About the cloak

A special place among Tertullian’s works is occupied by the small treatise “On the Cloak” (6 chapters). It was written due to the personal circumstances of Tertullian himself in 210. For some unknown reason, Tertullian replaced the Roman toga with a Greek philosophical mantle. The Carthaginians he had known before began to laugh at this transition. In his defense, he wrote the aforementioned work, full of humor and caustic sarcasm, pointing out to the Carthaginians that the toga was the clothing of the Romans, their conquerors. Changing clothes is justified by history and nature, which often changes its clothes. Tertullian only disapproves of unnatural changes in clothing, for example, dressing in women's clothing. For him, the cloak is all the more valuable because it hides the highest, divine wisdom under it. *The title of the work in Latin is De pallio. I.1. Carthaginian men, eternal rulers of Africa, noble in their antiquity, happy in their novelty! I rejoice that you are so prosperous at a time when there is a pleasant opportunity to pay attention to clothing. For this is leisure of peace and prosperity. Good comes from the authorities and from heaven. However, the appearance of your tunic was once different. At least, as the rumor goes about your predilection for fabric, choice of color and length of clothing, tunics did not fall below the shin, did not reach shamelessly to the knees, and were not narrow in the shoulders and arms. It was not customary to separate the folds with a belt; on the contrary, with their square symmetry they fit perfectly on men. The outer clothing was a cloak-pallium; and itself quadrangular, drawn back on both sides, it rested on the shoulders, tightened at the neck with the bite of a buckle. I.2. The priesthood of your Aesculapius dresses in a similar way today. This is how the sister community dressed in very recent times, and if we take any other place in Africa - Tire. But when the urn with the centuries-old lots turned, and God began to favor the Romans more, the sister community, precocious in its desire for everything Roman, of its own initiative hastened to transform itself in order to greet the sailing Scipio with its very appearance. And to you, after the benefit given in return for the injustice done - to you, from whom the weakness of old age, and not at all the glory, was taken away - after all the obscenities of Gracchus and the violent mockery of Lepidus, after the threefold altars of Pompey and the long delays of Caesar, when Statilius Taurus erected the walls, and Sentius Saturninus made a solemn speech, when agreement brought joy, the toga was presented. Oh, what a long journey she made from the Pelasgians to the Lydians, and from the Lydians to the Romans, so that the Carthaginians could dress from the shoulders of a much higher people! I.3. Since then, you have hung an elongated tunic on yourself, as fashion requires, and trampled the abundance of a slender cloak with a plank joint; but even if, first of all, you are dressed by convention, dignity or the whim of the time, still the pallium, and without remembering it, you call your clothing. I am not surprised at this on account of the preceding proof. After all, the ram, not the one that Laberius calls “bent-horned, fur-skinned and wearing a scrotum,” but a siege machine with a log, which destroys city walls in war and which no one had ever set in motion until that same Carthage, and “he was rich and fearless in battle,” built it first of all, like a swing for a hanging attack, borrowing the power of weapons from the fury of the animal, protecting himself with his head. However, when the times of the fatherland were coming to an end, and the Roman ram dared to destroy their once walls, the Carthaginians were immediately amazed at it as a new foreign invention. Truly, “An infinitely long period of time can change everything!” So the cloak is also not recognized as theirs. II.1. Let us now talk about something else, so that the Punic does not blush and suffer among the Romans. Of course, changing one’s appearance is the usual duty of all nature. This world also observes it; the world we inhabit. Let Anaximander see, if he believes that the worlds are multiple, let anyone else anywhere up to the Meropes see how Silenus fills the ears of Midas with his chatter, suitable for even greater fables. But the world that Plato recognizes, the reflection of which is supposedly our world, even it inevitably also changes. After all, if the world consists of various substances and properties, it will turn out to be structured in the image of this world. Verily, there is no world other than this. Opposite principles in one are opposite due to change, and a series of changes reconciles the discord of opposites in a single union. Such will be every world that