Roman clothing was simple in terms of its components. The basic garment was the tunica, usually sleeveless and tight-waisted. It was knee-length or calf-length and decorated with a vertical strip of purple called clavus: wide for the senators and narrower for the knights.

     The tunic was made of two pieces of undyed wool sewn together at the sides and shoulders and belted in such a way that the garment just covered the knees. Openings for the arms were left at the top of the garment, creating an effect of short sleeves when the tunic was belted. Men of the equestrian class were entitled to wear a tunic with narrow stripes (tunica angusticlavia), in the color the Romans called purple, extending from shoulder to hem, while broad stripes distinguished the tunics (tunica laticlavia) of men of the senatorial class. Working men and slaves wore the same type of tunic, usually made of a coarser, darker wool, and they frequently hitched the tunic higher over their belts for freer movement. Sometimes their tunics also left one shoulder uncovered.

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