Paenula
Gravestone of the legionnaire Quintus Petilius Secundus stationed in Bonn with paenula
The Paenula is a since the 4th century BC. Roman overcoat, which is similar in shape to today's poncho . Its basic shape was an oval with a head slit and a hood in the middle .
Probably of Etruscan-Near Eastern origin, the paenula was initially mainly worn as a coat for the lower classes. At the turn of the ages it was also used by the upper class as a coat for women and men.
Paenula-like coats have existed to the present day:
- as chasuble and as cope in the Christian liturgy
- as part of the regalia of high secular officials of the Middle Ages
- as a pelerine
- as Chamanto , South America