Roman infantry tunic colours

[Robert]

Best is to stick to wool and linen. But you may be amazed at the quality of linen produced back then. There seem to have been very tight weaves. I suppose any intermediate weave would be fitting for a military tunic. Cotton was known from Egypt, but is reputed to have been very expensive.

[jkaler48]

[/quote]Not to beat color thing to death, would anyone venture to suggest some modern fabrics that would suffice to use in a tunic and cloak that are not too far off accuracy?[/quote]

100% wools and Linens including natural colored and historically accurate dyes are easily available. Harder to find but available fabrics include Nettle and Hemp. For the well off suitable Egyptian cottons and silks from the far east are also available.

[M. Demetrius]

http://www.fashionfabricsclub.com/p/2468...ol-Coating
Being made of "coating" weight, it's probably too thick for a tunic, but would do well for a cloak. The color seems believable to me, and can be guaranteed to fade on whatever else is in the wash.

http://www.fashionfabricsclub.com/p/2496...ol-Suiting
Here's an undyed wool that would probably be just fine, too.

http://www.fashionfabricsclub.com/p/2493...ol-Suiting
This one is pretty close to what our Marines wear.

http://www.fabrics-store.com/first.php?g...&article=1
And here's a whole bunch of linen fabrics. Some of the colors are too modern, but others are probably fine for most uses.

I think these linens are woven in Ukraine and imported. The shipping costs in US are not bad, and I've always had good service from them. Usually get the cloth in about 4 or 5 business days.

[Manius Acilius Italicus]

Thanks guys for the fabric/color inputs. I was considering wool and linen as choices, so it sounds like I was on the right track.
I've also been collecting vintage leather for my subarmalis and perhaps the outer layer of my cloak. I understand that leather was found to have been used to repel rain as well as cold wind. Any ideas of how the ancients pieced together the leather segments to use on a large garment? Was it using a drill awl and flax or linen thread, or what?

[M. Demetrius]

As long as the awl does not leave a hole much larger than the thread, you might get a water-resistant seam. I've fixed seams on tents by taking a wax candle and rubbing it over the threads several times. This repels the water before it gets to the needle holes, and works well. No doubt the Romans, et al., had discovered this, though they probably used beeswax. For the purist, beeswax blocks are available at a sewing/fabric notions store. They use them to wax thread for things like button holes, etc. But the little blocks are palm sized, and easy to transport, even into the field.

Just a thought. If it works on a canvas tent seam, it should work on leather.

[Manius Acilius Italicus]

Thanks David, the wife has had me using beeswax when I've help her prepare thread, so I'm familiar with it. I also remember someone in here talking about rubbing some sort of oil and wax mixture on outer garments for water repelling.
I know I don't want to coat anything I've got to wear with something that will rub off on everything and then stink when it gets ripe. I've worn modern leather coats and jackets in the rain and noticed that they will repel water fairly well if they are waxed and it help preserve the leather to boot.
I'm still perplexed as to exactly how I'm going to put all of the pieces of leather together without using a sewing machine and exposing the finished product to "it's not accurate". To top that off, I don't want to spend a year putting it together either and I'm not fond of using a sewing awl. I doubt the ancients had solid hides large enough for a complete outer garment, so they must have had to assemble them to some degree. So I'm still open to suggestions.