Status Symbols in Roman era essays

Status Symbols in Roman era essays Costume in the Roman era is marked by similarity to the Greeks and Etruscans. However, a distinct garment of the Romans is the tunic. The tunic was sometimes worn alone or worn under the distinctive toga. If the tunic was worn alone, a belt was used around the waist. The toga is the other fundamental garment of the romans. in early roman era, the toga was worn by both men and women. The toga was an expensive piece of heavy whit wool. It was roughly semicircular, approximately 18 feet wide and 7 feet deep, and draped in a complicated matter over the body. The toga was worn mainly by men and only on special occasion in many cases. Therefore, it created a status symbol in itself. However, there were several different types of togas that men would wear for different occasions. The Toga Praetexta was characterized by a stripe of colorrepresenting a profession or class. Blue stripes represented philosophers; black stripes were for theologians; green was for doctors; magistrates or public officials wore purple stripes. The next type of toga was the Toga Virilis. This toga was a plain toga worn by a typical citizen on a special occasion. The third type of toga is the Toga Picta adorned by emporers. It was a crimson toga embroidered with gold. A Toga Candida was given a glossy look by rubbing it with chalk, and worn by those running for osffice. The last type of symbolic toga for men was called the Toga Pulla. This toga was made of natural black wool and worn in funerals. As you see, men's clothing showed status because of th e color that it was made of. Women in Roman society were classified by clothing, but not just the color of the material. In later Roman era, only prostitutes or women of ill repute wore togas, while decent women wore tunics. Married women were identified by the article of clothing called a stola. A stola is shaped much like a modern day dress with thin strips of cloth at the shoulder. A...