By Pauline Weston Thomas for Fashion-Era.com
- Picture of Roman Battle Dress
- Picture of the Roman Cuirass
- Picture of Roman Shields
- Roman Chariot & Roman Driver
- Picture Roman Horsemen
- Picture of 3 Roman Generals
- Picture of a Roman Emperor
- Drawing of Marcus Aurelius
- Hairstyles & Headwear of Roman Men
Roman Battle Dress
This page has pictures of battle dress and armour of the Roman soldier.
The normal formal robe for a noble Roman citizen was a toga worn over a simple tunica. As time passed the Roman toga lost the bulk of its fabric and became much smaller. You can see patterns for Roman toga and its width on the British Roman page.
This line drawing right shows typically decorated Roman shields, Roman helmets, swords and the Roman cuirass armour. The book Hope's Costume of The Ancients is full of imagery of the ancient Romans and Greeks.
A Roman soldier was usually part of a Roman Century which was a team of 100 men often formed from one locality. Centuries could be put together quickly and were often used for short periods of time and called on the services of fit farmers who would leave their farm in the care of family and older workers.
Each Roman Century was grouped into a legion and typically a legion consisted of 3,000 or 4,000 men. The legion subdivided into different types of soldiers best suited for particular fighting or war making skills.
This page is an original Roman Costume History and Fancy Dress Tips article about battle dress and soldier uniform by Pauline Weston Thomas 2023 © - Copyright www.fashion-era.com
The Roman Cuirass
Below - Drawing showing variations of the Roman cuirass.
Below - Line drawing of Roman soldiers wearing the Roman cuirass from of dress.
Roman Shields
The shield was an important part of the armour of the Roman soldier. The line drawing picture below shoes some typical decorative scrollwork patterns for ancient Roman shields.
Below - Drawing of Roman soldiers wielding their shields.
This page is an original Roman Costume History and Fancy Dress Tips article about battle dress and soldier uniform by Pauline Weston Thomas 2008 © - Copyright www.fashion-era.com
Picture of Roman Chariot & Roman Driver
Above - Picture of Roman Chariot & Roman Driver in the Circus.
Roman Horsemen
Below - Drawing of a Roman officer from the Trojan column.
Above - Picture of Roman Horseman.
The Roman General
Great Romans include Gaius Marius, Gaius Julius Caesar, Mark Anthony, Maximus, Augustus - The first Emperor, Nero - The Madman of Rome, Trajan, Constantine the Great, and Justinian - The last 'Great' Emperor.
These images below illustrate the uniforms of various Roman generals.
This page is an original Roman Costume History and Fancy Dress Tips article about battle dress and soldier uniform by Pauline Weston Thomas 2008 © - Copyright www.fashion-era.com
The Roman Emperor
The Roman emperor might would have an impressive uniform for battle dress.
More informal dress followed the lines of the less voluminous toga of later Roman domination and is shown in the picture of two Roman emperors above.
This page is an original Roman Costume History and Fancy Dress Tips article about battle dress and soldier uniform by Pauline Weston Thomas 2008 © - Copyright www.fashion-era.com
Roman Men
The normal formal robe for a noble Roman citizen was a toga worn over a simple tunica. As time passed the Roman toga lost the bulk of its fabric and became much smaller.
The picture below shows line drawings of a Roman orator, a Roman youth and to the far right of the noble Marcus Aurelius.
Hairstyles and Headwear of Roman Men
Hairstyles of men of Roman times could be dressed also like these below.
This page is an original Roman Costume History and Fancy Dress Tips article about battle dress and soldier uniform by Pauline Weston Thomas 2008 © - Copyright www.fashion-era.com
Page added 12 October 2008 Ref: P704