is united into one body by opposites and maintains the harmony of its organization by an incessant streak of changes. II.2. Indeed, and this can be seen even with blindfolded or even “Homeric” eyes, everything measured out to us is changeable. Day and night alternately replace each other. The sun changes in its annual positions, and the moon changes in its monthly rhythms. The diverse combination of constellations at times rejects something, and at times brings it back to life. The expanse of the sky either shines with its openness, or is dirty with clouds; Sometimes it rains, sometimes some kind of precipitation falls with rain, this gives rise to humidity and then dry weather again. So in the sea there is the notorious “reliability”, as long as it is “fair” from the calm of evenly changing winds and moderate from calm, but it suddenly becomes restless from a strong wind. If you pay attention to the fact that the earth also likes to put on veils from time to time, then what good, remembering it as green, you will begin to deny that this is the same earth when you see it golden yellow, and soon you will see it white. Also, do not its other decorations arise by changing one from one, and another from another? The mountain ridges run down, and the veins of the springs boil, and the river beds are covered with earth. II.3. Once upon a time, the whole world, surrounded on all sides by waters, changed. To this day, simple and twisted shells roam the mountains, trying to prove to Plato that even the steep mountains were covered with waves. But, having emerged from the waters, the world changed its appearance again, becoming different and remaining the same. And now in some places its appearance is changing: when the earth’s firmament is destroyed; when there is no longer any Delos between the islands, and Samos is sand, and the Sibyl is not deceitful; when in the Atlantic Ocean they are looking for a land equal to Libya or Asia; when the coast of Italy, once intercepted in the middle by the blows of the Adriatic and Tyrrhenian seas, forms Sicily as its extremity; when this entire place of rupture, reversing the violent convergence of sea waters with its gorges, absorbed a new evil of the sea, which does not throw out, but devours the wreckage of ships. II.4. And the firmament of the earth suffers from heaven, or for its own reasons. Look at Palestine! Where the Jordan River is the lord of the borders, there is vast desolation, and an orphaned kingdom, and a barren field. And before there were cities, numerous peoples, and the soil was famous. But since God is the censor, and wickedness deserved the fiery rains - only until then there was Sodom, and there is no longer any Gomorrah, and everything subsequently became dust, and the sea lying nearby, as well as the dry land, lives on death. It was from this kind of cloud that the ancient Volsinia in Etruria was burned, and in order for Campania to rely more on its mountains, Pompeii was taken away from it. However, God forbid this! Oh, if only Asia could no longer be afraid of soil subsidence! Oh, if Africa could one day bridge the gap, redeemed by the loss of one military camp! Many other similar disasters set in motion and renewed the appearance of the world. II.5. Wars have also been allowed to do a lot in this update. But listing sad events is no less unpleasant than the succession of Kingdoms: how many times have they themselves changed, starting with Nin, the descendant of Bel, if, of course, Nin ruled first, as ignorant predecessors claim. Your pen is almost never in the habit of going further: it is probably only from the Assyrians that centuries of history are revealed to you. We, who read divine history, have knowledge of the world from its very birth. II.6. But I want to talk about joyful things, because they too are subject to change. If something was washed away by the sea, burned out by the heavens, dragged down the earth, destroyed by the sword - all this, as if borrowed, is returned in another place. For even in the beginning the earth was deserted and free of people over a large area, and if any tribe occupied a place somewhere, it was alone for itself. So, the human race, if you mean a large number of people in some places, and insignificant in others, took care that everything was cultivated, weeded and explored, so that then, as if from arable furrows and plantings, peoples from nations and cities from cities began to grow throughout the world. Lines of tribes that were abundant in their numbers flew to other places. The Scythians produce Persians in abundance, the Phoenicians spew out into Africa, the Phrygians give birth to the Romans, the seed of the Chaldeans is brought into Egypt, and when it comes from there, it is already a tribe of Jews. So, in the same way, the descendants of Hercules, under