The exomis (; ) was a

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

tunic A tunic is a garment for the torso, usually simple in style, reaching from the shoulders to a length somewhere between the hips and the ankles. It might have arm-sleeves, either short or full-length. Most forms have no fastenings. The name deri ...

used by the workers and the light

infantry Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...

. The tunic largely replaced the older

chitoniskos A chiton (; ) is a form of tunic that fastens at the shoulder, worn by men and women of ancient Greece and Rome. There are two forms of chiton: the Doric and the later Ionic. According to Herodotus, popular legend was that Athenian women beg ...

(or short chiton) as the main tunic of the

hoplite Hoplites ( ) ( ) were citizen-soldiers of Ancient Greek city-states who were primarily armed with spears and shields. Hoplite soldiers used the phalanx formation to be effective in war with fewer soldiers. The formation discouraged the sold ...

s during the later

5th century BC The 5th century BC started the first day of 500 BC and ended the last day of 401 BC. This century saw the establishment of Pataliputra as a capital of the Magadha (Mahajanapada), Magadha Empire. This city would later become the ruling capital o ...

. It was made of two rectangles of

linen Linen () is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant. Linen is very strong and absorbent, and it dries faster than cotton. Because of these properties, linen is comfortable to wear in hot weather and is valued for use in garments. Lin ...

(other materials were also used), which were stitched together from the sides to form a cylinder, leaving enough space at the top for the arms. An opening at the top was also left for the head. The cylinder was gathered up at the waist with a cloth belt using a

reef knot The reef knot, or square knot, is an ancient and simple binding knot used to secure a rope or line around an object. It is sometimes also referred to as a Hercules knot or Heracles knot. The knot is formed by tying a left-handed overhand knot ...

, which made the cloth fall down over the belt, hiding it from view. To allow freedom of movement to the right arm, the seam at the right shoulder was taken apart, and the right hand was passed through the head opening. The color of the tunic varied, but red (especially crimson) was increasingly the standard color preferred by hoplites during and after the

Peloponnesian War The Second Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC), often called simply the Peloponnesian War (), was an Ancient Greece, ancient Greek war fought between Classical Athens, Athens and Sparta and their respective allies for the hegemony of the Ancien ...

. The exomis could be worn in conjunction with the

chlamys The chlamys (; genitive: ) was a type of ancient Greek cloak. It was worn by men for military and hunting purposes during the Classical, Hellenistic and later periods. By the time of the Byzantine Empire it was part of the state costume of the ...

(also known as ''ephaptis'') cape. It was later adopted by the Romans.Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1898), Exōmis
/ref>

References

Greek costume
* Greek clothing {{AncientGreek-lang-stub