Military Scarves

[flavia]

Can someone help me in duplicating a scarve that a roman soldier would wear around his neck. How big, what material etc?? Thanks Flavia aka Carolina

[IMP GALLIENVS AVG]

I'm not really sure about Roman military scarves.... Do you mean like a chlamys (on the shoulder of Apollo on this coin)? http://img122.imageshack.us/my.php?image=index7yb.jpg

I also think I remember hearing that Caracalla (I think that was the emperor it was) got his name from a Roman military cloak or scarf????

Andrew

[Chuck Russell]

no i think he means the scarf that most soilders were around there necks to keep the segmentata from rubbing. am i right?

[Dan Diffendale]

*moved this to Re-enactment and Reconstruction...

I think the beast you're after is called a focale. The short section on the Legio XX site reads:

"The focale is a scarf or neckerchief worn to protect the neck from being pinched or chafed by the armor. It was apparently introduced at the same time as the lorica segmentata, but quickly became popular even with troops who wore different types of armor. Its shape is difficult to determine but probably varied, and there is little evidence for its color.

Legio XX treats the focale as a nonstandard item. It may be linen or wool of any reasonable color, and can be triangular (cut or folded from a 24" to 36" square) or a long strip. Remember to hem the edges by hand. The focale may be knotted at the throat or simply tucked into place, but may NOT be pinned with a brooch of any sort."

Caracalla, according to Historia Augusta ( http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/R ... alla*.html ), "He himself assumed the name Caracallus, taken from the garment reaching down to the heels, which he gave to the populace and which before his time had not been in vogue. Hence at this present day, too, the hooded cloaks of this kind, affected especially by the Roman plebs, are called Antonine."
Another emperor nicknamed for military equipment was Caligula, "Little Boots," named for the army sandals (caligae) he wore as a child.

[Graham Sumner]

Hi Guys.

Another shameless plug here, try reading Roman Military Clothing 1 -3. Triangular scarves are unlikely as the Romans rarely cut clothes to shape and nothing like them have ever been found. However they are what re-enactors tend to use as they are probably interpreting the examples seen on Trajan's column. The other evidence for Roman period scarves including some contemporary examples from Denmark suggest they were much the same shape as those used today.

Graham.

[Tarbicus]

The other evidence for Roman period scarves including some contemporary examples from Denmark suggest they were much the same shape as those used today.

Thanks Graham, you just gave me three focales for the price of one

Now, where are those scissors...