Pileus (clothing)

Odysseus , with a pilos on his head, offers wine to Polyphemus . A statuette in the Vatican Museum , Rome .

Denarius (43–42 BC)
Front: Brutus , Text: BRVT IMP L PLAET CEST
Back: Pileus between two daggers, Text: EID MAR
Source: Eckhel

The Venetian group of tetrarchs . Porphyry sculpture , Asia Minor, around 300

The pileus , in the better handwritten traditions Pilleus , (also Latin pileum and pilleum ) is a rimless felt cap worn on the head .

Surname

Pilleus is the Latin name for this headgear (plural: pillei ). The Greek word was pílos ( πῖλος ) and originally simply referred to the material felt .

history

This cap probably originally came from Asia Minor , but then appeared in both Greek and Roman cultures . Well-known figures in Greek mythology who carried pilos were Odysseus , Hephaestus , Charon and the Dioscuri among the gods . In ancient times , the pileus was mainly worn by sailors, fishermen and craftsmen. He was best known because freed slaves in ancient Rome were allowed to wear this headgear after their release. At the Saturnalia all those celebrating wore the pileus. After Gaius Julius Caesar's murder , a denarius was minted showing on one side Marcus Junius Brutus and on the other a pileus between two daggers and the text reference to the Ides of March . During the French Revolution , the pileus was confused with the Phrygian cap , which then became a symbol of freedom .

Various Roman priests such as the flamines , the sacerdotes and the pontifices also wore pills or caps that were based on their basic shape. In analogy, the Christian clergy soon appropriated the pileus (see Pileolus ).

The pileus pannonicus , named after a mention by Vegetius , was a pillbox -like or beret -like headgear made of felt or fur. It was originally widespread in Illyria . In late antiquity , the four simultaneously ruling emperors, the tetrarchs , all of whom came from Illyria, were depicted in close embraces and with the pileus pannonicus to demonstrate their solidarity with one another and with the Illyrian troops. During this time, the pileus pannonicus was also introduced to all other legions, it became the field cap of the late Roman army . The field cap was so popular that it was worn until the early Middle Ages .

present

The Albanians today wear a white felt cap, which they call Plis or Qeleshe . White felt caps are also used in Svaneti .

Early forms of the doctoral cap and the biretta come from the pileus.

literature

• Walter Hatto Gross : Pilleus (-eum). In: The Little Pauly (KlP). Volume 4, Stuttgart 1972, column 852.
• Walter Hatto Gross: Pilos. In: The Little Pauly (KlP). Volume 4, Stuttgart 1972, column 852.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Karl-Wilhelm Weeber : Everyday life in ancient Rome. A lexicon. Artemis & Winkler, Düsseldorf / Zurich 1998, p. 216.
2. ↑ Epitoma rei militaris 1.20 ( digitized version )
3. ↑ The Emperors of the Tetrarchy . Virtual Museum of Antiquities of the Archaeological Institute of the University of Göttingen , accessed on January 28, 2017.
4. ↑ Thomas Fischer : The Roman army in the time of the tetrarchy. An army between innovation and continuity? In: The Tetrarchy. A new system of government and its media presentation (2006), p. 124 ff. And p. 130.
5. ^ Graham Sumner: Roman Military Dress , The History Press, Stroud 2008, p. 184.