b.
The Draping of the Toga of Fig. 63.
Fig. 68c.
The Draping of the Toga of Fig. 63.
Fig. 68d.
LATER FORMS OF THE TOGA
109
worked out on the torso in the Imperial Ottoman Museum, and
is marked A of the drapery on the left upper arm of Fig. 65a;
also on Fig. 65c which is a view of the left side of Fig. 65a. The
straight band, I, Figs. 68a, b and c, is then brought out over
the point of the shoulder and adjusted across the breast as it
appears in Figs. 62 and 63. The sinus is then brought up so as
to form the curving folds and is supported on the left fore-arm.
Fig. 67 shows the back of the completed drapery on the living
model. By referring to Fig. 66 it will be seen that the drapery
appears to be drawn in a straight tense line across the back of the
shoulders. Obviously, a line of this nature in drapery could only
be produced by attaching the drapery to some support at L,
which can easily be done. It was not done, however, on the
living model, Fig. 67, but the drapery at this point was allowed
to fall naturally, the only fastenings used in the drapery being
those illustrated by Figs. 68c and 68d, and also one to hold the
edge of the sinus in place on the right shoulder, as with the
upraised arm, this part of the drapery could not retain its
position unless it were attached.
On Fig. 65b, which is the back of Fig. 65a, the folds across the
shoulders are not worked out, nor is the sinus in anyway ac¬
counted for. What the workman, working from memory, has
done is to indicate the straight.band which passes entirely around
the chest. What we see is the part of this band, in the back,
which corresponds to the part marked I on the front of Fig. 68a.
Then he has ignored the sinus which is turned up over this
band, even though the edge of the sinus as it lies along the top
of the right shoulder and arm is worked out on the front of the
statue in almost precisely the same manner as on Fig. 62.
110
THE ROMAN TOGA
These two statues, Fig. 62 and Fig. 65a, illustrate the insuffi¬
ciency of any study of an intricate form of drapery based upon a
single representation of it, or upon photographic representations.
Neither Fig. 62 nor 65a taken alone furnish an explanation of
the arrangement of the drapery in the back. But taken together
and in connection with Fig. 57a they afford ample basis for the
reconstruction. Also, Fig. 65a presents a misleading detail. On
the right side, just back of and below the curve of the sinus, there
seems to be a curve of drapery which could be construed as the
lower section of the toga. In reality, this detail consist of folds
of the tunic, a part of which have been broken away. Fig. 65b
shows this breakage and also shows that the curve of the under
section of the toga is much higher up on the figure than is the
detail referred to on Fig. 65a.
With this drapery, a compact and secure arrangement of the
toga has been achieved, together with an unhampered movement
of the legs, but it has completely lost the expression of the earlier
toga. The left arm is still encumbered by the drapery.
From what has been already demonstrated regarding the possi¬
bilities of hand weaving, we see that these later togas could well
have been shaped in the weaving; but the convenience of weaving
them in two pieces is apparent. It seems probable that the toga
of Fig. 69 was woven in three parts, the long strip being woven
separately and the upper and lower sections attached to it.
The next and final form of the toga is represented on the ivory
diptychs, which the consuls of the fifth and sixth centuries were
accustomed to have made for themselves and as gifts to their
friends.
Fig. 69.
Late Form of Toga No. 3.
111
112
THE ROMAN TOGA
As these togas are represented only in relief and on small
ivory diptychs, which belong to a period of decadence in art, it
is necessary to be cautious in making positive statements regard¬
ing their form and the manner of draping them. In their recon¬
struction, there are a few details that can be based only on
conjecture, supported, to be sure, by evidence from earlier forms
of the toga.
The differences in these togas is mainly in the draping, of
which we may recognize three distinct styles, represented by
Figs. 70a, b and c. Numerous slight variations in drapery appear
on the diptychs, but all are based on one or another of these
three styles. Comparing the three figures, we find that each
wears two tunics, which in form resemble those on Fig. 62 except:
ing that on the diptychs the outer tunic is richly decorated and
has a formal, fitted circular collar band instead of the loose
neck opening. The togas on the three figures are also richly
embroidered or brocaded.8 Each has the long straight band
which is the distinctive feature of Figs. 62 and 65a, but on
the diptychs this band is much narrower and by reason of its elab¬
orate decoration is stiffer and more formal.9 We see on Figs.
