dyeing linen

[John M McDermott]

Why are you assuming that all slaves wore rags? Some slaves wore rags. Some slaves wore really nice clothes. Some freeman/citizens wore rags. Some wore really nice clothes. The argument that anyone doing menial labor may or may not be a slave is a decent one. I assume that in some cases, there are clues in how people are drawn or from the context of the picture that denotes status.

They may have, but why would an artist go to the trouble to depict slaves when they were not accorded much significance? Why are all the figures slaves? Why depict slaves at all? Why not citizens, allegorical figures and soldiers, all of whom have more status than slaves?

There's also a huge tradition of white in military clothing as well, probably because it's easier to bleach a whole load of white trousers than to separate out colors in laundry. Military clothing does not necessarily follow the same fashion rules as civilian clothing.

Ah! The white "forces" are at it again! There is no such rule! Military uniforms abound in colors!