{"schema":"https://ver.cy/schemas/card/1.0.0","id":"vr.tr.clothing-in-ancient-rome","code":"thing-q2457980","url":"https://ver.cy/models/thing/q2457980/","name":"clothing in ancient Rome","alternateNames":["tabard","palla","gausapa","fillet","cestus","Tunica interior","toupha","Vittae","strophion","lorica squamata","pteruges","Subarmalis"],"kind":"thing","status":"published","version":"0.2.0-wave.4","language":"en","classifiers":{"family":"Thing Registry","category":"Physical world and living systems","entryKind":"thing","plane":"PHY","domain":["PHY.OBJ"],"industry":[],"navPath":"","tags":[],"facets":{}},"whatItIs":"The garments worn in ancient Rome, including the tunica, worn by most people, often with an undertunic called the tunica interior, the toga as the formal garment of male citizens, the stola and the palla, a mantle worn by married women, heavy cloaks such as the gausapa made of shaggy wool, headbands or fillets called vittae, and girdles, with the word cestus used for a girdle and also for a boxing glove; clothing signalled status through colour, such as purple stripes, and sumptuary laws regulated luxury. The registry alias tabard names a later medieval garment and appears misfiled.","purpose":"Let an agent explain Roman clothing, relay garments, materials, social meanings and evidence from classical archaeology and literary sources, describe the named garments and flag the medieval alias, and distinguish Roman clothing from Greek dress, Byzantine and medieval garments and modern costume reconstructions.","scope":{"in":[],"out":[],"boundaries":[]},"distinguishingFeatures":["Draped garments","Status coding","Wool and linen","Gendered forms"],"structure":{"bundles":[{"id":"understand","name":"Understand","description":"What Romans wore.","layers":[{"id":"definition","name":"Definition","description":"Definition.","findings":[{"id":"definition-finding","name":"Definition","description":"Definition.","questions":[{"text":"What was clothing in ancient Rome, and how did it differ from Greek, Byzantine and medieval dress and modern reconstructions?","kind":"definition"},{"text":"Is the question about history, costume making, art or social status?","kind":"boundary"}]}]},{"id":"garments","name":"Garments","description":"Named garments.","findings":[{"id":"garments-finding","name":"Garments","description":"Garments.","questions":[{"text":"What were the palla, gausapa, fillet, cestus and tunica interior, and why is the tabard different?","kind":"definition"},{"text":"Which entry fits the specific garment?","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"materials","name":"Materials","description":"Materials and making.","layers":[{"id":"fibres","name":"Fibres","description":"Fibres and dyes.","findings":[{"id":"fibres-finding","name":"Fibres","description":"Fibres.","questions":[{"text":"How were wool, linen and dyes such as Tyrian purple produced?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which references are standard?","kind":"provenance"}]}]},{"id":"evidence","name":"Evidence","description":"Evidence.","findings":[{"id":"evidence-finding","name":"Evidence","description":"Evidence.","questions":[{"text":"What evidence comes from statues, frescoes, texts and surviving textiles?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which sources are cited?","kind":"provenance"}]}]}]},{"id":"society","name":"Society","description":"Social meaning.","layers":[{"id":"status","name":"Status","description":"Status and citizenship.","findings":[{"id":"status-finding","name":"Status","description":"Status.","questions":[{"text":"How did the toga and stripes signal citizenship and rank, as historians describe?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits toga praetexta?","kind":"action"}]}]},{"id":"women","name":"Women","description":"Women s dress.","findings":[{"id":"women-finding","name":"Women","description":"Women.","questions":[{"text":"How did the stola and palla mark married women s status?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits stola?","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"context","name":"Context","description":"Law and legacy.","layers":[{"id":"sumptuary","name":"Sumptuary laws","description":"Sumptuary laws.","findings":[{"id":"sumptuary-finding","name":"Sumptuary laws","description":"Sumptuary laws.","questions":[{"text":"What did Roman sumptuary laws restrict?