By Pauline Weston Thomas for Fashion-Era.com
Roman Battle Dress
This page has pictures of the 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 a 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 is 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
Roman Shields
The shield was an important part of the armour of the Roman soldier. The line pictures below show some typical decorative scrollwork patterns for ancient Roman shields.
Roman Chariot & Roman Driver in the Circus.
Roman Horsemen
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 have an impressive uniform for the 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.
Egyptian Dress Costume Plates - Warrior King Costumes
This site concentrates on female dress, but for Egyptian fancy dress purposes I have included these few extra male styles from the book that I researched.
As well as noting that most Egyptian costumes were worn by both men and women, you may have noticed on a previous page the simple robe pattern for the God Osiris, and also the garment a scribe like Ani would have worn.
Model Y) is of a cloak of the sixth century B.C. The fabric is simply arranged as shown on model Y to the right.
Do remember that men wore a version of the petticoat wrap and tied skirt?
Briefer male 'active' costumes include W and X below. I think these Egyptian costumes very much reflect our concept of an Egyptian man, of a young and powerful physique.
Egyptian Warrior King 1200 B.C.,
The Warrior King model W of 1200 B.C. below, wears an interesting cross-over garment that sheathes the upper body.
On the pattern left you can see a fold. The fold in the pattern is where the shoulder line of the sleeve forms, and which should be stitched at the underarm.
Leather or quilted linen would probably have been the ancient Egyptian material of choice.
On the lower body half, the warrior W also wears a simple wrap fabric skirt tucked into the waistline at the centre front. A short length of fabric would be all you need for this part of the costume.
Wear it in the manner of a bath wrap after exiting a bath.
The figure Y also wears one of the decorative belts to which long appendages were attached.
The pattern for the waist belt is shown in the lower part of the grid image above. For fancy dress this can be easily decorated with rows of purchased braid. I think Model Y has a real Egyptian look to it.
Egyptian model X of 1300 B.C. wears a stiff midriff corselet made of leather or quilted linen. You can just see the fastenings at the side midriff area.
Finally, whichever idea you intend to base your Egyptian costume on, remember to be flexible and adaptable in your drapery. Egyptians of ancient Egypt were just like us - all different shapes and sizes. The imagery that exists for us today is based on tomb drawings and carvings almost always of the most perfect examples of the era. No doubt there were far more body shapes then just as now.
Capture the essence of Egypt by adhering to typical ancient Egyptian colours. Add a great collar and fantastical head dress; lather on a bottle of fake tan to get a golden glow and and you'll walk away with first prize!
N.B. If you prefer to work in metric measurements then substitute 10 cm squares for the 4inch squares.
Source
This page contains some costume plates sourced from the book Ancient Egyptian, Assyrian and Persian Costumes & Decorations by Mary G. Houston and Florence S. Hornblower. The book was published by A & C. Black of London in 1920. F. S. Hornblower coloured both the figures and Decorative Ornament plates where colour was needed. Page Added 15 Nov 2007. Ref:-P661
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