The ''palla'' was an elegant

cloak A cloak is a type of loose garment worn over clothing, mostly but not always as outerwear for outdoor wear, which serves the same purpose as an overcoat and protects the wearer from the weather. It may form part of a uniform. People in many d ...

or mantle that was wrapped around the body. It was worn outside the house by (affluent) Roman women. It was a luxurious version of the Roman men's ''

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 ...

''. The ''palla'' was a traditional

ancient Roman In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

mantle worn by women, fastened by

brooch A brooch (, ) is a decorative jewellery item designed to be attached to garments, often to fasten them together. It is usually made of metal, often silver or gold or some other material. Brooches are frequently decorated with enamel or with gem ...

es. The shape was rectangular instead of semi-circular, as with the traditional

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 ...

. The garment dates to the 3rd century BC, but the type of dress must be much older. In Latin literature, the term ''palla'' is used ambiguously. It can denote not only a cloak, but also a foot-length sleeveless dress with straps (or a brooch) worn directly on the skin. The second is a common dress form in the entire Mediterranean world. In a Greek cultural context, this is called ''

peplos A peplos () is a body-length garment established as typical attire for women in ancient Greece by , during the late Archaic Greece, Archaic and Classical Greece, Classical period. It was a long, rectangular cloth with the top edge folded down ab ...

''. In a Roman cultural context, if worn by a Roman matron, it also takes the name ''

stola The stola () (pl. ''stolae'') was the traditional garment of Roman women, corresponding to the toga that was worn by men. It was also called ''vestis longa'' in Latin literary sources, pointing to its length. History The ''stola'' was a staple ...

''.

References

Sources

* Radicke, Jan (2022). ''Roman Women’s Dress''. Berlin: De Gruyter.

External links

* 3rd-century BC establishments in the Roman Republic Roman-era clothing Shawls and wraps Mantles (clothing) {{AncientRome-stub

See also

References

Sources

External links