Chlamys (Κλαμός)

CLAMIDE (κλαμός). — The Romans called this a cloak shorter than the pallium, whose two extreme points of the long side were gathered on the right shoulder and fastened with a brooch. It was essentially a military garment.

In early Christian art it is given to Orpheus, sometimes to the Magi, and to the soldiers accompanying the centurion Cornelius in the miracle of the spring; only once does the Savior wear it, 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 he was mocked by the soldiers. The long c. is called paludamentum.