Winter Clothing in 1st century AD legionary re-enactment

[Jori]

Gaius Julius Caesar > you are totally true about beeing attacked by evil insects. In Arles (Arelate), I remembered to be heavily attacked by giant mosquitos. We would not die of course, but it's really unconfortable. The region, Camargue, si full of them, really aggressive.

I was really happy to wear feminalia! But I didn't wear tibialia (I found the latin word ) and my legs were ruined.

Ok, it's really hard to find good sources about roman military feminalia before Trajan Column. Literary sources are rare also, mostly around Augustus and Suetonius. But it was known and used. But let's put it the other way: we do not have sources from the flavian period saying that feminalia would be completely forbidden. In that kind of void, why refuse what seems to be logic and doable? I already marched with 3 tunics (well sewn in the old fashion way and with wool), plus the large paenula, plus the tibialia and the feminalia. I still was cold! But the worse of it was to be wet. Wool were a good protection against rain. We tested almost everything during our march (20 kms / day with full equipment, 40 kgs in the Morvan region).

If I'm under the sun, with my white skin, would I march with the torso in open air, like the ancient depictions of some barbarians?

We saw some disadvantages to wear feminalia : to pea or to poo (pardon my french). Much more difficult. That's the main argument of not wearing them, in a practical point of view.