Dress, self-presentation and posture

It was hard to know what not to include in this section, which is why it is rather large. The Romans judged based on outward appearance and did so without apology, and talking about other people’s appearance took up a surprising amount of their time.

This link will open a file in word listing a range of sources, mainly on male dress. (The Romans did police women’s dress, but they didn’t talk about it quite as much as they did the toga.)

If you are interested in reading further about dress I highly recommend the following:

Olson, K. 2008. Dress and the Roman woman : self-presentation and society. Routledge.

Olson, K. 2017. Masculinity and dress in Roman antiquity. Routledge.

(Both of the above are fully available online at UBC library.)

Sebasta, J.L. and Bonafante, L. eds. 2001. The World of Roman Costume. University of Wisconsin Press. This is a great collection, with a range of essays, all of which are very accessible and easy for non-specialists to understand. It has lots of images too, so you can see everything they discuss. Highly recommended if you are interested in Roman dress, accessories, hairstyles, and even more.