But the toga turns up in a military context during the Republic. In 199 BC, defeated Iberian communities were required to provide cloaks and togas to the Roman army; Livy 29.3 sagaque et togae exercitui /2
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The Roman toga is often times seen as a quintessentially civilian garment. Thus when Cicero boasts "cedant arma togae" "let arms yield to the toga" he is celebrating the return of civil peace after a violent insurrection (sound familiar?) /1
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That same year, a praetor and pro-praetor worked to provide clothing for Roman armies deploying to Macedonia. They rustled up 1200 togas and 12,000 tunics. Livy 29.36 mille ducentae togae breui spatio, duodecim milia tunicarum missa /3
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Somewhat earlier, the Latin colony of Venusia provided clothing to the survivors of the Battle of Cannae in 216 BC, including togas for the cavalrymen; Livy 22.54. /4
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And again during the Third Macedonian War, a praetor was assigned to send clothing to the army, including 6000 togas and 30,000 tunics. Livy 44.16; sex milia togarum, triginta tunicarum /5
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In 133 BC, a cohort commander was punished by being forced to stand outside the HQ with his clothing askew, including a toga with a cut belt. Frontinus Strat. 4.1.26 cinctu togae praeciso /6
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So we have multiple instances of soldiers being issued togas, and an officer wearing them. But what did they look like? I am pretty sure they did NOT look like this (the Arringatore, 1st century BC), a long, flowing, cumbersome formal civilian garment. /7pic.twitter.com/R7pcjfj3Pd
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A key clue: Frontinus reports that the military toga is worn BELTED. It seems to be a surcoat of some sort secured at the waist. And this corresponds to what we see in the visual corpus. The Guerreros de Estepa, from Spain c. 50 BC, show two soldiers /8pic.twitter.com/WW31NZgY5P
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The soldier on the left wears a mail shirt, but the one on the right wears a heavily folded cloth garment belted at the waist, perhaps over a similar mail shirt /9
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From 50 AD, one of the Mainz principia reliefs. The soldier on the right wears a flowing cloth garment, also belted at the waist. /10pic.twitter.com/UJcErn2xhL
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We also have the Louvre reliefs, 1st century AD, featuring Praetorian guardsmen. One, second from the right, wears a loose poncho type garment over his armor--also belted at the waist. /11pic.twitter.com/XpbLyLx9VL
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So my hunch is that the toga in a military context describes a loose surcoat, that was worn belted over the soldier's armor and tunic. It could protect the armor from the elements, keep the soldier warm, but was also quick to take off if he overheated in combat. /12
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But I am interested to see what people think, and if they are aware of other examples in text or art. FIN
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