''Trabea'' (plural ''trabeae'') is the name of various pieces of

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

clothing. A distinct feature of all ''trabeae'' was their color – usually red or

purple Purple is any of a variety of colors with hue between red and blue. In the RGB color model used in computer and television screens, purples are produced by mixing red and blue light. In the RYB color model historically used by painters, pu ...

. They were formed like a

toga The toga (, ), a distinctive garment of ancient Rome, was a roughly semicircular cloth, between in length, draped over the shoulders and around the body. It was usually woven from white wool, and was worn over a tunic. In Roman historical tra ...

and possibly in some cases like a mantle and worn by more distinguished members of Roman society. A garment known as the ''trabea triumphalis'' was commonly worn by

consuls A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...

Late Antiquity Late antiquity is the time of transition from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages, generally spanning the 3rd–7th century in Europe and adjacent areas bordering the Mediterranean Basin. The popularization of this periodization in English ha ...

. When Emperor

Justinian II Justinian II ( la, Iustinianus; gr, Ἰουστινιανός, Ioustinianós; 668/69 – 4 November 711), nicknamed "the Slit-Nosed" ( la, Rhinotmetus; gr, ὁ Ῥινότμητος, ho Rhinótmētos), was the last Eastern Roman emperor of the H ...

abolished the office of consul as a separate entity from the Emperor himself, the ''trabea triumphalis'' developed into the ''

loros The ''loros'' ( gr, λῶρος, lōros) was a long, narrow and embroidered cloth, which was wrapped around the torso and dropped over the left hand. It was one of the most important and distinctive parts of the most formal and ceremonial type o ...

'', which was the worn only by the imperial family and senior administrative officials. Although Emperor

Leo VI Leo VI (or Leon VI, notably in Greek) may refer to : * Leo VI the Wise, Byzantine emperor 886 to 912 * Pope Leo VI, 928 to 929 * King Leo VI of Armenia (1342 – 1393), of the House of Lusignan, last Latin king of the Armenian crusader Kingdom of C ...

abolished the ancient title of consul altogether, the ''loros'' persisted until the end of the empire as the formal, ceremonial

dress A dress (also known as a frock or a gown) is a garment traditionally worn by women or girls consisting of a skirt with an attached bodice (or a matching bodice giving the effect of a one-piece garment). It consists of a top piece that covers ...

of the emperors.

References

*Philip Smith: ''Toga''. In: William Smith (Hrsg.): ''A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities''. John Murray, London, 1875
online copy
at

LacusCurtius LacusCurtius is a website specializing in ancient Rome, currently hosted on a server at the University of Chicago. It went online on August 26, 1997; in July 2021 it had "3707 webpages, 765 photos, 772 drawings & engravings, 120 plans, 139 maps." T ...

) *Liza Cleland, Glenys Davies, Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones: ''Greek and Roman dress from A to Z''. Routledge 2007, , p. 197 () *J. C. Edmondson, Alison Keith: ''Roman Dress and the Fabrics of Roman Culture''. University of Toronto Press 2008, , S. 13, 27, 32, 42, 43, 217-237 ()

External links

Picture of a man dressed with tunica and trabea
at roman-empire.net Roman-era clothing Dresses {{Clothing-stub

See also

References

External links