Linen Braccae

Roman underwear? "Sub ubi," amirite?

Okay, maybe not Roman-- not quite. This is a pair of commissioned 1st century "braccae," based upon the fascinating finds from Marx-Etzel, Germany. During this time, pants weren't really a thing in Rome; they were seen as foreign or effeminate, and the fashion among men was to wear a coptic tunic at knee length or so with no leggings. Coptic tunics were sleeveless, long and baggy, bunched in various places depending on the activiy. But the tribes of Germania had different sensibilities, favoring tight-fitted trousers and leg wraps, seeing sporting bare chests as masculine.

That's what makes the Marx-Etzel find so interesting. It consists of a diamond-weave wool sleeveless tunic and these shorts. The tunic is made exactly like a Roman coptic tunic; two large pieces of woven-to-size wool, sewn together with holes left for the neck and arms. Except this particilar tunic is smaller, more tightly fit than a Roman variant. And the trousers were similarly made; one panel of wool, woven to size, and then cut in certain places so that it could be *folded* into pants. Its all one piece, no separation of fabric, just two simple cuts with precise measuring and sewing.

These braccae, as the Romans would call them, are curiously similar in design to the Thorsberg trousers of the 3rd-4th century, and indeed to the braies of the medieval age and early Renaissance. It may be among the earliest ancestors of men's underwear as we know it today.

To me, this speaks volumes on the integration between Rome and Germania, and the intermingling which becomes much more prominent in later centuries. This 1st century find, at a time when Rome was constantly warring with germanic tribes, shows a man who has blended both fashions; an auxilia, perhaps? A transplant? Native born germanic, but a Roman by lifestyle-- or maybe even the opposite?

We may never know, but while we ponder, we may as well do it wearing cool underpants.