An ''abolla'' was a cloak-like garment worn by

ancient Greeks Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cult ...

and

Romans 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 lette ...

Nonius Marcellus Nonius Marcellus was a Roman grammarian of the 4th or 5th century AD. His only surviving work is the ''De compendiosa doctrina'', a dictionary or encyclopedia in 20 books that shows his interests in antiquarianism and Latin literature from Plautu ...

quotes a passage of

Varro Marcus Terentius Varro (; 116–27 BC) was a Roman polymath and a prolific author. He is regarded as ancient Rome's greatest scholar, and was described by Petrarch as "the third great light of Rome" (after Vergil and Cicero). He is sometimes calle ...

to show that it was a garment worn by soldiers (''vestis militaris''), and thus opposed to the

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 ...

. Roman women also wore a version of the ''abolla'' by at least the Imperial Period. The ''abolla'' was, however, not confined to military occasions, but was also worn in the city. It was especially used by the

Stoic Stoic may refer to: * An adherent of Stoicism; one whose moral quality is associated with that school of philosophy * STOIC, a programming language * ''Stoic'' (film), a 2009 film by Uwe Boll * ''Stoic'' (mixtape), a 2012 mixtape by rapper T-Pain * ...

philosophers at Rome as the ''pallium philosophicum'', just as the Greek philosophers were accustomed to distinguish themselves by a particular dress. Hence, the expression of

Juvenal Decimus Junius Juvenalis (), known in English as Juvenal ( ), was a Roman poet active in the late first and early second century CE. He is the author of the collection of satirical poems known as the '' Satires''. The details of Juvenal's life ...

''facinus majoris abollae'' merely signifies, "a crime committed by a very deep philosopher".Becker, ''Gallus'' vol. ii. p. 99 The term ''abolla'' is actually a Latinization of the Greek ''ambolla'' () or ''anabole'' (), for a loose woolen cloak.

References

Other sources

*''The Wordsworth Dictionary of Phrase and Fable'' *

External links

Abolla
(article in Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities) {{Historical clothing Military uniforms Academic dress Robes and cloaks Roman-era clothing Greek clothing

See also

References

Other sources

External links