15 The goddess Athena, c. 450 BCE. Greek costume was essentially drapery, a large rectangle of wool or linen being adjusted in various ways and held in place by one or two girdles, and by fibulae at the point of the shoulder.
Scholars now realize that the old ‘classical’ picture of Greece was much too simple. It was indeed bound to be so before the discovery of the Cretan civilization. It is true none the less that, from the period of the Dorian invasions of about 1200 BCE, a new culture emerged which in manners and costume showed itself remarkably stable. Until the time of Alexander, in fact, there was no essential modification in the clothes worn by men or by women.
Greek costume during this long period had no form in itself. It was composed of rectangles of cloth of various sizes draped over the body without cutting or sewing the material. There could, of course, be considerable variation in the manner of adjustment, but the essential lines remained the same.
From the seventh to the first century BCE both men and women wore the chiton, knee-length for men, ankle-length for women. Men, however, sometimes wore it long, as can be seen from the famous statue known as the ‘Charioteer of Delphi’.[16] It was kept in place by pins or brooches and was usually worn with a cord or belt round the waist.[15] Scholars distinguish between the Doric and the Ionic chiton, the former being generally made of wool and the latter of linen. This being a more flexible material, it allowed a greater variety of folds, and the oblong of linen used was sometimes longer than the distance between the shoulders and the feet, enabling the cloth to be drawn up under the belt to form a kind of blouse.
15 The goddess Athena, c. 450 BCE. Greek costume was essentially drapery, a large rectangle of wool or linen being adjusted in various ways and held in place by one or two girdles, and by fibulae at the point of the shoulder.
16 The Charioteer of Delphi, c. 475 BCE. The long tunic or chiton was worn by both men and women, although for men it was a ceremonial garment, the short chiton being worn in ordinary life.
17 Outline drawings of bas-reliefs of the fifth century BCE.
It was at one time supposed that Greek clothes were white or of the natural colour of wool or flax, but this error derived from the fact that the antique statues discovered during the Renaissance had lost any colour they might have possessed. Further researches have shown that Greek garments were often coloured and patterned, except presumably those worn by the poor.
Some members of the lower classes dyed their garments a reddish brown, a practice apparently disapproved of by the authorities, for the historian Herodotus mentions an Athenian decree forbidding them to appear in dyed clothes at the theatre and in other public places. The upper classes were allowed more liberty, and it is said that the painter Polygnotus was the first to introduce brilliant colours such as red, yellow and purple. A polychrome statue recently discovered shows traces of green. The decoration of garments, often confined to the border, was embroidered rather than woven into the cloth and consisted of formal patterns such as the ‘Greek fret’, flowers and animal figures.
The essential garment, the chiton, being a simple rectangle of cloth folded round the body, could be adjusted in various ways. Men could either fasten it with a brooch or pin on the left shoulder, leaving the right bare, or it could be fastened on both shoulders. It could be worn with one cord or belt round the waist or with two. No belt at all was worn before putting on a breastplate over it. In its later form the chiton was made of two pieces of cloth sewn together and was sometimes provided with sleeves.
Young men in general, and horsemen in particular, wore over the chiton a kind of short cloak, usually fastened on one shoulder and known as a chlamys. There was no impropriety in wearing the chlamys only, without the chiton, and in the gymnasium both sexes exercised naked: that, in fact, is what the word ‘gymnasium’ means.[22] The Greeks, unlike their Semitic contemporaries, did not regard nudity as shameful. In cold weather a much larger cloak was worn: the himation. It could measure as much as eight feet by six. The female form of the chlamys was known as the peplos and, like its male counterpart, was worn over the chiton, which reached to the woman’s feet. As luxury increased, it was sometimes made of very fine material, even of silk, in spite of repeated sumptuary laws which endeavoured to restrain the luxury of female garments. It should perhaps be noted here that luxury does not imply ‘fashion’. The respectable Athenian lady was rarely seen abroad and had little temptation to compete with other women in striking or novel garments.
In the styles of hairdressing, however, we can trace considerable developments over the centuries. Before the Greek victories against the Persians, both men and women wore their hair long. Later, long hair was considered suitable only for boys or women. At puberty a boy cut off his hair and dedicated it to the gods.
