Legwear

Common legwear from late Antiquity onwards. Breeches, called vracha (braca) or periskelismata (periskelismata) in medieval Greek,(1) had become well established in the dress repertoire of the Roman Empire long before the fall of Old Rome. The practice of wearing very light trousers with thicker leggings over the top had originally been a Persian practice. The term touvia (toubia) could be applied to both simple hose and to padded hose, which were also called kampotouva (kampotouba).

The socks, or housia (‘ousia) are some of the earliest examples of true knitting.(2)

These shoes are a version of type which came into use in late Antiquity, and which probably influenced European footwear in the thirteenth and fouteenth centuries. It has been suggested that these should be identified with the term tzervoulia (tzerboulia).(3)

Notes

1. The tenth century dream book of Achmet, Achmetis Oneirocriticon Francis Drexl (ed.) Leipzig, 1925, has a great deal on clothing of diverse sorts. Steven Micheal Oberhelman has published an English translation, The Oneirocriticon of Achmet, Lubbock, 1991. However, like the great majority of translations, the technical detail in unreliable.back to text
2. Richard Rutt, A History of Hand Knitting, London, 1987.
3. A.E. Sophocles, A Greek Lexicon of the Roman and Byzantine Periods N.Y. (undated), p. 984 and p. 180. Constantine Porphyrogenitos De Administrando Imperio G. Moravsick (ed.) and R.J.H. Jenkins (trans.), Washington 1967, p. 152.