70a, b and c, this band or a continuation of it, is folded as it
comes under the right arm, and gradually widens as it passes
around the left shoulder. The remaining visible portion of the
toga is the curving piece which is draped across the lap with the
sFor a description of the richness of the costumes of the late consuls, see Claudianus,
De IV cons. Honorii, 584-601.
0 Wilpert, Un Capitolo di Storia del Vestiario in L'Arte I, 1899, assumes that the toga
of Fig. 62 is an embroidered toga of the same form as those on the consular diptychs. But
the appearance of the drapery of Figs. 62 and 65a prove that the texture is light and
pliable and not stiffened by heavy embroidery, as is that of Figs. 70a, b and c. That the
two forms are by no means identical, is too apparent to require argument.
Fig. 70A.
An Anonymous Consular Diptych of the
Sixth Century. (Re-inscribed to serve as
an ecclesiastical diptych.)
Treasury of the Cathedral, Monza.
Fig. 70b.
The Orestes Diptych in the Victoria
and Albert Museum.
London.
(From an official photograph by
permission of the Director.)
Fig. 70c.
The Boezio Diptych.
Alinari. Brescia.
Fig. 71a.
Fig. 71b.
Reconstructions of the Toga of the Consular Diptychs.
Fig. 71c.
LATER FORMS OF THE TOGA
end carried on the left wrist. The under section of the toga which
we have seen shrinking in size in the preceding forms has entirely
disappeared. Of the upper section, or sinus, there remains some
portion that is brought across the back, and the scanty curving
drapery across the lap, the end of which is thrown over the left
wrist. On the various consular diptychs this part of the drapery
varies in size, as is illustrated by Figs. 70a, b and c.
On Fig. 70a, we see that the toga is placed on the wearer in
exactly the manner illustrated by Fig. 68a; that is, the band is
placed on the front of the body and passed over the left shoulder;
then it is brought diagonally across the back, under the right arm
and across the breast. It is then brought again over the left shoul¬
der and across the back. This completes the process as far as it
is shown by Fig. 68a. The part of the drapery which the assistant
in Fig. 68a holds up in his right hand has, on Fig. 70a, been
reduced to a small curving, apron-like piece which is brought
across the middle of the figure and over the wearer's left wrist.
A form of toga which meets these requirements is shown by
diagram Fig. 74. It is compared with Fig. 39, which we found to
be an imperial toga of moderate proportions. We see that the
toga of the diptychs consists of a piece of cloth having approxi¬
mately the shape of the sinus section of Fig. 39 and other togas
of similar style, but very much smaller. To one end of this piece
is attached a long narrow band. A toga of this shape is draped
on the living model Fig. 71a in a style corresponding with Fig.
70a.
The arrangement of the toga of Pig. 70b is the one which
appears on the greater number of diptychs. It is the single
exception in toga history to one of the three hitherto fixed prin¬
ciples in the draping of the toga. On Fig. 70b, the toga when
13
THE ROMAN TOGA
first placed on the wearer passes over the right shoulder instead
of the left. The exact disposition of this band in the back is
one of the points on which no positive statement can be made.
It is clear that it passes over the right shoulder and emerges
under the right arm.
A simple arrangement which meets these requirements is shown
on the living model Fig. 71b. The band passes over the right
shoulder, and is brought directly under the arm to the front.10
The band proper terminates under the arm, and the toga is
brought across the breast around the left shoulder; then across
the back, under the right arm and across the front of the body
in the usual manner.
On Fig. 70c the band passes over both shoulders. It is first
passed over the left shoulder, exactly as on Fig. 70a, and then
brought across the back and under the right arm. It has been
suggested that the band over the right shoulder is an extra
piece which is attached to the original band in the back, then
brought over the right shoulder and attached again to the original
band in front.11
While this may be the solution, it is not necessarily so. The
band after passing over the left shoulder, across the back and
under the right arm could have been attached to itself on the
front of the breast, see Fig. 72. Then it could be passed over the
right shoulder and under the arm, as was done on Fig. 71b. The
draping is then completed exactly as on Fig. 71b, with the result
shown by Figs. 71c and 73. This drapery, as we see, is a combi¬
nation of that of Figs. 71a and 71b.
