Chlamys (coat)
The chlamys (. Altgriech χλαμύς) was in ancient times , a short riding and traveling cloak, consisting of Macedonia or Thessaly came and soon spread throughout Greece, and later throughout the Roman Empire; it basically consisted of a rectangular piece of cloth that was thrown over the left shoulder and held together with a clasp on the right shoulder.
Description and use
In addition to the chlamys, the Greeks also used a chlaina , which was also worn as a coat and used to cover at night. The chlamys, like the Chlaina, was made of woolen cloth, the arms of the natural color of wool, the rich of finer material and mostly black, and served especially the young men who were on horseback on horseback in many cities and prepared for military service as outerwear.
The gentlemen also dressed in scarlet chlamydai, the highest military men in purple. Later this costume was passed on to all classes. The decency required that you knew how to swing your coat skilfully over your left shoulder when you were knocking it over, so that it did not drag on either front or back. The Chlamys came from the Greeks to the Romans early on, who called them sagum or, in a slightly modified form, paludamentum . Here the agraffe became bigger and more valuable. The paludamentum denoted Roman soldiers, while in Rome during the republic and principate civilians usually wore a tunic or toga .
The soldiers who only wore the sagum were therefore called Chlamydai . This garment was also used when traveling. The high officers and the emperors wore it scarlet or purple . In late antiquity , when the toga became more and more out of use, the chlamys was also a peacetime costume : from Diocletian onwards , everyone who was in the service of the emperor was formally considered a soldier ( miles ); Civilian activities were now also a militia , which is why the officials now mostly wore chlamys and soldiers' belts ( cingulum ). Only the consuls and prefects of Rome and Constantinople still wore the toga in public appearances in the 6th century .
literature
- Walter Amelung : Χλαμύς . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume III, 2, Stuttgart 1899, Col. 2342-2346.
