If there is still a need to justify the study of dress in antiquity as a key tool for examining social, political, economic and cultural change, this volume fulfils it. This is an eminently readable published version of a doctoral thesis which examined 290 first- to third-century Roman-style funerary monuments from three areas of the Rhine-Moselle region: the tribal areas of the Treveri and Ubii, and the Middle Rhine. Rothe focuses on the dress of those depicted as a tool for analysing cultural interaction in the area. The monuments chosen are defined as civilian, although they include those of settled veteran soldiers. Military memorials are excluded as the army is considered — to paraphrase extensively — to have an identity of its own.
Chs 1 and 2 discuss current approaches to the study of dress, the defining of cultural identity, and the problematisation of ideas of ‘Romanisation’. R. draws heavily on the methodologies of sociology and anthropology and the manner in which they have impacted on the study of dress and its relationship to identity. Ch. 2 contains a succinct, and very useful, summary of the state of the discipline in late 2009. This is followed by a discussion on the validity of using comparative approaches — particularly those examining the effect of European colonialism on dress habits in the Indian sub-continent — for dealing with the problems of defining notions of cultural identity in the framework of Roman imperialism. R.'s use of comparative material, particularly the work of Tarlo (Clothing Matters: Dress and Identity in India (1996)), is carefully thought out and certainly provides a model ‘to think with’.
Ch. 3 assesses the nature of the source material. Literary sources on the region are minimal and unreliable as other researchers who have trodden this ground have already established (J.P. Wild, ‘Clothing in the north-west provinces of the Roman Empire’, Bonner Jahrbuch 168 (1968), 166–239). Material remains of textiles are very scarce and where other finds, such as belts, buckles, jewellery etc., survive they are often not in a context that can help reconstruct clothing ensembles. Given these problems R. chose to privilege Roman-style funerary monuments in the region. She is rightly circumspect in how far we can push such evidence and the discussion deals with the tension between idealising images, particularly those which purport to be scenes of ‘everyday’, and social realities. Nonetheless the sample produces a wide enough range of individual images with distinct regional variations to suggest that those commissioning the monuments were presenting a snapshot of life, however idealised.
Ch. 4 presents a typology of garments found in the region in the pre-Roman and Roman periods. The garments are described and recent scholarship about provenance and terminology discussed in detail. Each item is given a number to allow for identification in the catalogue. The tension between assumed identification of ‘native’ and imported items of dress is examined in detail. Particular attention is given to the confusion in previous scholarship between, for instance, the Gallic cape and the paenula with the implications such identification or misidentification has for assumptions of cultural assimilation or rejection. Similarly the section on trousers demonstrates that previously held orthodoxy that these were typically worn by local inhabitants is undermined by R.'s sample.
Ch. 5, supported by a series of graphs in Appendix II, discusses dress behaviour and examines the mix of Roman and native elements on the gravestones. Clear regional differences exist in the ways in which areas reflected the nature of relationships with Rome and the Empire. The adoption of Roman-style monuments depicting individuals in Roman-style dress was observed least among the Treveri, and here only among élites in and close to the capital. Over time and with increasing prosperity Roman-style monuments were adopted by the rest of the population but they continued to portray themselves in native clothing. This contrasts with the Ubii who were far more closely allied to Rome and absorbed numbers of immigrants, and who adopted both Roman-style monuments and Roman dress, at least for men. The few Ubian women who are depicted on monuments retain local dress which remains constant throughout the period. The Middle Rhine area, which bore a heavier military presence than its neighbours, produced a different mix again. In the monuments commissioned by locals, as opposed to immigrant Romans, the chosen dress was Roman but the pallium and palla rather than the toga and stola. This may reflect a recognition of Roman cultural symbols but also a choice that reflects a closeness to the original Gallic ensemble — the individual could look Roman without achieving citizenship. R. points out the nuances in these conclusions: different generations of the same family may chose different garb; regional variations existed within the wider zones. Most interesting is the fact that over time native dress, rather than falling out of fashion, not only persisted but came to dominate. In Rhine areas men in Roman dress often had wives who wore local clothing. This may reflect intermarriage of Romans with locals or it may reflect women who did not require a ‘Roman’ persona in life, or as R. argues, it may be that women are actively preserving local culture.
R. argues that across the wider region the popularity of the male and female Gallic ensemble appears to have had a renaissance under Roman rule. Rather than view this as resistance or the ‘invention of tradition’, R. sees it as a choice of dress which ‘symbolised both native identity and a desire to be part of the new cultural framework’ (79). For women in particular the inclusion of these areas into the cultural context of the Roman world meant assimilating new ideas but rather than adopt Roman dress, Gallic women developed a new version of the Gallic ensemble which expressed their ethnicity but also their position in the new dispensation. For men the adoption of the toga and/or pallium could be a marker of citizenship, but also a sign of their engagement with imperial culture.
Appendix II contains charts which code the garment types and present statistical analysis of frequency of wear across the whole sample and then by region, and demonstrate at a glance the increased use of native dress over time. The extensive illustrations are well produced and very clear on detail. The catalogue is thorough in citation and description, including inscriptions where they survive. The data gathered here will impact on understanding of the role of dress in establishing identities but also have implications for interpreting the cultural assimilation of Roman ideas in the provinces.