10 A reconstruction which involves a much more elaborate arrangement of the toga
in the back is offered by Wilpert, op. cit., p. 98, Figs. A & A 1.
11 Wilpert, op. cit., p. 97 and Fig. 17, p. 101.
Fig. 72.
The Draping of the Toga of Fig. 71c.
Fig. 73.
Back View of the Toga of Fig. 71c.
Fig. 74.
The Toga of the Consular Diptych.
LATER FORMS OF TIIE TOGA
lis
On Figs. 71a, b and c the same toga is used, and the length of
the band varied to meet the requirements. The greatest length is
required by Fig. 71c and the shortest by Fig. 71b. In the recon¬
struction, no attempt was made to reproduce any given decora¬
tion, but the forms used are simplified adaptations of some of
those appearing on the ivory reliefs.
With the consular diptychs, the history of the toga ends. Be¬
ginning with the simple form befitting the early Republic, we
have watched the growing elaboration of the toga through the
centuries of Rome's expansion until it culminated in the toga
which symbolizes the brief but magnificent period of the early
Empire; and then we have seen the contracted and changing
forms which clothed Roman authority in its decadence. We have
followed it to the eastern capital and have read the final chapter
of its history on the little ivory diptychs. It is this embroidered,
bejewelled little toga that has been suggested as the toga picta
of the closing years of the Empire.12 It may have been so called;
but it is thoroughly Byzantine in style, and its connection with
the splendid robe of Roman triumph is indeed remote; even as
the obscure petty officials who wore it were but dim shadows
of the once powerful Roman magistrates.
12 Wilpert, op. cit., p. 89 f.
APPENDIX
THE TOGA FOR TODAY
(Suggestions for its reconstruction)
This study of the Roman toga will not be complete, nor will
it accomplish its full purpose, unless it affords sufficient data
to enable students and teachers of Latin literature and of Roman
private life to reproduce the toga both for illustrating Roman
costumes of a manikin, and for actual use in Latin and Roman
historical plays. To this end, a few practical suggestions based
on the writer's experience are given in the following pages.
FABRIC: The first question and one of the most vexing in
the reconstruction, is that of the material to be used; and this
must be considered with regard to both the manikin and the
living model. The Romans, for the most part at least, used wool
for their togas. In order to produce effective drapery, the mate¬
rial used must be exceedingly pliable, and while not heavy, it
must be of such texture that it will, by its own weight, fall
naturally into graceful curving folds. The surface must be soft
and have a moderate nap, so that the folds will tend to cling
together. Fabrics having a smooth, napless surface should never
be used for the toga. The Romans themselves could not have
used it, since the folds in such fabric will slip out of place with
the slightest movement of the body.
"7
118
THE ROMAN TOGA
Of modern textiles, soft, pliable flannel or cloth of similar
texture, most nearly satisfies the requirements. But inasmuch
as the toga of average size contains from 12 to 15 yards of cloth,
its cost, if made of such material, would be no small item. The
most satisfactory substitutes that the writer has been able to find
are very inexpensive. One is a cheap grade of outing flannel
which is more loosely woven than the better grades. It should be
washed and rubbed until the loose lint on its surface is removed,
and then put through a laundry mangle. The other substitute
is a cheap, soft, loosely woven unbleached, or partly bleached
muslin—not the stiff heavy quality. It should also be sent to the
laundry and put through the mangle. It then resembles a thin
flannel and is very effective for the large togas, where the drapery
should fall in many small folds. For the smaller togas, all togas
draped with the heavy folded bands, and for the toga of the
consular diptychs, the outing flannel is more suitable. It has the
extreme whiteness which, at certain periods, was very popular at
Rome.
The muslin can be used successfully for togas for the manikin,
but the quantity required is so small that doubtless better material
will often be preferred. If woolen cloth is used, it will need be
very pliable and of the thinnest texture obtainable. A medium
quality of crepe de chine, which has been washed and handled
until it is soft and clinging, makes a beautiful drapery for the
large togas on these little figures, and looks not unlike fine
woolen fabric.
