Illustrated Companion to the Latin Dictionary/Castula

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

CAS'TULA. A woman's petticoat; worn next the skin, and fastened under the breast, which it left exposed. (Varro, de Vit. Pop. Rom. ap. Non. s. v. Caltula, p. 584.) In early works of art, it is often represented as the only under garment or sole article of the attire, similar to the figure in the engraving (Castula/1.1), from a bas-relief on an Etruscan tomb; but the Roman women mostly wore a tunic or some other article of dress over the breast and shoulders, so that the two covered the person as much as an upper and under tunic; in which case the upper part of the petticoat, as well as the bosom, is concealed under the skirts of the outer covering. In this manner it is worn by Silvia in the Vatican Virgil (p. 146.), and by a female figure amongst the Pompeian paintings. Mus. Borb. xiv. 2. compare xii. 57., where the castula is put on over a long-sleeved tunic, but fastened over the shoulders and round the waist in the same manner as above.

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  Castula/1.1