Wool cloth for auxiliaries

[Gaius Titus]

I am going to make a civilian tunica, and i want to use a checked material. Having been to several fabric shops, i can only conclude that i don't actually know if any of the materials on display are going to be authentic. :? lol:

[M. Demetrius]

What time period are you depicting, Titus? And from what nationality are you suggesting the soldier is from? It's not common to see checked material used for Roman military, in my small experience.

[Tarbicus]

I can't think of a single depiction of a Roman citizen in a checked tunic. Are you depicting a Roman?

Armamentaria have some nice stuff, though.

[url:5nsyc3cz]http://www.armamentaria.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=17&zenid=5abe67c9949ebf923b710617c19a9224[/url]

[Gaius Titus]

Ah..found it! :lol: seek, and thou shalt find and all that :oops:
We are depicting 2C Batavian auxiliaries, a foriegn section of Peronis' gang.
I read once an opinion that the Germanic peoples used a lot of checked or even striped material. Don't remember where, and it was a long time ago, but it stuck in my head because i remember thinking how little there was used by re-enactors ( i was doing 'the vike' at the time..). Well, anyway, as i understand things, auxiliaries are sometime shown wearing what is described as native clothing in sculptures and so on. If they did wear their own clothing i was wondering if i might be able to use checked cloth? Even if they didn't use a lot, they might have used some, if it existed, of course.
Any opinions/suggestions at all on the day to day clothing of auxiliaries would be most welcome

[M. Demetrius]

It might be all right to use plaid or checks, stripes or whatever, for your braccae, as long as it's all right with your unit leader. Auxilia did sometimes use native clothing, or clothing that was non-standard for Romans, anyway.

I can't imagine a plaid Roman tunic, though. Adrian Wink is up on the Batavians, Peroni on this board. He ought to be able to tell you what his cohort does/does not do.

[Gaius Titus]

Don't worry, the last thing i had in mind was a tunica militaris in anything other than plain wool. i know Peroni, and, in effect, he is my unit leader, albeit at something of a distance. On this topic i am fishing for information for opinion on a potentially tricky subject. :lol:
thanks! 8)

[John Conyard]

Cavalry auxiliaries are sometimes depicted in typical northern European long-sleeved tunics, complete with cuffs which turn back. There are generally short, and tighter to the body. I find it easy to believe such native tunics utilised more than one colour.

[Aericus Dispatrix]

I know that some Gauls and Goths (400bc-0ad) had checkered patterns almost similar to Scottish kilt patterns. Pants were typically made of wool, tunics made of wool or linen. Silk was used as well but on a more limited basis. Of course, hides were also utilized.

[Aericus Dispatrix]

Clothing
During the later Iron Age the Gauls generally wore long-sleeved shirts or tunics and long trousers (called braccae by the Romans[27]). Clothes were made of wool or linen, with some silk being used by the rich. Cloaks were worn in winter. Broaches and armlets were used but the most famous item of jewellery was the torc.
[edit]

"Celts", Wikipedia

No, it doesn't mention the checkered patterns, but it gives a good basic idea of the clothing and materials.

[jvrjenivs]

"Celts", Wikipedia

Ow, no, don't quote Wikipedia, unless you wrote that particular article yourself! Wikipedia is getting better, but still there is a lot of crap around there.

[Aericus Dispatrix]

My bad! I was being lazy. Here's something different mentioning stripes!
"It has been recorded by the classical historians that many of the men of the Celts went into battle naked except for a belt and their weapons. Clothing made entirely of animal skins was also common.5 However, the figures on the Marcus Aurelius Column show the Celtic men in tunics, both long sleeved and sleeveless, and wearing long trousers. The figures on the Gundestrup Cauldron portray the people in long-sleeved tunics with knee-length trousers. The clothing primarily is striped in pattern. The Cernunnos figure from the Cauldron clearly shows shoes like Amscotts Woman’s sandals. He is also depicted with a torc around his neck, another common feature of Celtic adornment. The clothing represented in the artwork but not found with the bog bodies can be explained another way. It may be that the bodies were wearing linen or other vegetable fiber clothing which did not survive the peat-tanning process."
http://home.columbus.rr.com/herneswood/ ... 20Bogs.htm