Stola
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The stola ({{#invoke:IPA|main}}) (pl. stolae) was the traditional garment of Roman women, corresponding to the toga that was worn by men.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> It was also called vestis longa in Latin literary sources,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> pointing to its length.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
HistoryEdit
The stola was a staple of fashion in ancient Rome spanning from the early Roman Republic until the beginning of the 2nd century CE. The garment was first identified on statues by Margarete Bieber.<ref>RE 4.1 A (1931) s.v. stola, col. 56–62</ref> The first evidence of the stola/vestis longa dates to the 3rd century BCE, but the form of the garment is common in the Mediterranean world and so it must be much older.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In Republican times, it was simply part of Roman female dress practice. In Augustan times, when it was used much less, the stola was taken up by Imperial cultural policy and was turned – like the vitta (plaited headband) – into a dress insigne of married Roman women. It may even have been a legal privilege.<ref>Radicke. 4 stola/vestis longa. pp. 333–342.</ref> By this time, it was worn only by women of the social elite. At the beginning of the 2nd century CE, the stola fell completely out of use. However, the term matrona stolata, referring to married women of equestrian rank, remained a technical term in inscriptions.<ref>Holtheide, B. "Matrona stolata – femina stolata," ZPE 38 (1980), 127–134.</ref>
A well-known image of the stola is the one worn by the Statue of Liberty in New York City.Template:Cn
Social conventionsEdit
It has long been believed that Roman women originally did not wear stolae and that they instead wore togas like the men. However, this goes back to a scholarly lore invented in Late Antiquity.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> For the most part, the toga was worn exclusively by men, and Roman wives (matronae) traditionally wore the stola. In Latin literature, wearing the male toga was associated with prostitution and adultery.<ref name="isbn0-19-508785-22">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In Roman life, the only Roman women who wore a toga were unfree prostitutes (referred to as meretrices or ancillae) who worked in the streets and in brothels. A Roman matron convicted of adultery (moecha damnata) did not actually have to wear a toga in public from then on. She was only symbolically called a togata (a woman in toga) since she was unfit to be a matron (as epitomized by the stola).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Female and male citizen children could wear a toga praetexta (a toga with purple border), but this usage should be kept apart from wearing the toga as an adult.Template:Citation needed
DescriptionEdit
The stola was a long, pleated, sleeveless robe that could be worn by Roman wives (matronae). It was worn as a symbol and represented a woman's marital status, and it was also worn by the Roman Vestal priestesses.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> There are no physical remains of any stola. The matron’s stola usually served as an intermediate garment and was worn over the undertunic (subucula) and under the cloak (pallium). It looked like a ‘peplos’ and had longitudinal folds (rugae). There are no explicit literary sources as to its upper opening, but there is archaeological evidence. This shows that, in Augustan times, the sleeveless garment was fastened by significant shoulder straps (analeptrides).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> It also had a visible lower border, called instita (or in non-technical language a limbus). The fabrics used for stolae were presumably linen or wool, but a wealthy woman might have also used silk.Template:Citation needed
VarietiesEdit
The matronal stola had no fixed colour.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The stola of the Vestal virgins was presumably white. The border (instita) was probably usually in purple colour (similar to the purple border on an expensive toga).<ref>Blanck, H. (1997). "Die Instita der Matronenstola," in: Komos. FS Thuri Lorenz, Vienna, pp. 23–24</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
See alsoEdit
ReferencesEdit
SourcesEdit
External linksEdit
- Stola (article in Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities)
- How to make a stola Template:Webarchive