Two men wearing abollas, as seen on the bas-reliefs on the triumphal Arch of Septimius Severus at Rome.

An abolla was a cloak-like garment worn by ancient Greeks and Romans. Nonius Marcellus quotes a passage of Varro to show that it was a garment worn by soldiers (vestis militaris), and thus opposed to the toga. Roman women also wore a version of the abolla by at least the Imperial Period.[1]

The abolla was, however, not confined to military occasions, but was also worn in the city.[2] It was especially used by the Stoic and Cynic philosophers at Rome as the pallium philosophicum,[3] just as the Greek philosophers were accustomed to distinguish themselves by a particular dress.[4] Hence, the expression of Juvenal facinus majoris abollae merely signifies, "a crime committed by a very deep philosopher".[5][6][7] It could also be used as a luxury item. Ptolemy of Mauretania wore a purple cloak so luxurious that it is theorized that Caligula had him executed out of jealousy.[8]

The term abolla is actually a Latinization of the Greek ambolla (ἀμβόλλα) or anabole (ἀναβολή), for a loose woolen cloak.[9]

See also

References

  1. ^ Radicke, Jan (2022). "8 abolla – rough woollen cloak". Roman Women's Dress. Berlin: De Gruyter. pp. 379–382. doi:10.1515/9783110711554-024. ISBN 978-3-11-071155-4.
  2. ^ Suetonius, Caligula 35
  3. ^ Rich, Anthony (1849). The Illustrated Companion to the Latin Dictionary and Greek Lexicon: Forming a Glossary of All the Words Representing Visible Objects Connected with the Arts, Manufactures, and Every-day Life of the Greeks and Romans, with Representations of Nearly Two Thousand Objects from the Antique. Longmans. pp. 3–4.
  4. ^ Mart. iv. 53, viii. 48
  5. ^ Juvenal, iv. 75
  6. ^ Heinrich, On Juvenal l.c.
  7. ^ Becker, Gallus vol. ii. p. 99
  8. ^ Cleland, Liza; Davies, Glenys; Llewellyn-Jones, Lloyd (2007). Greek and Roman Dress A to Z. Routledge. p. 1.
  9. ^ Smith, William (1870). "Ambolla". In William Smith (ed.). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities. Vol. 1. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. p. 2. Archived from the original on 2010-02-13.

Other sources

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Historical clothing
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