the leadership of Temen, move forward, capturing the Peloponnese; so the Ionians, Neleus’s companions, are building up Asia with new cities; So the Corinthians, led by Archius, founded Syracuse. II.7. But what is the point of antiquity when our lists are in front of us. How much the world has changed in this century! How many cities have been brought out, or exalted, or returned by the triple valor of the current government 1! And while God favored so many Augusti, how many censuses were taken, how many nations were restored to purity, how many classes were restored to dignity, how many barbarians were repelled! The earth truly became the cultivated estate of this empire, when every lupus of enmity was torn out by the roots, the artichoke and blackberry of treacherous friendship were torn out, and the world was beautiful over the apple orchard of Alcinous and the roses of Midas. So, while praising the changing universe, why are you finding fault with man? III.1. And animals change their appearance in accordance with the change of their attire. Even if the peacock’s clothing, and an expensive one at that, is a feather more crimson than any purple in the place where its neck blooms, with a greater admixture of gold than in any trim where its back sparkles, and freer than any sirm where its tail lies - a multi-colored and variegated feather, never the same, always different, although when different - always the same the most, and as many times, finally, awaiting change, as many times it will be set in motion. III.2. Although after the peacock, the snake should also be mentioned. After all, she also changes what she received by lot - her skin and eyelids. As soon as she feels old, she huddles in a cramped place and, at the same time entering the hole and immediately emerging from the skin from the very threshold, renewed, unfurls her rings. Along with the scales, the years are thrown away. The hyena, if you pay attention, has one sex throughout the year, alternately becoming male and female. I pass over the deer in silence, since he too is the master of his age. Having eaten the snake, he regains his youth with the help of its poison. III.3. There is also “four-legged, slow-moving, living in the fields, small in stature, with a lumpy back.” Are you thinking about Pacuvia the turtle? This is not about her. Another very insignificant animal also accepts this verse, but its name is majestic. If you hear about a chameleon without knowing about it before, you will probably think in fear that it is something significant, like a lion. But when you meet him in a vineyard, almost entirely contained under a grape leaf, you will immediately smile at the boldness of the Greek name, since his body does not even contain juice, which small creatures should have in large quantities. A chameleon lives by its skin. His head comes directly out of his back, since there is no neck. The chameleon has eyes that recede strongly, but are convex for all-round visibility; even the pupils rotate. Lethargic, powerless, he can barely keep his body above the ground. Standing motionless, he plans movement and leads the body forward. He demonstrates his step more than he performs it. He is constantly hungry, but does not weaken. It feeds with its mouth open and, swelling like fur, chews its cud. His food comes from the wind. However, a chameleon can change itself like no other. Although he has only one color of his own, when something approaches him, he, adjusting, is filled with the same color. This property, which is usually called "playing with its skin", is given to one chameleon. III.4. Much had to be said in order to, having previously prepared, get to the person. You also find him at the beginning - naked and naked he stood before his Creator, the potter. Only later did man take possession - which was not yet allowed to him - of wisdom, which was thus stolen. Then, in a hurry, he covers what was not yet subject to shame in the new body with fig leaves. And so, from the time when God expels him from his place of origin for the crime he committed, man, dressed in skin, gives himself over to the world and metal. III.5. But these are secret things, and it’s not everyone’s business to know them. Let's talk now about yours - about what the Egyptians tell, Alexander sets out and the African reads - about the time of Osiris, when Ammon, rich in sheep, came from Libya. So, as it is stated, Mercury, touching the ram and admiring its softness, skinned it and, while continuing to pull the wool, testing what the lightness of this matter told him, he pulled out the thread and wove it like a rope, which he himself had once woven from strips of bast. But you preferred the separation of wool and the construction of Minerva's loom, although Arachne's craftsmanship is much more exquisite. III.6. Now about