"There was a previous very involved thread debating tunic color-"<br>
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Ahem! To recap one point I made on one of the recent tunic colour debate threads: there is no conclusive evidence to say that any one tunic colour was standard. None of our main literary sources on the appearance of the Roman soldier bother to mention tunic colour (apart from Arrian's mention of brightly coloured 'Cimmerian' tunics worn by cavalry during displays) and the scraps of possible information derived from sources not particularly interested in soldiers are ambiguous to say the least. Graham Sumner's recent survey of colour information demonstrated that little can be known for sure about tunic colour and highlighted the fact that cloak colour clearly WAS significant, although we cannot always be sure in what way it was important. In addition to the cloaks generals are known to have worn, there are records of orders of numbers of red cloaks, green cloaks and white cloaks being delivered to Vindolanda. The same specific references do not exist for tunics. The assumption that Romans wore red in battle is based on a seventh century AD reference by Isadore of Seville to a red tunic or standard (there is debate as to what is being referred to) being hoisted up in front of the headquarters tent on the eve of battle. This does not constitute evidence that Roman soldiers during the first century AD wore red for battle. Similarly, the fact that a group of tribunes and senior centuriones wore white tunics when parading before the emperor Vitellius does not prove that they wore white all the time and certainly does not prove that the rank and file of the army wore white on that or any other occasion. There is evidence for the use at various times of red, green, blue and white tunics and it may be significant (or equally insignificant) that fragments of all of these colours, along with checked fabrics have been found on military sites.<br>
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In the 'Tunic Wool' thread in March (currently on page 6) I wrote a piece about the danger of relying on assumptions. I would reiterate here everything I said there.<br>
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Right, now that that's cleared up let's get back to discussing Johnny's picture at the top of this thread.<br>
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Crispvs<br>
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<p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p200.ezboard.com/bromanarmytalk.showUserPublicProfile?gid=crispvs>Crispvs</A> at: 6/19/04 4:42 am<br></i>
Who is called \'\'Paul\'\' by no-one other than his wife, parents and brothers. :!: <img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_exclaim.gif" alt=":!:" title="Exclamation" />:!:
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.romanarmy.net">www.romanarmy.net
![[Image: PRIMANI_ban2.gif]](http://web.tiscali.it/iulianevivas/PRIMANI_ban2.gif)
