03-30-2004, 09:18 AM
Hi all,<br>
Interesting questions! I'm not the oracle And, therefore, I've got no clear answers for them.<br>
Anyway, I'd like to mention a pair of facts.<br>
Ancient garments, specially those with tapestry patches were expensive and custom woven. Not withstanding, their live was fairly long. A good deal of the so-called 'Coptic' textiles had found their final re-use torn as funerary wrappings (I shan't dare to call them mummy wrappings, but shrouds or something intermediate to both! ) In the meantime, what had started as a tunic for an officer could have been given by him to a lower status soldier after some time until it became unusable and ended in the 'centonarius' shop or as a shroud.<br>
It would be interesting to know how the indictional tunics looked like. We would maybe surprised if we'd found that they were decorated with patches, even if simple, because what counted in ancient times was the price of raw materials, the cost of handwork ws negligible. To express it in short, perhaps a tunic with patches dyed with true purple and embroidered in silk and gold was a luxury item, but the same tunic only with common materials, perhaps was far mor accessible...<br>
Don't forget that a great part of textiles are curtains and the like and that most part of the more or less fully preserved tunics are children tunics.<br>
It is not true that late Roman helmets were cheaper than the Imperial ones. The only one possible thing is that they needed less workmanship to be made and that was a simplification that allowed for an increased production...<br>
<br>
Aitor <p></p><i></i>
Interesting questions! I'm not the oracle And, therefore, I've got no clear answers for them.<br>
Anyway, I'd like to mention a pair of facts.<br>
Ancient garments, specially those with tapestry patches were expensive and custom woven. Not withstanding, their live was fairly long. A good deal of the so-called 'Coptic' textiles had found their final re-use torn as funerary wrappings (I shan't dare to call them mummy wrappings, but shrouds or something intermediate to both! ) In the meantime, what had started as a tunic for an officer could have been given by him to a lower status soldier after some time until it became unusable and ended in the 'centonarius' shop or as a shroud.<br>
It would be interesting to know how the indictional tunics looked like. We would maybe surprised if we'd found that they were decorated with patches, even if simple, because what counted in ancient times was the price of raw materials, the cost of handwork ws negligible. To express it in short, perhaps a tunic with patches dyed with true purple and embroidered in silk and gold was a luxury item, but the same tunic only with common materials, perhaps was far mor accessible...<br>
Don't forget that a great part of textiles are curtains and the like and that most part of the more or less fully preserved tunics are children tunics.<br>
It is not true that late Roman helmets were cheaper than the Imperial ones. The only one possible thing is that they needed less workmanship to be made and that was a simplification that allowed for an increased production...<br>
<br>
Aitor <p></p><i></i>
It\'s all an accident, an accident of hands. Mine, others, all without mind, from one extreme to another, but neither works nor will ever.
Rolf Steiner
Rolf Steiner