Even before the middle of the fifth century BCE women sometimes bound their hair with a fillet. Afterwards this became the usual practice, and the back hair was sometimes enclosed in a kind of chignon worn low on the nape of the neck. Later still the back hair was fastened with ribbons in the form of a cone projecting behind the head.[25] Wealthy women wore tiaras of gold and precious stones, and, after the Roman conquest, hairstyles became much more numerous and elaborate, with much use of frizzing and curling and the addition of artificial hair. Hats were used only for travelling, and even then were frequently worn on the shoulder rather than on the head. They were made of felt and had very broad brims. However, the Tanagra statuettes show that after the Macedonian conquest many women wore comical little hats, rather like a miniature version of a Chinese hat, perched on the top of their heads.[26]
18 Outline drawings of bas-reliefs of the fifth century BCE.
19 Marble bust and torso of the goddess Athena, first–second century CE.
20 Maenad dancing. Roman copy of Greek original, late fifth century BCE. Another example of the different ways in which the rectangle of cloth could be adjusted round the body.
In general the Greeks were bearded up to the fifth century BCE, and even after that philosophers and other serious persons kept up the old usage. Younger men shaved off all facial hair, and the younger gods like Apollo and Mercury are always depicted clean-shaven, the older ones like Jupiter and Vulcan retaining their beards.
Indoors the Greeks rarely wore footgear of any kind, and the poorer classes went barefoot even in the street. Even wealthy people wore only sandals, although those of the courtesans were sometimes gilded, the soles being studded with nails arranged in such a way as to leave a footprint spelling out the words ‘Follow me’. (Such a sandal has actually been preserved. It was found in Lower Egypt, but is thought by scholars to have been similar to those worn by Greek courtesans.) The sandals were attached to the feet and ankles by thongs tied in many different ways, as innumerable statues testify.
The artists of the classical revival in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries were persuaded – no doubt by the numerous nude statues in museums – that the ancient Greeks went into battle naked, armed only with a sword, a shield and a helmet. In reality the Greek warriors protected themselves with tunics of leather reinforced with metal plaques, and wore greaves on their legs.[28] The heavily armed infantry – the hoplites – and the cavalry wore in addition the characteristic Greek helmet which almost enclosed the head.[29] It was sometimes provided with movable side pieces but had no visor, being merely pushed back on the head when not in use. The crest took the form of a horse’s mane and was usually made of horsehair. The effect was singularly striking and beautiful. The light infantry wore greaves of leather and tunics of doubled felt or leather with a metal belt. They also wore the chlamys, fastened on the shoulder or, in battle, rolled round the left arm to parry blows.
Just as archaeology has destroyed the long-accepted picture of Greek history, it has also modified our opinions of life during the first millennium BCE in the Italian peninsula. So much was known of the Roman civilization that it was hardly realized how long a time elapsed before Rome became anything more than one small city-state struggling against its neighbours for survival and finally for dominance. Everybody knew that Rome had a king called Tarquin, but the implications of this were not so generally grasped: that the Romans at an early period of their development were ruled by a foreign dynasty, that of the Etruscans.
Who were the Etruscans? Scholars are still divided in their opinions. They are thought by some to have migrated from Asia, perhaps in successive waves, between the thirteenth and the eighth centuries BCE. Others have thought that they represented an ethnic group of even earlier origin. They had connections with both Greece and Asia Minor and their costume reflects both influences. Of this costume there is now a considerable documentation, mostly in the form of statues and bas-reliefs. Moreover, little as we know about their literature or their language, their sculpture and wall-paintings enable us to reconstruct a fairly comprehensive picture of their mode of life.
21 Girl from Verona, Italy. Roman copy of a Greek original, 50 BCE–50 CE. A later, more sophisticated Greek costume, including a chlamydon made from a rectangle of cloth, slit to pass over the head. The soft fabric is held in gathers by a cord passing under the left breast.
22 Boy wearing a chlamys, the short military cloak consisting, in this case, of a circular piece of material kept in place by a brooch on the right shoulder. Roman copy of Greek original of the first century BCE.
23 The Muse Polyhymnia. Roman copy of Hellenistic original.
24 Head of an unknown woman, sixth century BCE, showing regional variation or possibly Egyptian influence.
25 Head of the Borghese Hera. Probably Roman copy of Greek original, third century BCE.
26 Terracotta figurines from Tanagra, fourth century BCE. Over a tunic or chiton, women wore an enveloping mantle of linen or wool similar to the male himation. The curious little hat worn by the lady was probably made of plaited straw.
Until their expansion into the southern part of Italy brought the Etruscans into contact with the Greek colonies of Magna Graecia, their garments showed little trace of Greek influence. Rather, they reflected an earlier connection with the Cretan civilization modified by Oriental elements: their clothes were both sewn and draped. We can trace a certain evolution from what the scholars call a ‘tunic-robe’, characteristic of the period from about 700 BCE to 575 BCE, to a kind of toga made (like the Roman toga which was derived from it) of a semicircle of cloth. Sometimes it was rectangular and formed a kind of cloak. This was worn by men, while women wore a long, tight-fitting robe, without a girdle, with half-sleeves and sometimes slit at the back, closed by ribbons when the garment had been put on over the head. Over the robe was worn a long, rectangular cloak which, when required, could be drawn over the head.
