CLAMYS (κ λ π μ ζ̇ ς). - The Romans called by this name a cloak shorter than the pallium, whose two extreme points on the long side were gathered on the right shoulder and fastened with a buckle. It was essentially a military garment.
In early Christian art, the clamys is given to Orpheus, sometimes to the Magi, to the soldiers accompanying the centurion Cornelius in the miracle of the fountain; only once is it worn by the Saviour as King of Judea in the scene of the conversation with the Samaritan woman in the cemetery of Pretestato. The evangelists Matthew (27:27 ff.), Mark (15:16 ff.), and John (19:2) recall that the Lord was clothed in a purple cloak (clamys coccinea) when mocked by the soldiers. The long clamys is called the paludamentum.