Vindolanda Tablets Online Tablets Exhibition Reference Help

Clothing

Vindolanda and its setting

History

Forts and military life

The fort plan

Soldier's lives - military routines

Soldiers and builders

Manufacture and repair

Transport and supplies

Diet and dining

Clothing

Birthdays and gods

People

Documents

Reading the tablets

about this exhibition

Female dress of the north-western provinces

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Female dress of the north-western provinces

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© Cohors Quinta Gallorum, courtesy of Alex Croom

Man wearing 'Gallic coat'

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Man wearing 'Gallic coat'

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© Cohors Quinta Gallorum, courtesy of Alex Croom

The Vindolanda tablets are a rich source of evidence for Latin terms for clothing and footwear (for example 184, 185, 186), although it can difficult to identify the precise meaning of terms, especially those that refer to capes or cloak, or to relate individual terms to the types of clothing known from artistic representations and archaeology. Excavations at Vindolanda have also yielded the largest group of textiles (almost all wool) of any site in the western Roman empire. Most fragments are too small to identify the garment from which they come, although they do yield much information on textile production. Clothes were made at Vindolanda (192 refers to the supply of 38 pounds of wool) but clothing also formed a large proportion of supplies. A small number of more complete items survive, including a child's sock. Our most important source for reconstructing dress in the north-west Roman provinces is funerary sculpture, some from Britain but especially from northern Gaul. Out of uniform, clothing worn at Vindolanda would have resembled that worn across the northern provinces. The basic garment was the 'Gallic coat', a wide unfitted tunic, normally with sleeves that were woven with the garment or sewn to it. This was a 'unisex' garment but worn to different lengths, knee-length for men, calf- or ankle-length for women. Tunics were also common and are frequently mentioned in the tablets, including a special type for dining (196).

Toilette scene  from a funerary monument found at Neumagen, near Trier, Germany. A lady views her reflection in the mirror while 4 servants arrange her hair and bring water

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Toilette scene from a funerary monument found at Neumagen, near Trier, Germany. A lady views her reflection in the mirror while 4 servants arrange her hair and bring water

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Vroma. Photo Barbara McManus
Trier, Landesmuseum

Over the tunic or coat was worn a cloak: perhaps the commonest term for the military cloak was the sagum, both the term and style borrowed from Gaul. The paenula was perhaps a hooded cloak. Some of these items were grouped under the term synthesis, suggesting a costume made up of separate pieces of apparel (196). Critical to the maintenance of morale on the northern frontier was an adequate supply of underwear: loincloths (subligaria) were probably worn as a male undergarment (346) and subuclae or subunculae were perhaps 'vests' (196).

A small number of tablets mention items of jewellery, including rings (anuli) (196) and dress accessories and personal ornaments were recovered in excavation. Some of the brooch types found at Vindolanda and other fron tier forts reflect local tastes and are among the few pieces of archaeological evidence from Roman forts for contact with the native population.

The sole and strap of a woman's sandal, stamped with the initials of the maker (Lucius Aebutius Thales) and other designs, including a vine leaf.

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The sole and strap of a woman's sandal, stamped with the initials of the maker (Lucius Aebutius Thales) and other designs, including a vine leaf.

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© Vindolanda Trust

Some examples of more elaborate footwear from Vindolanda, with the leather of the uppers cut away to produce a type of 'fishnet' effect. Despite their flimsy appearance, such boots were hard wearing. They were worn by men and women.

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Some examples of more elaborate footwear from Vindolanda, with the leather of the uppers cut away to produce a type of 'fishnet' effect. Despite their flimsy appearance, such boots were hard wearing. They were worn by men and women.

Image ownership:

© Vindolanda Trust

Terms for footwear are also numerous, especially among the tablets excavated in the 1990s. It is again difficult to relate individual terms to the different archaeologically recorded types. A massive number of leather shoes and boots of men, women and children have survived at Vindolanda. The caliga, the traditional Roman military boot, formed of an open sandal-like upper and a nailed-sole, was scarcely represented at Vindolanda (the nickname given to the emperor Caligula, 'little boot' by the soldiers, is the diminutive form of this term). Some shoes were made of one piece (the carbatina) but in most instances the upper and sole were made of separate pieces of leather. Uppers could be closed in a variety of different ways, with panels often cut out to form openwork designs. Wooden clogs, perhaps for the heat of the bathhouse floor, and a fine slipper with a maker's stamp were also found. However the high degree of wear, plus frequent repairs and patches, show that the supply of leather was not as plentiful at Vindolanda as it was at other forts.

Tablet database link: Browse all tablets that mention clothing.

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