tunic and caligae

[A_Volpe]

Graham - Thanks! Stuff to chew on and look into!

Fuentes proposed that the belt stopped the wide tunic from getting caught or entangled with the sword and allowing access to the sword. The experiments proved that this happened.

Yeah, that is what I'm looking to explore with what I'm thinking is a tunic baldric. But the info you mentioned is also intriguing.

Could you elaborate more on this Chatsworth relief? Not sure how to track it down if it's in the RAT database, or in one of your books?

[M. Demetrius]

As a rule of thumb, they are generally 110cm long by 105cm wide

Surely the dimensions of the tunic were different, depending on the size of the body that would be wearing them, right?

[arklore70]

I have read in Sumner's books that based on know finds the length can deviate a bit, but aht the width seems to be pretty consistant.

The truth is we may not know for sure. If I understood what I have read correctly, it would seem to be easier to make a tunic shorter once it was issues insted of making it narrower based on how my mundane understanding of how they were made. Trimming a bit off the bottom for a slightly shorter troop would seem pretty easy to do, but I am speculating.

Thoughts?

[M. Demetrius]

You're right about the width being a lot harder to adjust. You'd have to re-seam one of the sides, and adjust the centering of the neckhole. Lots of trouble compared to simply hemming the bottom edge, no doubt about that.

My point was, however, that a man who stands 4 ft 8 in tall would have a different length of tunic than a man who stands 5 ft 11 in. I have come to really like the extra material in the width, as it makes the tunic very comfortable. A fascia ventralis takes up all that extra belly slack cloth, and that makes wearing the big tunic under armor that much smoother, allowing for those nice "wrinkle-pleats at the front and back" as seen on some statues to be visible. I don't always fold them in, but it's possible to do without much trouble using the "sash".

[Graham Sumner]

I would say that a 1st/2nd century military tunic wouldn't ordinarily hang at the mid calves when unbelted. Examples of sleeved tunics usually do, but not sleeveless varieties. As a rule of thumb, they are generally 110cm long by 105cm wide ..

I generally found tunics to be wider than they are long, so more like 1.10m long by 1.15m wide. This would match one of the tunics found at Nahal Hever in Israel. Nevertheless the only certain size we have for any military tunic are the ones mentioned in the papyrus BGU VII 1564. They are 1.55m long by 1.40m wide. Yes, a few of these and you can make a tent! However Jim Bower's made and illustrated on RAT a credible reconstruction using these dimensions. However I would have thought that this was a standard size which was then altered to fit the wearer but that is only a guess on my part.

The point that tunics appear to be wider than they are long is demonstrated in both the Chatsworth relief and various figures on Trajan's column where the surplus material hanging at the side is clearly visible. Both are illustrated on pages 36-7 of Roman Military Dress.

Graham.

[Marcus Iulius Chattus]

I know some guys who wear the DPKA-Tunics, but they look really horrible. With so much Information in Graham Sumners books, it´s much more authentic to make a tunic by yourself (or from your wife or your mother :wink: )
I wear the 1,55m long and 1,40m wide tunic from BGU VII 1564 with, but more often without armour. I´m 1,93m tall with really long arms, but this tunic is so wide that it reached to the middle of my forearms and i must use a neck-knot to get the material up to my ellbows to make it much more comfortable for me. I find it nearly impossible to wear the tunic with this big neck-knot under my hamata, because the neckhole of my hamata is so tight that its full weight pressed it into my neck!

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

http://www.facebook.com/inbox/readmessa ... 4744861494

hard to tell, but my tunic is quite loose and reaches past my elbows and below my knees when untied.
Very good for freedom of movement and also ventilation, except when under armour and subarmalis.
The neck hole may be smaller than originals, but I am sure I patterned it after Grahams information and images in the books.
I am the one in the background, with blue tunic and braided rope across my back.
Many thanks to lady in picture for sharing picture.

[Marcus Iulius Chattus]

Looks good, Byron.
I like my tunics looser, too. With the exception of the neck-knot, this particular tunic is really comfortable and reaches untied far beyond my knees. When i use my cingulum, the surplus material covers it complete and only the lower part of my apron is visible. I like that look really much, because it looks exactly like the Auxillary colour-plate in Grahams RMC-1.