The exomis ( grc, ἐξωμίς from ''exo'' "outside", and ''omos'' "shoulder") was a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece 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 ...

tunic A tunic is a garment for the body, usually simple in style, reaching from the shoulders to a length somewhere between the hips and the knees. The name derives from the Latin ''tunica'', the basic garment worn by both men and women in Ancient Rom ...

used by the workers and the light infantry. The tunic largely replaced the older

chitoniskos A chiton (Greek: χιτών, ''khitōn'') 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. One is the Doric chiton and the later Ionic chiton. According to Herodo ...

(or short chiton) as the main tunic of the

hoplites Hoplites ( ) ( grc, ὁπλίτης : hoplítēs) 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 fo ...

during the later 5th century BC. It was made of two rectangles of

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

(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. The knot is formed by tying a left-handed overhand knot between two end ...

, 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 exomis could be worn in conjunction with the

chlamys The chlamys (Ancient Greek: χλαμύς : chlamýs, genitive: χλαμύδος : chlamydos) was a type of an ancient Greek cloak.

(also known as ''ephaptis'') cape. It was later adopted by the

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 letter ...

.Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1898), Exōmis
/ref>

References

Greek costume
* Sekunda, Nicholas (2000). ''Greek Hoplite 480–323 BC''. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. . Greek clothing {{AncientGreek-lang-stub