Chlamys
short cloak of Ancient Greece
The chlamys (Ancient Greek: χλαμύς, romanized: khlamús; genitive: χλαμύδος, khlamúdos) was a type of ancient Greek cloak. It was worn by men for military and hunting purposes during the Classical, Hellenistic and later periods. By the time of the Byzantine Empire it was part of the state costume of the emperor and high officials. It survived as such until at least the 12th century.
The ephaptis (Ancient Greek: ἐφαπτίς, romanized: ephaptís) was a similar garment, typically worn by infantrymen.
Ancient Greece
The chlamys was made from a seamless rectangle of woolen material about the size of a blanket, usually bordered. It was normally pinned with a fibula at the right shoulder. Originally it was wrapped around the waist like a loincloth, but by the end of the 5th century BC it was worn over the elbows. It could be worn over another item of clothing but was often the sole item of clothing for young soldiers and messengers, at least in Greek art. As such, the chlamys is the characteristic garment of Hermes (Roman Mercury), the messenger god usually depicted as a young man.
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This entry incorporates text from “Chlamys” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.