Illustrated Companion to the Latin Dictionary/Capitium

Illustrated Companion to the Latin Dictionary, and Greek Lexicon (Rich, 1849)

CAPIT'IUM. An article of female attire, worn upon the upper part of the person, and over the bosom (Varro, L. L. v. 131. id. de Vit. Pop. Rom ap. Non. p. 542.), but whether in the nature of a spencer or of a corset, it is difficult to determine. Aulus Gellius notes the word as obsolete and peculiar to the common people; but in a passage from Laberius quoted by him (xvi. 7. 3.), it is described as of gaudy colours, and worn outside the tunic; a description which agrees precisely with the style, appearance, and manner in which the peasant women of Italy wear their corsets at the present day, and with the figure (Capitium/1.1) here introduced, from a sepulchral marble published by Gori (Inscript. Antiq. Flor. p. 344.), evidently intended to represent a female of the lower class, from the rough stone which serves as a seat for her toilet.

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  Capitium/1.1