COLOR: As we have already seen, the usual color of the toga
was white; the toga praetexta had a purple border; on certain
occasions a purple toga was worn; on others, a toga pulla which
was of some dark, dull color.
the toga for today
Differences of opinion exist as to the purple (purpura) of the
Romans. Some have interpreted it as scarlet; but the Romans had
a different word which is translated scarlet, and their purple,
as preserved in ancient wall paintings and other monuments, is
not scarlet, nor is it the color which we today call purple. A
close resemblance to it can be produced by using the shade listed
as garnet among the various commercial dyes. Fig. 75 gives
this color as nearly as it can be reproduced on paper. It will
often be found difficult to purchase woolen cloth of this color
and of the texture required for the toga; and it is usually im-
Fic. 75.
An Approximate Reproduction of a Shade of Roman Purple.
possible to obtain cotton in anv shade approaching it. Therefore,
if an approximately correct color is desired, it will generally
be necessary to dye the white cloth.
making the Toga: The following schedules of propor¬
tions, taken in connection with the diagrams referred to and the
discussion of them in the preceding chapters, are self-explanatory.
In cutting the toga, the curves bC and aD should be scanty
or shallow, and there should be no angles; these curves and the
edges BE and AF should curve into the adjacent straight lines.
For convenience in draping, there should always be a seam to
serve as a guide line at approximately the place where the toga
120
THE ROMAN TOGA
is folded over to form the sinus, that is, approximately along
the line AB of the diagram. The proportions in the following
schedules are given in such a way that the sinus and the lower
section can be cut separately and joined by a seam. It is much
more convenient to make the toga in this way, even though it
involves, as it usually does on the living model, the adding of a
part of a width to both the sinus and the lower section. There is
evidence (see page 72) that the Romans had a seam through this
part of their togas; but with their hand looms, they were able
to weave the parts of the toga of any width desired, and thus
avoid the cutting that we are obliged to do.
All sewing should be done by hand. Where a seam is neces¬
sary, the edges of the cloth should be whipped together so that
they will just meet, but not lap or form a ridge. As we have
already seen, the Romans doubtless wove the purple border upon
their togas, but it is necessary for us to sew it on. It should be a
straight strip of cloth; a bias strip would be an anachronism,
as it seems not to have made its appearance in garment making
until long after the passing of the toga.
MEASUREMENTS OF THE VARIOUS FORMS OF THE TOGA
The "unit" referred to in the following schedules is the
measurement of the wearer from the base of the neck in front
(the top of the breast bone) to the floor, taken with shoes on.
The girth measure is taken at the waist line. This measure¬
ment is important in determining the length of toga required.
The same toga can be worn by different persons with practically
the same effect, providing that they do not differ from each
other more than an inch in either of these two measurements
THE TOGA FOR TODAY
121
(the unit and the girth). The two dimensions AB and cd of the
diagrams are the only ones which need to be precise. The lines
CD, EF, Aa and Bb may and apparently do vary considerably
on different togas of the same style without producing any notice¬
able difference in the drapery.
The letters in parenthesis following the dimensions of the
togas in the following schedules refer to the lines designated
by those letters on the diagrams.
I. THE TOGA OF THE ARR1NGAT0RE
(Diagram, Fig. 7)
Extreme length (AB) Girth plus 2 units.
Width of each end (Aa and Bb) 4 unit.
Length of lower straight edge (CD) 1 unit.
Extreme width (cd) is units.
II. THE LARGE TOGA OF THE REPUBLIC
(Diagram, Fig. 16)
Extreme length (AB) Girth plus 2 '£ units.
Width of each end (Aa and Bb) 1 i unit.
Length of straight upper edge (EF) ij units.
Length of straight lower edge (CD) 1 units.
Depth of each corner cut off (BO and AM) I unit.
Extreme width (cd) 15 units.
III. THE TOGA OF THE ARA PAC1S
(Diagram, Fig. 18)
Extreme length (AB) Girth plus 2J units.
Width of each end (Aa and Bb) J unit.
Length of straight upper edge (EF) if units.
Length of straight lower edge (CD) 1] units.
