TUNICA. – A word from the Indo-European root tun, “to cover, tighten, bind”; diminutives: tunicula, tunicella; Italian: tonaca. Corresponding to the Greek χιτών, it was an undergarment used among the Romans by both men and women as a house garment and beneath the toga and palla in public. In statues of men wearing the toga, the t. can be seen beneath it, covering the chest up to the neck. It was the only garment put on over the head.
For the most part, t. were made of linen fabric (vestis linea or lintea), but wool was also used for the sick and in winter (t. lanea). Because of his poor health, Augustus generally wore one of wool and, according to Suetonius, when the cold was severe he wore as many as four. Normally two were worn; the t. next to the skin was called t. interior, interula, or subucula; over this was worn the second, called sudusium or supparus. Senators and members of the ordo senatorius had, as part of their official dress, in addition to the toga praetexta, a t. distinguished by a broad purple stripe that descended from the neck to the lower edge (laticlavius); members of the ordo equestris, on the other hand, had one or two narrower stripes (angusticlavius). The t. could be belted at the waist (t. praecincta) or worn loose (t. discincta or soluta). Wearing it properly belted was a mark of distinction; Maecenas was criticized because he went about at night with his t. unbelted (Seneca, Ep., 114). Going about dressed only in the t. was characteristic of the lower classes (Horace’s tunicatus popellus); outside the city, in the countryside, even persons of high rank could, for greater freedom, lay aside the toga and go about wearing only the t. (Martial’s tunica quies). Laborers, shepherds, and slaves wore a sleeveless work tunic (t. exomis), held by a cingulum, which left the shoulders and chest uncovered; it made movement easier and, according to Seneca (De brevit. vitae, XIII), also made slaves more obedient toward their masters. The soldiers’ t. was shorter than usual and was worn under the sagum. In the 3rd century of the Empire, with the growth of luxury, t. woven with purple and gold became highly fashionable, although they were uncomfortable because of their stiffness and because they were rough like hair shirts.
The t. was the most widely used garment among Christians, who largely belonged to the humble classes. The one worn by the Savior on the ascent to Calvary was made of a single piece and was not sewn (inconsutilis). The Good Shepherd is represented wearing only a short t. (v. BON). In the cemetery paintings, t. are also depicted with sleeves reaching no farther than the elbows, extending to the knees for men and somewhat lower for women (v. ORANTE), plain or adorned with purple stripes from the neck to the loins (t. clavata). Another type of t., very short and sleeveless, was the colobium (v. λοκόβιον, cf. χολοβός = mutilo, accorciato); the earliest images of Christ crucified are represented wearing this garment. A t. reaching to the feet (t. poderis: στιχάριον), in the Oriental style and made of white linen (alba), became an ecclesiastical garment, from which the liturgical alb is derived; its modifications are the rochet and the surplice.