Roman views of \'Barbarians\'

[Theodosius the Great]

Vortigern,

Good points, good theory.

Back to your original point : so you're saying that the lower class civilians did not wear trousers or, at least, trousers were not popular with the lower classes, right ? And you base this on the Piazza Armerina mosaics ?

I believe that in Imperator Justinian's day the young thugs of Constantinople had a fashion for 'Gothic' dress. Procopius would be the source for details, I think.

Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Actually, Procopius says that some of the Greens or Blues adopted Hunnic dress and fashion.

Procopius says they were "not cutting their hair like other Romans, and allowed the beard and moustache to grow as the Persians do. They had the hair at the front of the head cut back to the temples ; at the back it grew long and disorderly like the Huns'. They dressed in a refined way, with the sleeves of their tunics tight at the wrists but very wide from the wrists to the shoulders, favoring mantles, trousers, and, for the most part, footwear following the shape and style of the Huns..."

On the other hand, adopting foreign dress doesn't have to mean that you like those foreigners, just that you think they are cool.

True, it may indicate that the lower classes were more receptive to barbarian influence than the rich and powerful.

~Theo