Extreme width (cd) 1J units.
Width of sinus (cQ) H unit.
Width of lower section (dQ) 1 ^ units.
122
THE ROMAN TOGA
IV. LARGE IMPERIAL TOGA
(Diagram, Fig. 27a)
Extreme length (AB) Girth plus 2y units.
Width of each end (Aa and Bb) i unit.
Length of straight upper edge (EF) $ unit.
Length of straight lower edge (CD) if units.
Extreme width (cd) 2S% units.
Width of sinus (cQ) . . fi unit.
Width of lower section (dQ) is units.
V. IMPERIAL TOGA WITH FOLDED BANDS
(Diagram, Fig. 39)
Extreme length (AB) Girth plus 24 units.
Width of each end (Aa and Bb) i unit.
Length of upper edge (EF) is units.
Length of lower straight edge (CD) ij units.
Extreme width (cd) i-ff units.
Width of sinus (cQ) f unit.
Width of lower section (dQ) ixlx units.
VI. THE DOUBLE TOGA
(Diagram, Fig. 50)
Extreme length (AB) Girth plus 2yj units.
Width of each end (Aa and Bb) • J unit.
Length of straight upper edge (EF) f unit.
Length of straight lower edge (CD) 1 unit.
Extreme width (cd) • i|f units.
Width of sinus (cQ) 1 unit.
Width of lower section (dQ) xf unit.
VII. A TRANSITIONAL TOGA
(Diagram, Fig. 53)
The proportions of this toga are the same as those of the imperial toga with folded
bands (V above) excepting that it is longer; the line AB should be the girth plus 2J units.
THE TOGA FOR TODAY 123
VIII. LATE FORM OF TOGA NO. i
(Diagram, Fig. 56)
Extreme length (AB) Girth plus iff units.
Width of each end (Aa and Bb) 4 unit.
Length of straight upper edge (EF) ^ unit.
Length of straight lower edge (CD) i unit.
Length of vertical edge of folded portion of toga in front of knees (AO) about, i unit.
Extreme width (cd) if units.
Width of sinus (cQ) units.
Width of lower section (dQ) 2I unit.
IX. LATE FORM OF TOGA NO. 2
(Diagram, Fig. 59)
Extreme length (AB) Girth plus if| units.
Width of each end (Aa and Bb) i unit.
Length of straight upper edge (EF) ^ unit.
Length of straight lower edge (CD) y unit.
Length of folded strip hanging between the knees (AO) i unit.
Extreme width (cd) • 2 units.
Width of sinus (cQ) i^g units.
Width of lower section (dQ) If unit.
X. LATE FORM OF TOGA NO. 3
(Diagram, Fig. 69)
Extreme length (AB) Girth plus 2T\ units.
Width of long strip (Aa) A unit.
Length of long strip (AO) ij units.
Length of straight upper edge (EF) 7 unit.
Length of straight lower edge (CD) I unit.
Length of each section along the apparent joining with the long strip (AO
and ao) if units.
Length of straight edges of sinus (IB and TO) I unit.
Length of each straight side of lower section (ib and oM) | unit.
(These last two measurements are exclusive of the width of the
straight strip, which is here considered as running through the entire
toga.)
Extreme width (cd) 24 units.
Width of sinus (cQ) 125s units.
Width of lower section (dR) ? unit.
(Between the sinus and the lower section is the width of the long
strip, 29f of the unit.)
124
the roman toga
XI. THE TOGA OF THE CONSULAR DIPTYCH
(Diagram, Fig. 74)
Extreme length (AB) Girth plus 2I units.
Width of long strip (Aa) about 6 inches.
* Length of long strip to point where it begins to widen (line AM ) 1^ units.
Length of upper edge of drapery (EF) i unit.
Width of end of drapery (Bb) about 10 inches.
Extreme width (cd) | unJt#
Line OK about xo inches.
Line OM units.
Draping: In the foregoing chapters, the process of draping
the various forms of the toga have been described in detail, and
each step illustrated by photographs of the living model. For
draping the toga on a manikin, little need be added, and this
section will be devoted mainly to the draping of the imperial
toga on the living model, since that is the most difficult form to
drape. The late forms, while they appear complicated, tend
more and more to formalization and therefore to more fixed
processes of draping, which have been fully explained.
