Birrus/Byrrus

[Carlton Bach]

3000 denarii

hock:

judging from their pricing I would say they dont know what is going on!!!
so the cheapest was 10 years pay for most people?? :lol:

anyway, I wouldnt doubt something like this existing, I would however get a better source, and do your own research. garments like this do show up from the dark ages onwards I know for a fact. Let me know what your research comes up with.

The 3000 denarii are from the Edict of Diocletian, so they reference late third century currency. A day's wages at the time was between 20 and 50 denarii, so we are talking a significant chunk of change, but not a fortune.

I am certainly doubtful about the pattern (it does not fit the way Greco-Roman clothing is constructed), but I could see it coming from the North European tradition. But I would have to find depictions. Interpreting these things is hard - this could as easily be a misreading of a Gallic coat with a paenula or hood, like the Neumagen horseman, where the dividing line became weathered.