upA bronze reconstruction of the '' Diadumenos'' ("The Fillet-Bearer"), a statue by Polykleitos (5th century BC), depicting a youth binding his head with fillets A fillet is a type of headgear. It was originally worn in classical antiquity, especially in cultures of the Mediterranean, Levant and Persia, including Hellenistic civilization , Hellenic culture. At that time, a fillet was a very narrow band of cloth, leather or some form of garland, frequently worn by athletes. It was also worn as a sign of royalty and became symbolized in later ages as a metallic ring which was a stylized band of cloth. Greeks called it ''diadema'' (διάδημα).

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...

refused to wear a ''diadema'' when

Mark Antony Marcus Antonius (14 January 1 August 30 BC), commonly known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and general who played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic from a constitutional republic into the autoc ...

offered it to him, and the Roman emperors who came after generally followed this practice until

Constantine I Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to Constantine the Great and Christianity, convert to Christiani ...

, the first to Christianize the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...

, who adopted the Greek emblem of royalty. Thereafter the diadem was worn by the Roman emperors as a symbol of sovereignty. Earlier, it was used as a head-dress by Roman women.Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1898), Diadema
/ref> Later, in medieval times, a fillet was a type of headband worn by unmarried women, in certain monk hoods, usually with a wimple or barbette. This is indicated in the sign language of said monks (who took oaths of silence), wherein a sweeping motion across the brow, in the shape of a fillet, indicated an unmarried woman.

Gallery

file:17th_Dynasty_Crown_(Nubkheperre_Intef).jpg, Crown of

Nubkheperre Intef Nubkheperre Intef (or Antef, Inyotef, sometimes referred to as Intef VI) was an Egyptian king of the Seventeenth Dynasty of Egypt at Thebes during the Second Intermediate Period, when Egypt was divided by rival dynasties including the Hyksos in Lo ...

, pharaoh of the

Seventeenth Dynasty The Seventeenth Dynasty of Egypt (notated Dynasty XVII, alternatively 17th Dynasty or Dynasty 17) was a dynasty of pharaohs that ruled in Upper Egypt during the late Second Intermediate Period, approximately from 1580 to 1550 BC. Its mainly Theba ...

file:Relief_Amenhotep_III.jpg, Relief of

Amenhotep III Amenhotep III ( egy, jmn-ḥtp(.w), ''Amānəḥūtpū'' , "Amun is Satisfied"; Hellenized as Amenophis III), also known as Amenhotep the Magnificent or Amenhotep the Great, was the ninth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty. According to different ...

, pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty, wearing fillet crown File:Delphi Charioteer 16.JPG, Back view of the ''

Charioteer of Delphi The ''Charioteer of Delphi'', also known as ''Heniokhos'' ( el, Ἡνίοχος, the rein-holder), is a statue surviving from Ancient Greece, and an example of ancient bronze sculpture. The life-size (1.8m) Janson, H.W. (1995) ''History of Art' ...

s fillet (478–474 BCE) File:Monete ellenistiche, eucratides II di battriana, in argento, con testa diademata del sovrano, 140-140 ac ca.jpg, Coin of

Eucratides II Eucratides II (Greek: ) was a Greco-Bactrian king of the 2nd century BC who was a successor, and probably a son, of Eucratides I. It seems likely that Eucratides II ruled for a relatively short time after the murder of his namesake, until he was ...

Greco-Bactrian Kingdom The Bactrian Kingdom, known to historians as the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom or simply Greco-Bactria, was a Hellenistic period, Hellenistic-era Hellenistic Greece, Greek state, and along with the Indo-Greek Kingdom, the easternmost part of the Helleni ...

, latter 2nd century BCE

References

{{Historical clothing, state=expanded 13th-century fashion 14th-century fashion Headgear Crowns (headgear)

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See also

References