Perhaps no more erroneous idea ever gained acceptance than
the one sometimes expressed, even in class rooms, that when
dressing, the Greeks and Romans simply caught up their gar¬
ments, flung them about their bodies, and the drapery fell into its
desired graceful positions, giving the wearer no further trouble
during the day. Literary references heretofore cited prove the
absolute falsity of any such theory, so far as the toga is concerned.
* The length of this strip varies with different styles of draping. The measurement given
above is for the toga of Fig. 71 b. An addition equal to about two-sevenths the unit is
required for the toga of Fig. 71a, and about three-quarters the unit for the toga of
Fig. 71c.
The consular diptych togas, judging from the representations of them, varied greatly
in all theii proportions. The measurements here given are those used in the reconstruction
on Figs. 71a, b and c, which is intended only as a general statement of this form of toga.
THE TOGA FOR TODAY
125
It is unquestionably true that the Romans put on and wore
their togas with greater ease than is possible to us. For centuries
they had worn draped garments, and the wearers, at least of the
elaborate forms of the toga, had slaves to assist them in its ad¬
justment. Many of these slaves were Greeks—a race whose skill
in the handling of drapery has never been equaled. But even to
Romans and to their Greek slaves, the draping of the toga was
an art, and a slovenly arrangement of it marked a man as a boor.
It is hardly necessary to add that in the case of westerners, any
successful draping of the toga can only be the result of patient,
painstaking care on the part of both the model and the person
doing the draping. While wearing his toga, the Roman devoted
his left arm, and sometimes his left hand as well, to the support
of his drapery. This is what the living model and the togated
characters in a play must do—not an especially easy task for one
accustomed to the freedom of sleeved garments.
No instructions can ever be given that will cover every detail
in the draping of any toga, much less for the imperial toga, either
when draped loosely or with folded bands. A great deal must
be left to the skill of the operator, but a few points in addition
to the illustrations and explanations already given, may be useful:
1. When the toga is first placed on the body, see that several
inches of the lower section along the guide-line seam are gath¬
ered into the folds that are first placed on the left shoulder. See
Fig. 31a.
2. See that the guide-line seam hangs straight from the shoul¬
der to the end of the toga in front, and that the sinus is brought
to the front, so that its edge will fall in ripples as on Fig. 31a.
In continuing the drapery, the fold along the guide-line seam is
not maintained. See discussion of Figs. 27a and 27b.
126
THE ROMAN TOGA
3. When placing the drapery over the model's left arm, that
arm should always be extended as in Fig. 5, and the balancing of
the drapery over this arm must be maintained, even when the
arm is brought into its characteristic position. When the drapery
is completed, the wearer should always be able to extend his arm
as in Fig. 5, and bring it back to position without allowing the
drapery to slip over the outside of the arm. This is easily done
after one relinquishes the freedom of his left arm and devotes it
to his drapery.
4. As the toga is brought around the model, there is a tendency
for the fabric to cling together and mass around the middle of
the body, so that it is necessary to pull both the undersection and
the sinus down into position, allowing the folds to form as they
appear on the sculptured figures. Correct draping of the toga
requires careful attention to this detail. A toga which is of
ample size for the wearer, will seem too small and short unless
properly adjusted.
5. A large part of the adjustment of the toga must be accom¬
plished by massing the fabric in and under the second set of
folds on the left shoulder. See Fig. 31b. For this, no instruc¬
tion can be given. It is never done twice in precisely the same
way. Here, as on other parts of the figure, the drapery must be
arranged so as to produce the proper effect.
6. For use in plays and representations of Roman life, the
toga appropriate to the period should be used. For the period
of the Republic, the problem is simple. For the transitional
period and for the early years of the empire, the toga of the
Ara Pacis (III in the foregoing schedules of proportions and
diagram Fig. 18) can be used for all citizens and officials ex¬
cepting the emperor and the flamines. For ordinary private
THE TOGA FOR TODAY
127
citizens during the first two centuries of the empire, this toga
can properly be made at least 6 inches shorter (line AB) and 6
inches narrower (line cd) than the measurements given in
Schedule III. This produces a toga which extends about mid¬
way between the knee and ankle, which is the length generally
represented on figures of private citizens. Each half of the toga
of the flamines is about the size of the toga of the Arringatore
(Schedule I). Up to about the beginning of the third century,
for high officials, and even later for the emperor, a toga of the
dimensions of Schedule V will be appropriate; but for this
period, it should be draped in the same manner as the toga of Fig.