matter. I am not talking about Milesian, Selgian or Altine sheep, and not about those sheep gifted by nature with color, for which Tarentum or Baetica are famous, since they clothe people and plants, and the green color of flax, after soaking, becomes white as snow. But it would not be enough to just “plant” and “sow” the tunic if it were not possible to fish for the clothing like a fish. After all, wool also comes from the sea, where it is supplied with fluff from shells, luxurious with their mossy woolliness. It is by no means a secret that there is also a silkworm caterpillar that weaves its webs better than spiders; liquefying, it stretches the threads through the air, and then, eating them, subsequently releases them from its womb. Therefore, if you kill her, you will twist the thread from the yarn. III.7. So, reason has revealed so many ways of making fabrics, firstly, to clothe a person, as necessity requires; and then to decorate and even add pomp where vanity requires it. Thus, he made various types of clothing famous. Some of them serve as clothing for individual peoples and are not common to others, but some are useful to everyone everywhere, like this cloak, although to a greater extent Greek, but in language already belonging to Latius. Along with the name, clothing also came into use. And even the one who believed that the Greeks had no place in the city - Cato himself, who studied their literature and language as an old man - having freed his shoulder from his judgment for a while, was nevertheless favorable to the Greeks for their manner of dressing in the pallium. IV.1. Why is it now, if Roman power and culture are the salvation of every person, that you are wickedly disposed towards the Greeks? Or, if the situation is different, where does it come from in the more severe provinces, which nature has adapted more likely for war with the arable field, that occupations in the palaestra do not go out of use and waste energy? Where does the anointing with clay, rolling in dust and grueling food come from? Where do some Numidians, who still wear ponytails, have their hair cut right down to the skin, so that only the top of the head remains free from the razor? Where do disheveled and shaggy people get such valuable resin for their backsides and such gripping tongs for pulling out hair from their chins? It's amazing that this happens without a cape! After all, all this is the work of glorious Asia. What do you, Libya and Europe, have in common with clothes designed for athletic exercises that you don’t even know how to put on? And really, why is it better to pluck your hair in Greek than to dress in Greek? IV.2. Changing clothes is close to an offense only if it is not habit that changes, but nature. There is sufficient difference between what the time honors and religion. Let habit trust time, and nature trust God. The Larissean hero shocked nature with his transformation into a maiden - he was nourished by the brains and entrails of animals (hence the connection with the name - after all, his lips were free from the taste of breasts); he, who went through a harsh school under a rude forest monster-educator; he, who endured wild animals, like a child endures the care of his mother. Already definitely matured, already definitely secretly fulfilling the role of a man in relation to someone, he continues to put on clothes, put his hair in his hair, give the desired look to his skin, look in the mirror, smooth his neck, turned into a woman and with his pierced ears. All this is preserved by his statue in Sigea. Later he fully became a warrior, for need returned him to his gender. The signal for battle sounded and the weapon was not far away. The sword itself, he says, attracts the husband to itself. However, if he had continued to remain a virgin even after such bait, he would have been able to get married. So here's a change for you. A double monster, at least: from a husband to a woman, then from a woman to a man, although otherwise there would be no need to deny the truth or admit to deception. Both types of change are bad: one is against nature, the other is detrimental to salvation. IV.3. Lust changed the husband's appearance even more disgustingly with the help of clothes than any fears of the mother. But still, you honor the one who should be ashamed, that “club-arrow-skin-bearer”, who nullified the whole destiny of his nickname with women’s clothing. So much was allowed to the mysterious Lydia that Hercules was exposed as a corrupt woman in the person of Omphale, and Omphale in the person of Hercules. Where are Diomedes and the bloody stalls? Where are Busiris and the funeral altars? Where is the thrice-united Geryon? The club of Hercules wanted to emit a stench from their brains even when it was insulted with incense. While luxury was taking