The sagum was a garment of note generally worn by members of the

Roman military The military of ancient Rome, according to Titus Livius, one of the more illustrious historians of Rome over the centuries, was a key element in the rise of Rome over "above seven hundred years" from a small settlement in Latium to the capital o ...

during both the Republic and early

Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

. Regarded symbolically as one of war by the same tradition which embraced 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 ...

as a garment of peace,{{cite encyclopedia , editor =

Henry Nettleship Henry Nettleship (5 May 1839 – 10 July 1893) was an English classical scholar. Life Nettleship was born at Kettering, and was educated at Lancing College, Durham School and Charterhouse schools, and gained a scholarship for entry to Corpus Chri ...

and J. E. Sandys , encyclopedia =

Dictionary of Classical Antiquities The ''Dictionary of Classical Antiquities'' (1891, revised many times in the 1950s and 60s), covers Ancient Greek and Roman antiquities, mythology and literature in over 2,500 articles. It was written in German by Oskar Seyffert and edited by H ...

, title = Sagum , url = http://www.ancientlibrary.com/seyffert/0557.html , accessdate = 2007-02-03 , year = 1894 , url-status = dead , archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20070202081018/http://www.ancientlibrary.com/seyffert/0557.html , archivedate = 2007-02-02 it was slightly more practical, consisting of a simple rectangular segment of cloth fastened by a leather or metal clasp and worn on top of the armor. The fabric was unwashed wool, saturated with

lanolin Lanolin (from Latin 'wool', and 'oil'), also called wool yolk, wool wax, or wool grease, is a wax secreted by the sebaceous gland A sebaceous gland is a microscopic exocrine gland in the skin that opens into a hair follicle to secrete an ...

(which made it water-resistant); it was traditionally dyed bright red.

Notes

Military history of ancient Rome Roman-era clothing Robes and cloaks