27 An Etruscan female dancer, end of sixth century BCE, wearing a sewn garment.
28, 29 Warriors from vase-paintings, fifth century BCE. The warriors are in armour, worn over the short tunic. The helmet of the second figure (RIGHT) is the more characteristic. The shield, seen from the back, shows the method of holding it.
30 Dancers from the Tomb of the Leopards, Tarquinia. Etruscan, first quarter of fifth century BCE.
The most striking difference between Greek and Etruscan costume was in the footwear. Until the fifth century BCE, when Greek influences caused them to adopt sandals, the Etruscans wore a kind of high, laced boot with a turned-up toe, which was obviously derived from the footwear of Asia Minor. But the whole question of reciprocal influences is a field of study as yet only partially explored. Once the Romans had established their hegemony over the whole of Italy, they imposed their own way of life and costume, and the very memory of a previous Etruscan civilization faded away.
31 Vestal virgin. Roman, second century CE. On ceremonial occasions or in mourning a fold of cloth was drawn over the head.
32 Emperor Tiberius, first century CE. The emperor is wearing the toga over a sleeved tunic.
As we have seen, however, the Romans borrowed from the Etruscans one garment which became characteristically their own: the toga. In its Roman form it grew ever more voluminous, required considerable skill in draping it about the body and effectively prevented any active pursuit. It was therefore essentially a garment for the upper classes, especially for senators, with whom it was always white. Until they attained puberty, free-born boys wore it with a purple border, when it was known as a toga praetexta, to be ceremonially exchanged for a white toga virilis when the time came. In mourning, a dark-coloured toga was worn and was sometimes draped over the head, as it was also for certain religious ceremonies. After about 100 CE the toga began to diminish in size, shrinking first to a pallium and then to a mere band of cloth, the stole. In the early days of the Republic, men wore a simple loin-cloth made of linen, this being replaced under the Empire by a sewn tunic, the equivalent of the Greek chiton. It consisted of two pieces of cloth sewn together, was put on over the head and gathered at the waist by means of a belt. It was knee-length, except on special occasions such as weddings, when it reached to the ground. It was worn under the toga by the upper classes; soldiers and workmen wore it as their sole garment. When provided with elbow-length sleeves it was known as a ‘dalmatic’, the name it continued to bear when, in a slightly modified form, it became one of the vestments of the Christian Church. When it was embroidered all over it was called a tunica palmata. In pagan times it was worn, a little longer than knee-length, by the Roman dandies.
Sometimes two tunics were worn, the one next to the skin being the subacula and the over-tunic the tunica exteriodum. The latter grew gradually longer, reaching to the ankles from about 100 CE. It was then known as a caracalla, and by 200 CE had been adopted by almost everyone.
33 Statues of the first century CE showing varieties of drapery. Centre, a priest offering a libation, with a fold of the toga drawn over his head.
At first the Romans, with their hardy traditions, strongly disapproved both of trews (to use the Scottish term) and of the long trousers worn by the barbarian tribes. But they gradually became accepted, being adopted first by soldiers.
At first the Romans were bearded, but from the second century BCE they began to be clean-shaven, and this became the universal custom under the Empire until the time of Hadrian, who once more introduced beards. Hair was worn short, which did not preclude considerable luxury, the dandies having their locks curled by means of hot tongs. In general the head was uncovered, but felt hats of various forms were sometimes worn: the rimless cap known as the pileus, a hat with a wide brim copied from the Greeks, and the soft Phrygian bonnet. The cuculus was a type of hood, sometimes attached to the cloak and sometimes forming a separate garment.
Women’s clothes were at first very similar to those worn by men except for an unstiffened kind of bust-bodice known as the strophium. The tunic, however, was much longer than the masculine variety and formed a robe reaching to the feet. It was made first of wool, then of linen or cotton and finally, for the wealthy, of silk. The favourite colours were red, yellow and blue, and the garment was sometimes ornamented with a gold fringe and lavishly embroidered.
34 ‘Bikini girl’ from Sicily, late third century CE. The Romans, unlike the Greeks, did not exercise in the gymnasium naked, but wore a modicum of clothing very similar to modern styles.