over, the old blood of the Hydra and centaurs on the arrows was already removed with pumice, so that, perhaps, after the destruction of the monsters, these arrows would fasten the wreath. Likewise, the shoulders of a prudent woman or some noble maiden would not dare to enter under the skin of such a large beast, unless this skin was softened, weakened and perfumed, which, I think, was done at Omphale with balsam or telin. I believe that the mane also underwent a comb so that the lion skin would not burn the tender neck. The mouth is full of hair, one’s own hair is shaded among the lion’s, falling on the forehead - the whole desecrated lion’s face would roar if it could! Nemeya, if there really was any genius in the area, was definitely groaning: after all, only then, looking around, she noticed that she had lost the lion. What the famous Hercules was like in the silks of Omphale, Omphale imagined, clothed in the skin of Hercules. IV.4. But the one who first took upon himself the labor of a resident of Terinthus, and then, in Olympia, ceased to be a man - the fist fighter Cleomachus, beaten inside his skin and, moreover, worthy of a wreath among the Novian "Fullons" - he, deservedly mentioned by the mimograph Lentulus in the "Inhabitants of Katina", both placed rings and bracelets, and coarse wool in place of the traces left by the kestas I threw off the endromids using clothes made of thin fabric. IV.5. One should pass over in silence Fiskon and Sardanapalus, who, if they were not known for their lust, would not otherwise be known to anyone as kings. However, you should remain silent, so that they do not become indignant about some of your Caesars, who are equally shameful; so that it would not be imputed with doglike insistence to point to Caesar - truly Subneron, more wicked than Fiscon, and more effeminate than Sardanapalus. IV.6. The power of empty glory contained in changing clothes is no warmer for a husband in his right mind. Every desire is heat. But when this desire turns into a burning passion, then a flame is kindled from the thirst for glory. And now you see a great king, burning with this tinder, a king second only to glory. He defeated the Indian tribe, and was himself defeated by the Median clothing. Throwing away his triumphal armor, he went into the conquered eastern fabrics. His chest, covered with scratches from the armor that covered it, still breathing heavily from the labors of war, he exposed with luxurious clothing and quenched it with softly fanning silk. The Macedonian would not have been sufficiently arrogant in soul if he had not also been delighted by his magnificent attire. And philosophers themselves, I believe, strive for things of this kind. IV.7. However, I hear that even in purple they studied philosophy. If in purple, then why not in woven sandals? To wear shoes, if not gold, then purple, is least befitting of the Greek way of life. However, someone came out dressed in purple fabrics and shod in gold. But he came out, at least, with dignity - with a cymbal, so that something would be in tune with his Bacchic robes. Therefore, if in those places Diogenes had barked from a barrel, he would not have trampled under his clay-smeared feet, as Plato’s banqueting beds experienced, but would undoubtedly have carried all of Empedocles to the church of Cloacina, so that he who in his madness imagined himself a celestial being would first greet his sisters and then people. IV.8. So, let it be fair to pierce with a point, point with a finger and nod at such clothes that betray nature and modesty. In a word, if someone with Menander’s luxury drags beautiful clothes along the ground, then let him, like the comic poet, hear near him: “What a mantle this madman is destroying!” But, since censorial strictness has long been abolished, how much confusion presents itself to the observant eye: freedmen in the clothes of horsemen, whipped slaves in the clothes of freemen, surrendered to the mercy of the winner in the clothes of nobles, hillbillies in the clothes of metropolitan citizens, jesters in srorum clothes, pagans in the clothes of warriors; the gravedigger, pimp, lanista dress with you. IV.9. Pay attention to women too. You can see how Caecina Severus authoritatively sealed in the Senate so that matrons would not appear in public without tables. Finally, according to the decree of the augur Lentulus, the woman who would thus fall into indecency was punished for shamelessness, since informers and champions of the dignity of clothing as an obstacle to the spread of pandering, carefully weaned her from certain things. And now, engaged in pimping in relation to themselves, women, in order to facilitate access to themselves, solemnly renounced the table and lower tunic, and sandals and high hairstyles; They also renounced the stretchers and