Trabea

For the spider genus, see Trabea (spider).

Trabea (pl.: trabeae) is the name of various pieces of Roman clothing. A distinct feature of all trabeae was their color – usually red or purple. They were formed like a toga and possibly in some cases like a mantle and worn by more distinguished members of Roman society.

A garment known as the trabea triumphalis was commonly worn by consuls in late antiquity. When Emperor Justinian I abolished the office of consul as a separate entity from the Emperor himself, the trabea triumphalis developed into the loros, which was the worn only by the imperial family and senior administrative officials. Although Emperor Leo VI abolished the ancient title of consul altogether, the loros persisted until the end of the empire as the formal, ceremonial dress of the emperors.

See also

• Clothing in ancient Rome

References

• Philip Smith: Toga. In: William Smith (Hrsg.): A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities. John Murray, London, 1875 (online copy at LacusCurtius)
• Liza Cleland, Glenys Davies, Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones: Greek and Roman dress from A to Z. Routledge 2007, , p. 197 (online copy at Google Books)
• J. C. Edmondson, Alison Keith: Roman Dress and the Fabrics of Roman Culture. University of Toronto Press 2008, , S. 13, 27, 32, 42, 43, 217-237 (online copy at Google Books)

External links

• Picture of a man dressed with tunica and trabea at roman-empire.net