Pileus (hat)
The pileus (from Greek πῖλος - pilos, also pilleus or pilleum in Latin) was a brimless, felt cap worn by sailors in Ancient Greece[1] and later copied by Ancient Rome. The Greek πιλίδιον (pilidion) and Latin pilleolus were smaller versions, similar to a skullcap.
The pileus was especially associated with the manumission of slaves who wore it upon their liberation.[citation needed] It became emblematic of liberty and freedom from bondage.[citation needed] During the classic revival of the 18th and 19th centuries it was widely confused with the Phrygian cap which, in turn, appeared frequently on statuary and heraldic devices as a "liberty cap."[citation needed].
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[edit] History
[edit] Greece
The pilos (Greek: πῖλος, felt[2]) was a common conical travelling hat in Ancient Greece. The pilos is the brimless version of the petasos. It could be made of felt or leather. Their pilos cap identifies the Dioscuri, Castor and Pollux, in sculptures, bas-reliefs and vase-paintings; their caps were already explained in Antiquity as the remnants of the egg from which they hatched.[3] The pilos appears on votive figurines of boys at the sanctuary of the kabeiri at Thebes, the Kabeirion.[4]
In warfare, the pilos was often worn by the peltast light infantry, in conjunction with the exomis. The pilos cap was sometimes worn under the helmet by hoplites, but usually they preferred to not use a helmet along with the cap before the 5th century for reasons of mobility.
The pilos helmet was made in the same shape as the original cap. It probably originated from Lakonia and was made from bronze. The pilos helmet was extensively adopted by the Spartan army in the fifth century BC and worn by them until the end of the Classical era.
[edit] Rome
In Ancient Rome, a slave was freed by a master in a ceremony that included placing the pileus on the former slave’s shaved head. This was a form of extra-legal manumission (the manumissio minus justa) considered less legally sound than manumission in a court of law.
One 19th century dictionary of classical antiquity states:
- Among the Romans the cap of felt was the emblem of liberty. When a slave obtained his freedom he had his head shaved, and wore instead of his hair an undyed pileus (πίλεον λευκόν, Diodorus Siculus Exc. Leg. 22 p. 625, ed. Wess.; Plaut. Amphit. I.1.306; Persius, V.82). Hence the phrase servos ad pileum vocare is a summons to liberty, by which slaves were frequently called upon to take up arms with a promise of liberty (Liv. XXIV.32). The figure of Liberty on some of the coins of Antoninus Pius, struck A.D. 145, holds this cap in the right hand.[5]
[edit] Albania
In Albania a similar cap was carried by all men of the region. This cap is called "plis" and even nowadays can be found in the regions inhabited by Albanians, mainly Albania, Kosovo, FYR of Macedonia.
[edit] Modern period
The University of Sussex specifies a pileus-style cap as its doctoral cap in its academic dress. It has a cylindical shape and is made of black velvet. There is a corded silk button at the centre of the apex: light blue for PhDs, gamboge for higher doctorates.
[edit] Gallery
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Ancient Greek pilos type helmet, 450 - 425 BC.
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Odysseus wearing the pilos. Ancient Greek red-figure situla from Apulia, ca. 360 BC, Museo Nazionale Archaeologico, Naples.
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Castor wearing a pilos-like helmet, Attic red-figure calyx-krater, ca. 460–450 BC.
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The doctoral cap of the University of Sussex.
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A Kosovo Albanian man wearing Plis(Qeleshe)
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] Citations
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica
- ^ πῖλος, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon,on Perseus
- ^ John Tzetzes, On Lycophron, noted by Karl Kerenyi's The Heroes of the Greeks, 1959:107 note 584.
- ^ Walter Burkert. Greek Religion, 1985:281.
- ^ Yates, James. Entry "Pileus" in William Smith's A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (John Murray, London, 1875).
[edit] Sources
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
[edit] Further reading
- Sekunda, Nicholas and Hook, Adam (2000). Greek Hoplite 480-323 BC. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1855328674