chairs in which they were at home and secretly even in public. But one extinguishes his own lamps, the other lights others. Look at prostitutes - a marketplace of public lust! Look at the lesbians! And if it is preferable for you to avert your eyes from such a shame of purity killed in public, then look at the ladies of high society: you will already see “matrons”! IV.10. And every time a silken fabric flows over the overseers of public latrines and comforts with necklaces their necks, which are even dirtier than their workplace, and strings on their hands - witnesses of all shameful deeds - bracelets that even the matrons themselves foolishly appropriated to themselves from the gifts of brave men, and clothes the unclean shin in a clean or red leather boot - why don’t you also look at these robes, or at those that do they falsely display religious feelings in the guise of their novelty? When people are dedicated to Cerrera on the basis of a completely white robe, serving as a special sign of the headband and the privilege of a fur cap; when, due to the opposite desire for black clothing and gloomy sheepskin on the head, other people flee to the mountains of Bellona; when a robe with a wide purple stripe and red-colored Galatian veils thrown over top glorify Saturn; when this same cloak, only more fancifully dressed, and sandals in the Greek style are flattering to Aesculapius; how much more, perhaps, will you begin to incriminate and besiege with your eyes the notorious pallium - the defendant, albeit for being light and unconstrained; but still a prejudice? However, since he first clothed that wisdom that rejected empty prejudices, it is the pallium that is truly a sacred garment; a priest exalted above all robes and ashes, above all peaks and titles. I convince you: lower your eyes and almost your clothes - the exposer of your only delusion. V.I. So, you say, then, from the toga to the pallium? And what if from a diadem with a scepter? Did Anacharsis change in any other way when he preferred philosophy to the kingdom of Scythia? Even though in general there are no specific signs of a person who has moved on to the better, there is this clothing that may well be considered such a sign. First of all, also pay attention to simply putting it on, which, as you know, does not cause disgust. There is no need for a craftsman who would first form the folds the day before, then transfer them to linden splints and entrust the entire structure of the tightened umbon to the tong guards; who would then, at dawn, first wrap the belt around the tunic, which it would be better to weave in a more moderate size, again putting the umbo in order, and also, if something is disheveled, giving it shape again, would lower one part on the left, and its girth, from which the bosom is born, would be retracted, having first removed the planks from the shoulder blades; after this, leaving his right hand free, he would bring this coverage to the left side along with another similar boardwalk intended for the back, so that the luggage would dress the person in this way. V.2. Finally, I will ask your conscience: how, above all, do you feel in a toga, dressed or loaded? Do you wear a dress or work as a cargo rapist? If you deny the obvious answer, I will follow you home and see what you rush to do right from the doorway. In fact, the folding of no other clothing is welcomed by people as much as the removal of a toga. We are not saying anything about shoes - the torture instrument inherent in the toga - the dirtiest protection of the feet, but at the same time false. For who, perhaps, would not benefit more from freezing in both heat and cold with bare feet than with shackled shoes? Great support for walking - boots made of rawhide - were provided for pampered people by the shoe workshops of Venetia! V.3. But still, there is nothing more convenient than a cloak, even if it is double, like Kratet’s. There is never any delay in dressing, for its whole purpose is to clothe without difficulty. You can dress with just one wrap, which, at least in no place, turns out to be inhumane. Thus the pallium envelops all parts of the human body. He, at will, opens or closes the shoulder; In general, it fits tightly to it. He doesn’t press at all, doesn’t pull at all, doesn’t care at all about the reliability of the folds, easily controls himself, easily puts himself in the same order. Even when he is removed, he is not subjected to any torment the next day. If there is any undershirt, the cloak is free from the torture of the belt. If you wear shoes, great, but bare feet are definitely more masculine than shod ones. V.4. This, meanwhile, is in defense of the pallium, since you called him by name to the people's assembly. However, now he himself is appealing his own case. “I,” says the cloak, “owe nothing to