LACERNA. — Originally a short cloak of coarse wool, used in Asia and introduced into Rome by Lucullus; disdained by Augustus (Suetonius, Aug., 40), it was first used by officers, then by Roman soldiers, and subsequently by civilians.
It was thrown over the shoulders, reached just above the knee, and was fastened at the chest by means of a small strip of cloth or leather, or with a buckle or brooch; it ended in fringes. It served to protect against rain and dust; in the time of St. Augustine it was used as a light summer cloak (sermon 161, 10: PL 38, 883).
In ancient Christian art, the l. is worn over the tunic by the Persian martyrs Abdon and Sennen in the sixth-century fresco in the cemetery of Pontianus on the Via Portuensis. It is also worn by Daniel in two sarcophagi from Ravenna and in a miniature of Cosmas Indicopleustes (R. Garrucci, Storia dell'arte cristiana, III, Prato 1881, pl. 150, 1; V, pls. 311, 4; 332, 3).