30 or Fig. 36, the latter being later in style.
While the Romans probably wore the toga draped in any or
all of these styles without fastenings, it is hardly safe to depend
upon the present-day wearer to do so. It will usually be found
advisable to secure the mass of fabric on the left shoulder, but
the fastening should be invisible. The drapery with folded
bands is stable, and should require no fastenings excepting those
mentioned in the description of Figs. 41a, b and c, 45 and 46
and 52a and b.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
MODERN TEXTS
Albizzati, Carlo: L'Ultima Toga, in Rhvista ltaliana di Numismatic a, 2d ser. V. Milan,
1922.
Amelung, Walther: Die G e-rvandung dcr alien Griechen und Romer in text of Tabulae
quibus antiquitates Graecae et Romanac illustrantur von Stephen Cybulski. Leipzig,
1903.
Baumeister, A.: Denkmaelcr des klassischen Altertums, under Toga by Miiller. Munich
and Leipzig, 18S8.
Becker, W. A.: Galius, or Roman Scenes of the Time of Augustus. London, 1876.
Bliimner, Hugo: Die Romischen Prvvataltertiimer in Iwan von Miiller, Handbuch der
klassischen Altertumswissenschaft, IV, 2, ii, Munich, 1911.
Daremberg et Saglio: Dictionnaire des antiquites grecques et romaines, under Toga by
F. Courbet. Paris, 1919.
Guhl, Ernst, und Koner, Willi.: Das Leben der Griechen und Romer. Berlin, 1893.
Helbig, W.: Toga und Trabea in Hermes, XXXIX, 1904.
Heuzey, Leon: Ilistoire du costume antique. Paris, 1922.
Hula, Eduard: Die Toga der spateren Kaiserzeit; Briinn, 1895.
Johnston, Harold Whetstone: The Private Life of the Romans. New York and Chicago,
1903.
Launitz, V. D.: Ueber die Toga der Romer und die Palla der Romerinnen, Heidelberg,
1865.
Marquardt, Joachim: Das Privatleben der Romer. Leipzig, 1886.
Micali, Giuseppe: Storia degli Antichi Popoli ltaliani. Milan, 1835.
Miiller, Albert: Die Toga bei II or at. Epod. IV, S in Philologus, XXVIII, 1869.
Reinach, Salomon: Repertoire de la statuaire grecque et romaine. Paris, 1897.
Repertoire de reliefs grecs et romains. Paris, 1912.
Ross, C. F.: The Reconstruction of the Later Toga in American Journal of Archaeology,
XV, 1911.
Sandys, John Edwin: A Companion to Latin Studies. Cambridge University Press, 1910.
Smith, William: A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities under Toga by W. C. F.
Anderson- London, 1891.
Wilpert, Giuseppe: Un Capitolo di Storia del Vestiario in L'Arte, I, 1899.
129
INDEX
Antonine period, the toga of, 74.
Ara Pacis, togas represented in reliefs of,
43, 44; form of toga of, 46; reconstruc¬
tion of toga of, 48.
Arringatore, the, statue of, 26; form of toga
of, 27, 29, 30; border and stripes on
toga of, 35-37; reconstruction and drap¬
ing of toga of, 29, 31-32.
Asconius, 26.
Augustus, 61, 83.
Camillus, ancient statue of, 26.
Capitolinus, 85.
Cassius, Dio, 50.
Cato, 26, 27.
Cicero, 58.
Cinctus Gabinus, 86-88.
Constantinople, capital of Roman Empire
removed to, 104; form of toga in vogue
at, 105 ff.
Consular diptychs, toga of, 86, 112-115.
Coptic garments, 35, 50; details in weaving
of, 35, 84; width of web of, 71.
Decius, 86.
