La competenza tecnica dei giuristi nell'ambito del tessile: l'esempio dei legati di abbigliamento

This essay aims at offering a small sample of how the texts of the Roman jurisprudence can contribute to integrate the framework of information available to classical antiquity scholars concerning different types and ways of wearing Roman clothing. In quite a few cases, in fact, a real interrelation can be detected between the contents of the fragments of the Roman jurisprudence and the data coming from literary sources, archaeological discoveries, epigraphic and iconographic evidence. For this purpose we will analyze some passages on clothing legacies dealt with in Digest 34.2 De auro argento mundo ornamentis unguentis veste vel vestimentis et statuis legatis and in Pauli Sententiae. These legal sources will show how much Roman jurists knew about manufacturing techniques, the fibers used and the main styles that used to distinguish each garment from another.