What did the Roman emperors wear?

Answer 1

Emperors wore toga trabea or toga purpurea, a purple toga which only emperors were allowed to wear, on ceremonial occasions. Emperors also wore the toga picta, which also was purple, but, unlike all other togas, was also richly embroidered and decorated with gold. They wore them on special occasion. Officers of state who financed games could also wear this toga on the opening of the game and so did military commanders during a celebration of a triumph. Purple was a very expensive dye because it involved the extraction of the gland of thousands of sea snails (Murex brandaris).

Given the expense of the above mentioned togas, ordinarily, emperors wore the Toga preatexta, a white toga with a broad purple border which was worn by the officers of state. What distinguished the emperor from other men who were allowed to wear this toga (officers of state and some priests) was that his toga was very expensive, made of finer cloth and worn more elaborately and that he wore a laurel wreath.

The Toga was the standard loose flowing outer garment which was elaborately draped around the body. The tunic (tunica) was worn below the toga. The original tunic designs reached to the knees and had short sleeves. In the second century AD the style changed and long sleeves were acceptable in the tunic design.

Roman emperors wore the conventional clothing for Romans men: the tunic, the toga and the cloak: The tunic (tunica) was a shirt which reached down to the knees and originally had short sleeves. In the second century A.D. long sleeves became acceptable. The tunica was worn below the toga. The toga was a long piece of material which was draped around the body elaborately and worn loosely. Originally it was worn by all male Roman citizens. Then it went out of fashion and only the upper class continued to wear it. The cloak (paludamentum) was fastened at the shoulder with a clasp, called a fibula.

On ceremonial occasions the emperor wore a wholly purple toga trabea (there was also a purple and white trabea which had been worn by the kings in the regal period, and a purple and saffron one which was worn by priests called augurs). Originally this all-purple toga, which was also called toga purpurea, was reserved for the statues of the gods. Then it became also reserved for the emperors. Hence, it established a link between emperors and the gods. Moreover, this dye was the most expensive one, which made it a status symbol. Early sumptuary laws had restricted its use. The dye was called imperial, royal or Tyrian purple. It was generally reserved to the emperors or kings. It did not fade easily. Instead, it became brighter with weathering and sunlight.. The name Tyrian was after the city of Tyre, in Phoenicia. The Phoenicians had a monopoly on this dye.

This dye was made from the mucous secretions of some species of sea snails found in the eastern Mediterranean. It was so expensive because of the large amount of snails which were needed (requiring large-scale fishing) and because the manufacturing process was very labour-intensive. It took 12,000 snails to produce just 1.4 g of the dye, which could colour only the trim of a garment. The glands were left in salt for three days. Then they were boiled on moderate heat for ten days to liquefy the secretions. The liquid was also skimmed periodically to eliminate the flesh of the glands. The dye was then tested and the liquid was boiled again until the desired colour was obtained. A reddish colour was considered inferior and a blackish hue was preferred. At this point the wool was soaked for five hours, carded and then soaked again until the dye was fully absorbed.

The toga picta and the tunica palmata were originally won by victorious military leaders when celebrating a triumph as part of the Ornamenta Tiumphalia. With the establishment of rule by emperors victories and triumph became the prerogative of the emperor and an ideology of permanent imperial victory became established. . The toga picta and the tunica palmata became associated with the person of the emperor. Both were purple and were covered with gold embroideries of palm leaves (the symbol of victory or other foliage. Usually both the toga and the tunica had the same design. The tunic had highly decorated borders at the neck, wrist and bottom seam.

Answer 2

They wore Togas which was the standard loose flowing outer garment which was elaborately draped around the body. It was purple. The tunic (tunica) was worn below the toga. The original tunic designs reached to the knees and had short sleeves. In the second century AD the style changed and long sleeves were acceptable in the tunic design. The cloak called a paludamentum which was fastened at the shoulder with a clasp, called a fibula