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits sumptuary law?","kind":"action"}]}]},{"id":"legacy","name":"Legacy","description":"Legacy.","findings":[{"id":"legacy-finding","name":"Legacy","description":"Legacy.","questions":[{"text":"How did Roman garments influence later ecclesiastical vestments?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits vestment?","kind":"action"}]}]}]}]},"agentConduct":{"may":["Describe Roman garments such as the tunica, toga, stola and palla, citing archaeological and textual sources.","Distinguish what is known about everyday dress from what elite statues and portraits show."],"mustNot":["Present reconstructions or later costume conventions as certain Roman practice.","Generalise from elite or official dress to the clothing of slaves, the poor or provincials.","Mislabel an artefact or reenactment garment as genuinely Roman."],"requiresHuman":["Attributing a textile or garment find to Roman origin in a catalogue or sale."]},"ethics":{"considerations":["Dress in Rome marked status, citizenship and gender, so misreading it distorts the lives of ordinary and enslaved people."],"affectedParties":["Students and readers","Museums and collectors","Reenactment communities"]},"owners":{"steward":"Nobody owns it; museums and archaeological services hold the surviving textiles and depictions.","roles":[],"masterSystems":["Museum collection catalogues"]},"relations":[{"target":"Q2998482","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"},{"target":"clothing in the ancient world","type":"related","note":"in registry terms"},{"target":"toga","type":"related"},{"target":"palla","type":"related"},{"target":"tabard","type":"related","note":"misfiled medieval alias"}],"interaction":{"identity":{"applicability":"required","items":["Vercy registry: vr.tr.clothing-in-ancient-rome","Wikidata: Q2457980 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2457980)"]},"properties":{"applicability":"required","items":["toga praetexta: purple-bordered toga of magistrates and freeborn boys note","Tyrian purple: expensive dye from murex snails note","main fibres: wool and linen, with silk for luxury list"]},"recognition":{"applicability":"required","items":["Garments of ancient Rome","Tabard, palla, gausapa, fillet, cestus, tunica interior","Greek dress used the chiton and himation; Byzantine and medieval dress evolved later; costume reconstructions interpret evidence","Draped wool and linen garments such as tunics, togas and mantles, seen in statues and frescoes."]},"capabilities":{"applicability":"required","items":["explain garments and materials","relay social meanings","describe named garments","flag misfiled aliases"]},"hazards":{"applicability":"required","items":["Anachronistic garments such as tabards","Overgeneralising from elite statues","Confusing the two senses of cestus"]},"interfaces":{"applicability":"required","items":["Roman sumptuary laws such as the Lex Oppia"]},"context":{"applicability":"required","items":["Not applicable; a historical dress system.","tunics","togas","stola and palla","cloaks such as paenula and gausapa","accessories such as fillets and girdles","military dress"]}},"sources":[{"title":"Wikidata item Q2457980: clothing in ancient Rome","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2457980","note":"identity and sense of the item"},{"title":"Wikipedia: Clothing in ancient Rome","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clothing_in_ancient_Rome","note":"general description of the item"}],"openQuestions":["The registry alias tabard should be moved to medieval clothing","How should archaeological textile sources be linked?","Should cestus be disambiguated?"],"resources":{"spec":"/models/things/publications/thing-q2457980/spec.json"},"provenance":{"origin":"thing registry research (pass 2)","builtFrom":["models/things/publications/thing-q2457980/spec.json"],"providers":["Claude"],"researchStatus":"unreviewed","generatedAt":"2026-09-13T21:42:11Z","builder":"tools/build_cards.py@1.0.0"},"completeness":{"sections":{"classifiers":"filled","whatItIs":"filled","purpose":"filled","distinguishingFeatures":"filled","structure":"filled","agentConduct":"filled","ethics":"filled","owners":"filled","relations":"filled","interaction.identity":"filled","interaction.properties":"filled","interaction.recognition":"filled","interaction.capabilities":"filled","interaction.hazards":"filled","interaction.interfaces":"filled","interaction.context":"filled","sources":"filled"},"notes":{"_gate":"Published through the thing publication gate 1.0 on 2026-10-06T19:51:57+00:00: completeness 1.00; sense: Wikidata description; 2 live sources; review by codex: pass"},"score":1.0}}