Flammeum
The Flammeum is the veil that a Roman bride wore at the wedding in ancient times . At the same time it is part of the permanent clothing of the Flaminica Dialis , the wife of the Flamen Dialis , the highest priest of Jupiter . Festus explains the connection in such a way that wearing the Flammeum was seen as a good omen by the bride, since the Flaminica Dialis could not be divorced, so it was hoped that the indissolubility of the Flaminica's marriage would rub off on the bride to some extent. The veil must have been big because it could wrap the bride, so it wasn't some kind of headscarf. In fact, Festus links the Latin neca (“to marry”) with nubes (“cloud”), since the veil would envelop the bride like a cloud at the wedding. A small bridal veil was called Flammeolum .
There is disagreement about the color. In many places there is talk of a red veil, including Renate Oswald. Festus says that it is the color of lightning, suitable for the wife of the priest of the lightning god Jupiter. One can of course disagree about the color of lightning, but Pliny expressly states that the flame is yellow. Yellow dye has been valued from ancient times, which is why brides were allowed to use yellow for their clothing. Pliny uses luteus as a color name , which is a deep, rich yellow; the color of egg yolk is also called this. The name comes from the dyer's herb lutum , our dyer's woof ( Reseda luteola ). Sebesta and Bonfante attribute the opinion that the Flammeum was red to a fourth-century Iuvenal Scholiast who considered a red Flammeum to be suitable for a shyly blushing bride.
Starting from a yellow Flammeum, Sebesta and Bonfante identify the bridal robes on the frescoes of the Mystery Villa in Pompeii as Flammeum . A flame is also suspected in the yellow robe or shawl that lies behind the bride on the bridal bed in the fresco of the Aldobrandini wedding .
The manufacturer of bridal veils was called Flammearius .
literature
- Laetitia La Follette: The Costume of the Roman Bride. In: Judith Lynn Sebesta, Larissa Bonfante (Eds.): The World of Roman Costume. University of Wisconsin Press, Madison WI et al. 2001, ISBN 0-299-13854-2 , pp. 54-64, here pp. 55 f.
- Renate Oswald: Wedding customs and wedding ritual. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 5, Metzler, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-476-01475-4 , Sp. 649-656.
- Judith Lynn Sebesta, Larissa Bonfante (Ed.): The World of Roman Costume. University of Wisconsin Press, Madison WI et al. 1994, ISBN 0-299-13850-X (reprinted ibid 2001).