Did roman legions ever wear breeches?

[Leoshenlong]

I consult many documents describing legions wearing breeches, is that correct? thanks

[Nathan Ross]

Yes, the word is often used to translate feminalia, the short (calf length) fairly tight-fitting legwear that first seems to have appeared in the Roman army during the 1st century AD - many of the legionaries on Trajan's Column appear to be wearing it. It was probably worn earlier by cavalrymen, perhaps in leather, and the emperor Augustus apparently wore feminalia in cold weather too.

The alternative term braccae, or bracchae, is also usually translated as breeches or trousers (pants in the US). This usually refers to the longer legwear worn initially by barbarian peoples and then more widely in the later Roman era by soldiers and many others.

There's a law in the Theodosian Code (14.11.3, dated to AD399) banning people from wearing bracchae inside the city of Rome, which suggests that it was actually very common by this date!