To finish our History project ‘Emperors and Empires’, we were kindly lent a selection of Roman costumes to try on from the Dorset Museum (where we visited on our trip!).
As we tried on different costumes we also learnt about what each costume meant for different people in Roman Society.
We started of with the most important costume of all, belonging to the most powerful man of all – The Emperor. He wore a toga which would have been made from luxurious fabric, a bright coloured cloak of red or purple and some would have worn a crown of gold leaves.
Next we tried on the Consuls’ costumes who were advisors to the emperors and commanded the army. There were usually two of them.
Then, we tried on costumes belonging to Patricians who were from the upper class and very wealthy. They were usually born into these positions and made up most of the Senate (ruling government in Rome). They wore togas for important occasions and meetings, often with edges with a colour to show their importance.
The ‘Patricians’ even did a bit of role-play where they pretended to be at an important meeting with the Emperor and Consuls too! Great acting, Year 3!
Some children became lady Roman citizens and learnt that they wore long dresses made of wool called a ‘palla’ and if they were married they would also wear a ‘stolla’ (scarf) wrapped over their shoulders and sometimes even over their heads. Unmarried ladies wore dresses without the stolla.
Some children even got to dress up as a Roman Soldier and as you can see from the photos below, they really got into role!
It was such a fun and interesting end to our project!
Well done, Year 3 and of course a huge thank you to Dorset Museum for lending us these brilliant costumes! 🙂