The stola, worn over the tunic, was a garment of similar shape but with sleeves, and over this was draped, for out of doors, a voluminous cloak, rather like the toga but rectangular in shape, known as the pella. In public it was usual for the head to be veiled. Hairdressing gradually grew more elaborate, and from the time of Messalina onwards it was impossible for a fashionable lady to dispense with the services of an ornatrix, who spent hours arranging the locks in a cone called a tutulus or surrounding the face with a frame of tight curls.[38] Blonde hair was fashionable and, as we learn from Ovid, those who were naturally dark-haired resorted to bleaches. There was much use of false hair and even of entire wigs. The innumerable portrait-busts surviving from the later Empire show an enormous variety of styles, and it is evidence of the rapid changing of fashion that some ladies had their heads sculptured in two pieces so that the upper part, representing the hair, could be replaced, if desired, by a more fashionable coiffure.
35–8 Four heads showing the growing elaboration of hairstyles in the Roman period: TOP LEFT, TOP RIGHT Portrait heads of the Trajanic period; BOTTOM LEFT Head of a Ptolemaic queen; BOTTOM RIGHT Head of an unknown woman, second century CE.
All this was part of an increasing luxury, which satirists such as Juvenal seized upon as evidence of national decline. Jewellery of all kinds was increasingly worn. Simple headbands were replaced by gold and silver tiaras encrusted with precious stones and cameos. Rings were worn by both sexes; the women added bracelets, anklets, necklaces and earrings. The poet Ovid mentions earrings made of three rows of pearls. Use was made of enamels and damascening, of ivory and cameos. Many of these artefacts came to Rome as the result of its conquests. Antioch and Alexandria were the principal centres of manufacture, but by the time of Augustus many articles were being made in Rome itself.
Decoration even spread to footwear, although this had originally been extremely simple: a sandal made of a single piece of untanned hide, overlapping the outline of the foot and kept in place by leather thongs. This was known as the carbatina, and in its slightly more sophisticated form as the calceus, and was worn by the majority of Roman citizens. Slaves were forbidden to use it. Indoors women wore a kind of slipper called the soccus, which could be of various colours and was sometimes painted with patterns and even studded with precious stones after the manner of the calceus patricius worn by the Emperor Nero. Buskins, or closed boots, were sometimes used in bad weather. They were called gallicae, which is sufficient evidence that they had been borrowed from the Gauls.
Foreign influences of all kinds became more marked with the expansion of the Empire, especially with its expansion towards the east, until there was no luxury which the Roman patricians could not, if they wished, adopt. And then the centre of government itself moved east, with the establishment by Constantine of a new capital on the Bosphorus: Constantinople. And a new chapter opened in the history of Roman costume.
There had been a colony of Greeks on the European side of the Bosphorus since the seventh century BCE, but for a thousand years it was little more than a military centre with primitive fortifications. Then, in 330 CE, the Emperor Constantine founded Constantinople on the site as his new capital. However, it did not long remain the capital of the whole Empire, which was divided after the death of Theodosius the Great in 395 CE into the Eastern and Western Empires.
When the Western Empire fell in 476 CE, Byzantium, or Constantinople as it was now called, was cut off from the West and became more and more affected by those Oriental influences which had been felt from its foundation. It could hardly have been otherwise, for its position made it the natural entrepôt of trade with the interior of Asia.
39 Sarcophagus of Flavius Stilicho, late fourth century CE. The togas worn by these Christian Romans are markedly less ample than in previous centuries.
This naturally resulted in the evolution of quite a different kind of costume, a change neatly summed up by Carolyn G. Bradley: ‘The simplicity of the old Roman dress gave way to the gay coloring, fringes, tassels and jewels of the East. The idea in dress in this era was to conceal and obscure the body’ (Western World Costume, New York 1954). Constantine himself wore a costume very different from that of earlier Roman emperors. His robe of gold tissue was embroidered with floral patterns. Fastened to his shoulder by a jewelled brooch was a purple chlamys. A wide scarf called a trabea was crossed on his chest. The tunic had narrow sleeves, sometimes replaced by the wide-sleeved dalmatic, both encrusted with jewels as was also the tablion, an oblong panel on the front of the garment. Round his head he wore a band of material knotted at the back, but later emperors substituted a kind of crown, set with jewels and with strings of gems hanging from it on either side. This can be seen quite plainly in the splendid mosaics in the church of San Vitale in Ravenna. These show, in an elaborate frieze, the figures of the Emperor Justinian and his wife Theodora and are among the most valuable documents we possess of Byzantine costume at the height of its glory in the sixth century.[41–3]
40 Procession of female saints from Ravenna. Byzantine, c. 561.
41–3 Byzantine splendour in Ravenna: the Empress Theodora (TOP LEFT, detail) and Emperor Justinian (TOP RIGHT, detail) and suite (BOTTOM), 500–526.