the forum, the Campus Martius, or the Curia. I do not stay awake due to duty, I do not occupy the rostra in advance, I do not guard the praetorium. I don’t smell the gutters, I don’t recognize fences, I don’t break benches, I don’t violate rights, I don’t bark judicial speeches, I don’t judge, I don’t serve, I don’t rule. I moved away from the people. My concern is in myself. I don't care about anything else except not to have a care. It's better to enjoy life in the distance than in the public eye. But you will scold the lazy: of course, you must live for your homeland, power and business! There was once a saying: “No one is born for another who dies for himself.” However, when it comes to Epicurus and Zeno, you call all the teachers of serenity, who sanctified it in the name of the highest and only pleasure, sages. V.5. However, I will also be allowed to bring almost public benefit. I have a habit somewhere, from the edge or elevation, to pronounce speeches that are healing for morals, which, rather than your works, will bring recovery to public affairs, cities and countries. For if you and I touch upon pressing issues, it will turn out that the toga has caused more trouble to the state than the armor. I, on the contrary, do not flatter any vices, do not spare any diseases of old age, do not give mercy to any scab. I burn a mark on the vanity for which Marcus Tullius bought a round table of lemon wood for five hundred thousand sesterces, Asinius Gall paid twice as much for a table from the same Mauritania (Oh, how dearly they valued the stains on the wood!), and Sulla is planning a dish weighing a hundred pounds! I am seriously afraid that the yoke of the scales may be too small when the slave Claudius Drusillanus builds a tray of five hundred pounds, perhaps necessary for the tables described above. If a workshop was built for this tray, then a triclinium must also have been built. V.6. In the same way, I plunge a scalpel into the cruelty that motivated Vedius Pollio to throw his slaves to be devoured by moray eels: here is a new entertainment for cruelty - land predators without fangs, claws and horns! He wanted to make ferocious beasts from the fish, at least from those that had to be boiled immediately, so that he could taste the pieces of the bodies of his slaves in their entrails. I cut the throat, prompted by which the orator Hortensius was able to be the first to kill a peacock to satisfy his gluttony, and Aufidius Lurkon was the first to disfigure the bodies of these birds by fattening, achieving an unnatural taste through forced feeding. Asinius Celer paid six thousand sesterces for a dish of one red beard. The actor Aesop prepared a dish of birds of the same value, some of which were singing and talking, for one hundred thousand sesterces, and his son, even after such a snack, could crave something even more expensive. He ate pearls, which by their very name are expensive, in order, I believe, to dine no poorer than his father. V.7. I am silent about the Nero, Apicii and Rufus. I will forgive the depravity of Scaurus, the dice game of Curius, the drunkenness of Antony. However, remember that they, among many others, were dressed in togas. What kind of people are not easy to find under a cloak. Who will extract and turn into steam this pus of society, if not speech clothed in pallium? VI.1. “You convinced me,” he continues, “with your speech, the wisest medicine. But even if the tongue is silent, or taken away by dumbness, or held back by timidity - after all, philosophy is content with a languageless life - the sound is made by the garment itself. So, in the end, the philosopher is heard while he is seen. Already by my coming I cast down vices to the ground. Who does not suffer every time he sees his accuser? What opponent can defeat with his eyes the one whom he cannot defeat with his mind? Great is the benefit of a cloak, in thinking about which even bad morals turn red. VI.2. Let philosophy now see what is useful. Of course, she's not the only one with me. I also have other arts that are useful in social life. The first creator of writing, the first interpreter of speech, the first mathematician, the grammarian, the rhetorician, the sophist, the physician, the poet, the one who strikes the strings to make music, the student of astronomy, and the practitioner of magic wear me. All liberal arts are covered by my four ends. Of course, it will be outrageous: “From toga to pallium!” But it's the cloak talking. I will add to this a connection with the divine way of thinking and teaching. Rejoice, cloak, and rejoice! You have been blessed with the best philosophy since you began to dress a Christian. The treatise is dated by the mention of the “triple valor of the current government” (II.7) - the reign of Septimius Severus and his two sons in 208–211.