Diocletian, monument of reign of in Roman
Forum, 101-103.
Diodorus, 63.
Dionvsius of Halicarnassus, 17, 19, 28, 29,
38, 85.
Flaccus, Caius, 56.
Flamines, toga of, 56-60.
Folded bands of toga (see "Toga with
folded bands").
Fortune, temple of, 18.
Gellius, Aulus, 26.
Gordianus, 85.
Hortensius, 73.
Isidore (of Seville), 17, 20, 21, 27, 51, 87,
88.
Juvenal, 83, 90.
Laena, 57-58, 60.
Livy, 52, 56, 83.
Macrobius, 73.
Martial, 90.
Ovid, 63.
Plinv, 18, 34, 54, 55.
Pompeii, wall paintings in, 50, 53.
Popilius, Marcus, 58.
Quinctius, Lucius (Cincinnatus), 83.
Quintilian, 17, 21, 27, 28, 31, 32, 39, 40.
Republican period, toga of (see " Toga of
Republican Period ").
Romulus, statue of, 26.
Seated figure, toga on, 72-73.
Servius, 18, 53, 60.
Sbius (of toga), 44, 45, 91 ff., 97.
Suetonius, 61, 83.
Tatius, statue of, 26.
Temple of Fortune, 18.
Tertullian, 18, 78.
TOGA:
Arringatore (see "Arringatore, toga of,"
etc.).
Candida, 51.
Color of, 49 ff.
Discontinuing use of, 82, 83, 90.
Double toga, form of; reconstruction of
011 living model, 91-92.
Imperial toga, form of; evidence from
statues, 63-67; general discussion of,
61-63; reconstruction and draping of,
67-70; texture of represented 011 statues,
62-63.
Inconvenience of in general, 78, 82-83.
Late forms of; general discussion of, 89-
90; numerous variations in, 101.
132
INDEX
Late form of, No. i, on a figure in a
sarcophagus relief in Museo delle
Terme, 97-98; form of, and reconstruc¬
tion of, 98-99.
Late form of, No. 2, on a statue from
So. Africa in the Louvre, 99 ; form of,
reconstruction and draping of, 99-101.
Late form of, No. 3 ; representations of in
sculpture, 104; form of, 107; details
of drapery, 105-107; reconstruction and
draping of, 107-109; probable manner
of weaving, no.
Length of, 73, 81-82.
Material of, 34.
Of consular diptvchs; general discussion
of, 112-113; reconstruction and draping
of, 113 -115.
Of Republican period (see " Arringatore,
toga of," etc.) ; large toga of Republican
period, representations of in sculpture,
39; form and reconstruction of, 40-42.
Of Trajanic period, 75.
Older and later forms used at same
period, 44-45, 101-103.
On the seated figure, 72-73.
Origin of, 18-20.
Phryxiana, 34.
Picta, 84-85.
Praetexta, 18, 36, 51; ancient origin of,
18-20, 54; by whom worn, 52; meaning
of term, 54-55; purple border of, where
located, and width of, 52-53 ; represen¬
tation of in wall-painting, 53 ; weaving
of, 56.
Pulla, 36, 50.
Pura, 52.
Rasa, 34.
Reconstruction of toga, general discussion
of, 21 ff.
Reconstruction of for today; color, 118-
119; fabric, 117-118; making, 119 if.;
measurements and schedules of propor¬
tions, 120-124; suggestions in regard to
draping, 124-127.
Seam in toga, 71-72, 110.
Sources of information regarding toga,
general, 17 ff.
Trabea, 36-39.
Transitional form of toga 011 a portrait
statue in the Villa Doria Pamphilia;
form, draping and reconstruction of,
94-95-
Undulata, 34.
Use of fastenings with toga, 48-49, 79, 80,
97, 108, 109, 114, 127.
Virilis, 52.
Wearing of by women and children, 27,
5i-
Weaving of, 70-72.
With folded bands, 77-84.
Prajanic period, toga of, 75.
Tunica palrnata, 85.
I'mho, 49, 67.
Valerius, Lucius, 52.
Varro, 57, 63.
Venus Genetrix (Louvre), 24.
Villa Doria Pamphilia, the, portrait statue
in, 94-95.