One is struck at once by the ecclesiastical look of the Imperial garments. The emperor was indeed a priest-king, the Viceroy of Christ on Earth. He did not actually say Mass, but he incensed the alter at sacred ceremonies, and it was he who called the Councils of the Church and, in some cases, presided over them. His whole life was regulated by liturgical requirements, all laid down with meticulous care in the Book of Ceremonies and, whenever he appeared in public, his clothes were not so much garments as ‘vestments’. Similarly, the dress of all the courtiers and palace attendants was rigidly laid down in accordance with rank and function. In Byzantium as in Imperial China, all dress was ‘hierarchical’. The ‘Seduction Principle’ was almost entirely absent, and the ‘Utility Principle’ completely ignored.
If, however, the emperor was a priest-king he was also an Oriental potentate, a late echo of Darius ‘King of Kings’ and an early anticipation of the Turkish sultans who were later to rule in Constantinople. His palace was a strange mixture of monastery and seraglio, swarming with monks and eunuchs.
Another Oriental touch was the method of selecting an empress. It resolved itself into a kind of beauty competition, girls being brought from every part of the Empire. Their rank does not seem to have mattered, and when the candidates had been screened and only the most beautiful remained, the emperor himself made the final choice, presenting the girl with an apple. Fantastic as it may seem, it was in this manner that Justinian selected Theodora. She was of humble origin, her father being in charge of the bears used in bear-baiting. But in Theodora’s case there was another difficulty: she was an actress and dancer, professions of which the Church strongly disapproved. Special legislation had to be enacted in order to allow her to marry Justinian.
Once elevated to the purple, she showed herself a woman of great courage and indomitable will. She made an admirable consort. She was, of course, surrounded by all the ecclesiastical pomp that surrounded her husband, and her appearance, like his, is preserved for posterity in the gleaming mosaics of San Vitale. She wore a long white tunic adorned with a vertical band covered with embroideries. Another band, called a maniakis, embroidered with gold thread and set with precious stones and pearls, was draped over her shoulders. In addition she wore a short-sleeved robe, with a jewelled belt and fringes at the hem, and a purple cloak embroidered with figures of the Magi. On her head she had an even more splendid diadem than the emperor’s. This was the stephanos, set with precious stones and with long strings of pearls hanging down on either side. On her feet were closed shoes of soft leather, coloured red and enriched with embroideries.
The materials used were rich and varied, as may be gathered from the fragments that have survived, mostly as ecclesiastical vestments or the wrappings of relics. Wool, which had been the textile most in use in the early days of the Empire, was laid aside in favour of cotton and fine linens from Egypt and silk from China. The latter had at first to be transported by caravan across the whole width of Asia, a lengthy and costly business. And then, according to the legend, two missionary monks were dispatched by Theodora herself to China and returned bringing with them a number of silkworms in a hollow cane. This, perhaps, is the first example in history of industrial espionage. In any case, the silkworms flourished and multiplied and Byzantium was able to spin and weave its own silk cloth.
The most striking thing about the costume of New Rome as opposed to that of Old Rome was its colour. Purple was reserved for the Imperial couple but all other colours were employed in the clothes of the rich. Many garments were heavily patterned with animals, flowers and Biblical scenes. It is recorded that one Byzantine senator had on his toga a complete series of pictures representing the life of Christ. This emphasizes once more the close connection, unknown perhaps at any other period of history, between ecclesiastical and civil costume.
It is impossible to record here all the modifications which occurred in Byzantine costume over the centuries. It is sufficient to note that they nearly all provide evidence of increasing Orientalization. In the twelfth century the Persian caftan was adopted, as well as a mantle buttoned down the front. The open coronet of Justinian was exchanged for a closed crown called a camelaukion. From Assyria was derived the long-sleeved granatza, a robe reaching to the ground. From the sixth century turbans were sometimes worn, and scholars have noted, between the seventh and ninth centuries, a Chinese influence on hats.
But if Byzantine costume was affected by foreign influences, it in its turn was much imitated in surrounding districts. Even after the fall of Constantinople, Bulgarian kings wore clothes of Byzantine derivation and the rulers of Muscovy continued to do so until the seventeenth century, when Peter the Great broke with tradition and turned Russia’s face to the West. And, of course, the Orthodox Church continues to this day to perform its ceremonies in vestments not essentially different from those worn by the Byzantine emperors.