The ''paenula'' or ''casula'' was a cloak worn by the
Romans, akin to the
poncho
A poncho (; ; ; "blanket", "woolen fabric") is a kind of plainly formed, loose outer garment originating in the Americas, traditionally and still usually made of fabric, and designed to keep the body warm. Ponchos have been used by the Indige ...
(''i.e.,'' a large piece of material with a hole for the head to go through, hanging in ample folds round the body). The paenula was usually closed in the front but, occasionally, could be left with an open front; it could be also made with shorter sides to increase mobility for the arms. This was originally worn only by slaves, soldiers and people of low degree; in the 3rd century, however, it was adopted by fashionable people as a convenient riding or travelling cloak, and finally, by the sumptuary law of 382 (
Codex Theodosianus
The ''Codex Theodosianus'' ("Theodosian Code") is a compilation of the laws of the Roman Empire under the Christian emperors since 312. A commission was established by Emperor Theodosius II and his co-emperor Valentinian III on 26 March 429 an ...
xiv. 10, 1, ''de habitu'' . . . ''intra urbem'') it was prescribed as the proper everyday dress of senators, instead of the military
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 ...
. Thereafter, 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 ...
was reserved for state occasions.
According to early Christian leader
Tertullian
Tertullian (; ; 155 – 220 AD) was a prolific Early Christianity, early Christian author from Roman Carthage, Carthage in the Africa (Roman province), Roman province of Africa. He was the first Christian author to produce an extensive co ...
, pagans customarily took off their paenula when praying to their gods, and he criticised any Christian who also took off their paenula when praying, calling it "superstition."
See also
*
Abolla
*
Chasuble
The chasuble () is the outermost liturgical vestment worn by clergy for the celebration of the Eucharist in Western-tradition Christian churches that use full vestments, primarily in Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran churches. In the Eastern ...
*
Pallium
The pallium (derived from the Roman ''pallium'' or ''palla'', a woolen cloak; : pallia) is an ecclesiastical vestment in the Catholic Church, originally peculiar to the pope, but for many centuries bestowed by the Holy See upon metropolitan bish ...
*
Phelonion
The phelonion (Ancient Greek, Greek: , plural, , ''phailónia''; Latin: ''paenula,'' Russian: Фело́нь - Felón’) is a Liturgy, liturgical vestment worn by a priest of the Eastern Christianity, Byzantine Christian tradition. It is worn ov ...
References
Roman-era clothing
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