The paenulaorcasula was a cloak worn by the Romans, akin to the poncho (i.e., a large piece of material with a hole for the head to go through, hanging in ample folds round the body).[1] The paenula was usually closed in the front but, occasionally, could be left with an open front; it could be also made with shorter sides to increase mobility for the arms.[2] This was originally worn only by slaves, soldiers and people of low degree; in the 3rd century, however, it was adopted by fashionable people as a convenient riding or travelling cloak, and finally, by the sumptuary law of 382 (Codex Theodosianus xiv. 10, 1, de habitu . . . intra urbem) it was prescribed as the proper everyday dress of senators, instead of the military chlamys. Thereafter, the toga was reserved for state occasions.[3]
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Phillips, Walter Alison (1911). "Vestments". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 27 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 1057.
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