The four elements chosen to research for the ancient Romans were clothing, food, art, and music. All four of these things can be summed up to show how the Romans used to live or at least parts of how they lived, like their daily lifestyle. This essay will outline the things that the Romans used to wear, what they used to eat, how they painted and sculpted things, and how the Romans used to listen to music in their leisure time. .
Roman clothing is quite plain really. The men typically wore things called a toga or a tunica. These were also commonly worn by "the working class plebes, freedmen and slaves" (UNRV History). Typically the Romans would only wear the toga as a public display garment, to tell the rich from the poor in Rome you had to spot the difference in the fabric. The rich mostly wore white wool or a type of expensive linen; while the poor would wear whatever fabric was available at a reasonable price and was ready anywhere. Another way to distinguish Romans was the distinct tunic one would wear. Roman Magistrates would wear something called a augusticlavia, Roman Senators would wear a tunic with a broad strip called the tunica laticlavia. Along with the tunica a belt would sometimes be worn to keep the clothing snug. During times of war the Romans would wear clothing called "sagum cloak" (UNRV History). And woman would wear a common tunic worn that was similar to the Greek chiton. The outfit was a sleeved garment which was made from two wide pieces of cloth sewn together near the top, the article would then be pulled over the head and fastened with pins or buttons with various styles and fits to form a makeshift dress, to complete the look the women may wear a belt under the breast, at the waist, or perhaps at the hips. A married woman was required to wear a loose toga more commonly referred to as a Stola. This was long, sleeveless tunic that was strapped at the shoulder and then gathered and girdled at the waist with the rest of the clothing extending down to the feet.
