Late Republican Re-Enactment groups + handspun fibre query

[Lepidina]

"Women in ancient Rome, like the men, wore long togas made of silk in the summer or wool in the winter. " - now according to what I've read so far (Adkin's Hbook to Life in Ancient Rome, I think) - only prostitutes wore a toga. What gives? (should I move this part of the discussion to the Civ threads?)

Hmm...silk? That was a really rare fabric. I'd move this over to the Civ list and see if Togaman is around to answer your question. He's the expert.

As for some reenactor's tunicas looking like cheap, nast cotton, well they just might be.

I think all women would do some sort of handiwork so they wouldn't be considered completely useless. I don't know if Roman women were into decorative embroidery or did more along the lines of tablet weaving. IF nothing else, they would still be in charge of running the household and would at least make shopping lists, dinner menus, see that the house is kept up, arrange social parties, and even spent some time with their children.

On the "coarse wool" tunicas, you want a tuncia that can stand up to daily wear and tear so fine, Summer weight wool isn't going to cut it. But that doesn't mean it has to be rough and sloppy looking. It just means that you need thicker wool. Again, good quality wool can be as soft as cotton, though these days, it's hard to find and heniously expensive. Back then, it probably would have been easier to find and not as expensive. Plus I think people tended to buy the best they could afford because it would last longer and to "keep up appearances" so to speak. If something wouldn't last long, it turns out to be more expensive in the long run because you keep having to buy more of them which adds up.

John, I've seen an animation on TV about the collapse of a battle. I've forgotten the specific battle they were using as an example - there was a funneling of troops into a sort of valley....

That sound like Varius' battle of the Teutonburg forest where one German commander wiped out 3 Roman legions in 9AD. Not a good day for the Romans.

deb