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Tunica and Focale
Last Updated: 3-15-08
Galea, Lorica: Segmentata, Lorica: Hamata, Tunica, Subarmalis, Balteus, Gladius, Pugio, Caligae, Marching Pack, Tools, Cold Weather Gear
The tunic, an easy way to identify a soldier simply because of its length. It was known as a punishment from Caesar
Augustus on soldiers for them to stand in front of the HQ building with out sword or belt so that the tunic would hang low.
So that he could not easily be recongized as a soldier.
The tunic can be made of red or mader red wool or linen. Wool is more authentic but during hot weather campagins
linen is going to be much more comfortable. The opposite can be said about cold weather campagins also. There
is no set length to the tunic sense no two people are a like. So, the tunic should go to about mid shin and have about
three inches of space on each side. (It should fit like a tent not a tshirt.) The tunic should be held up above
the knees by a simple belt.
The neckhole was usually just a simple silt that was left unsewn in the top of the tunic. This silt should not
be any wider than twelve (12) inches. There is evidence that this silt was wider. On several reliefs it is shown
that legionaries had there arm pulled out of the neck hole, as well as reliefs showing legionaries with a cloth bunch pulled
up in the back. The larger neck hole could be there for lower rank soldiers for comfort during heavy work. An
actual neck "hole" were also known. This hole would have been about eight (8) inches wide.
You have a couple of options for the sleeves. You can have short sleeves, long sleeves, or no sleeves at all.
No sleeves are common but you will find that when wearing a segmentata that your under arm rubs against the armor and is uncomfortable
as well as the shoulder plates rubbing the top of your arm. Long sleeve tunic were more common among calvary and later
period Romans but might be good in good weather campagins. More information on the long sleeve tunic can be found in
the Cold Weather Gear page. The short sleeves should be about twelve (12) inches in length. They should be cut out with the rectangle
body panels but if you are big Roman, cutting them out seperate is fine!
When sewing the tunic together there is one important thing you must do. PREWASH YOUR FABRIC!!!
The fabric will shrink in the wash and all the sewing you did will have gone to waste. (learn from our mistakes!)
Also, BEFORE you wash make sure the ends of the fabric that were cut at the store are hemmed. If
you don't the fabric will unravel and you will have to start all over again. A good zig-zag pattern or whipstitch will
work fine.
Focale:
The focale is a scarf or neckerchief worn to protect the neck from being pinched or chafed by the armor. It was
probably introduced along with the segmentata type armor. But later became popular among the rest of the army and was
worn with all types of armor. The shape of this garment can not be determined nor can its color.
The shape of this garment can triangle in form or a long rectangle. The focale can be made of linen or wool, it
can be hand knit or a simple peice of cloth.
Here is what “Roman Military Equipment: From the Punic Wars to the Fall of Rome” by M.C. Bishop &
J.C.N. Coulston has to say about the tunica.
The Roman military tunic was very distinctive, for it instanyly marked its wearer as a soldier simply by the way it was
worn; shorter than the everday tunics of ordinary citizens. Its lower edge hung just above the knee, but it coild also
be worn off-the-shoulder, as a number of eary 2nd century AD reliefs attest. Unfortunately, these garments are unlikely
to survive in a recognisable form in the archaeological record, although some tunics (almost certainly not military and probably
not Roman) were found in the Cave of Letters at Nahal Hever.
In form, it may have been a simple 'bag' comprising two rectangles joined, with a central neck opening and holes for
the arms. Length could evidently be regulated by gathering the material over the waist belt. The length was clearly
important, for one of Augustus' punishments for wayward soldiers recorded in Suetonius was that they should be made to stand
outside the headquarters building of a legionary base without a belt, simultaneously depriving them of their two key indicators
of status (weapons belt and short tunic.)
Early imperial tunics had a very distinctive form (shown to best advantage on the tombstone of Annaius Daverzus) which
may mena they were more complex than just a straightforward bag. Tehy also seem to have been worn with a cummerbund
(possibly called the fascia ventralis) beneath the waist belt(s).
Suppliers:
La Wren's Nest great place to find custom made togas, tunics, subarmalis, and
all kinds of Roman cloaks.
Merchant Adventures good source to find ladies dresses, and premade tunics. Will custom
make items on request.
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