What did Roman public office (Cursus honorum) holders wear?

by [deleted]

Hey everyone. Lately I've really been getting into Roman history thanks to two amazing audiobook series by The Teaching Company and also thanks to the HBO series Rome. While I know that the TV series takes artistic liberties (the "Roman" salute, as an example), the audiobooks don't go too heavily into detail about clothing styles and how officers of the public were differentiated.

I'm also really interested in the idea of recreating some of these uniforms just as a hobby, so if some light could be shed on it, I'd really appreciate it.

I'm mainly interested in the roles of the magistrates like the tribunes, quaestores, praetores, triumviri and so on. I've had a bit of a look around the net but couldn't come up with anything concrete, so any detailed academic sources would be really welcome.

Thanks!

Danegeld87

You might be interested in reading A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities by William Smith, who was a lexicographer and Oxford Doctor of Civil Law. It is a bit dated, as it was first published in 1848, and revised in 1890, but it has the advantage of now being in the public domain. An online copy is available here, with the page on articles of clothing and adornment here. You should pay particular attention to the variations in the Toga, as well as the badges of office like the Coronae and the Fasces. All Roman men of any distinction would have worn a toga, but magistrates had the right to wear a toga with a broad maroon stripe (the Toga Praetexta), as well as to be accompanied by lictors bearing the fasces. As to wearing armor or bearing weapons within the Pomerium, the sacred boundary of Rome, this was strictly forbidden. The only time an army or general would be allowed inside Rome itself would be for a triumph, and for this they would march in civilian dress, not military attire. Similarly, magistrates could not have Roman citizens executed within this sacred boundary, so they had the axes removed from their fasces when they entered the city. Only the Dictator had the power to execute citizens within the city, so his fasces retained their axes. The dictator was entitled to 24 lictors, each bearing the fasces, the consuls to 12 each, the praetors 6, and the curule aediles 2.