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Roman Dress and the Fabrics of Roman Culture

Edited by Jonathan Edmondson and Alison Keith

© 2008

Roman Dress and the Fabrics of Roman Culture investigates the social symbolism and cultural poetics of dress in the ancient Roman world in the period from 200 BCE-400 CE. Editors Jonathan Edmondson and Alison Keith and the contributors to this volume explore the diffusion of Roman dress protocols at Rome and in the Roman imperial context by looking at Rome's North African provinces in particular, a focus that previous studies have overlooked or dealt with only in passing. Another unique aspect of this collection is that it goes beyond the male elite to address a wider spectrum of Roman society. Chapters deal with such topics as masculine attire, strategies for self-expression for Roman women within a dress code prescribed by a patriarchal culture, and the complex dynamics of dress in imperial Roman culture, both literary and artistic. This volume further investigates the literary, legal, and iconographic evidence to provide anthropologically-informed readings of Roman clothing.

This collection of original essays employs a range of methodological approaches - historical, literary critical, philological, art historical, sociological and anthropological - to offer a thorough discussion of one of the most central issues in Roman culture.

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Product Details

  • Series: Phoenix Supplementary Volumes
  • World Rights
  • Page Count: 440 pages
  • Illustrations: 50
  • Dimensions: 6.0in x 0.9in x 8.9in
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SKU# SP002502

  • PUBLISHED NOV 2009

    From: $33.71

    Regular Price: $44.95

    ISBN 9781442610798
  • PUBLISHED NOV 2009

    From: $32.96

    Regular Price: $43.95

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Quick Overview

Roman Dress and the Fabrics of Roman Culture investigates the social symbolism and cultural poetics of dress in the ancient Roman world in the period from 200 BCE-400 CE.

Roman Dress and the Fabrics of Roman Culture

Edited by Jonathan Edmondson and Alison Keith

© 2008

Roman Dress and the Fabrics of Roman Culture investigates the social symbolism and cultural poetics of dress in the ancient Roman world in the period from 200 BCE-400 CE. Editors Jonathan Edmondson and Alison Keith and the contributors to this volume explore the diffusion of Roman dress protocols at Rome and in the Roman imperial context by looking at Rome's North African provinces in particular, a focus that previous studies have overlooked or dealt with only in passing. Another unique aspect of this collection is that it goes beyond the male elite to address a wider spectrum of Roman society. Chapters deal with such topics as masculine attire, strategies for self-expression for Roman women within a dress code prescribed by a patriarchal culture, and the complex dynamics of dress in imperial Roman culture, both literary and artistic. This volume further investigates the literary, legal, and iconographic evidence to provide anthropologically-informed readings of Roman clothing.

This collection of original essays employs a range of methodological approaches - historical, literary critical, philological, art historical, sociological and anthropological - to offer a thorough discussion of one of the most central issues in Roman culture.

Continue Reading Read Less

Product Details

  • Series: Phoenix Supplementary Volumes
  • World Rights
  • Page Count: 440 pages
  • Illustrations: 50
  • Dimensions: 6.0in x 0.9in x 8.9in

  • Reviews

    'Those entering the field of Roman clothing studies will find this concise survey very useful ... Illustrating the various threads of current investigation into Roman clothing, these intriguing essays show that understanding the symbolism of Roman clothing is essential in recovering the Romans' way of thinking about themselves and the "others" of their empire.


    Judith Lynn Sebesta
    Mouseion: Journal of the Classical Association of Canada

  • Author Information

    Jonathan Edmondson is professor of History and Classical Studies in the Department of History at York University.


    Alison Keith is a professor in the Departments of Classics and Women’s Studies and the director of the Jackman Humanities Institute at the University of Toronto.

  • Table of contents

    PrefaceContributors

    List of Figures

    Abbreviations

    Introduction: From Costume History to Dress Studies
    JONATHAN EDMONDSON and ALISON KEITH

    PART I INVESTMENTS IN MASCULINITY

    1. Public Dress and Social Control in Late Republican and Early Imperial Rome
      JONATHAN EDMONDSON
    2. Togam virilem sumere: Coming of Age in the Roman World
      FANNY DOLANSKY
    3. The Double Identity of Roman Portrait Statues: Costumes and Their Symbolism at Rome
      MICHAEL KOORTBOJIAN
    4. The ‘Dark Side’ of the Toga
      MICHELE GEORGE
    5. (Un)Dressed to Kill: Viewing the Retiarius
      MICHAEL CARTER

    PART II FASHIONING THE FEMALE

    1. The Appearance of the Young Roman Girl
      KELLY OLSON
    2. Covering the Head at Rome: Ritual and Gender
      ELAINE FANTHAM
    3. Designing Women: The Representation of Women’s Toiletries on Funerary Monuments in Roman Italy
      LESLIE SHUMKA
    4. Sartorial Elegance and Poetic Finesse in the Sulpician Corpus
      ALISON KEITH

    PART III THE CULTURAL POETICS OF DRESS

    1. The Woven Garment as Literary Metaphor: The Peplos in Ciris 9–41
      RIEMER FABER
    2. Spinning the Trabea: Consular Robes and Propaganda in the Panegyrics of Claudian
      MICHAEL DEWAR
    3. Appearing for the Defence: Apuleius on Display
      KEITH BRADLEY
    4. Tertullian’s De Pallio and Roman Dress in North Africa
      T. COREY BRENNAN
    5. Prudery and Chic in Late Antique Clothing
      GUY P.R. METRAUX

    References

    Index Locorum

    General Index

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