=68. Draping the Toga.=--The plain white toga, however, suffices in most cases for most Romans. Of course, there is a vast difference between the dirty shawls not without moth holes, which some of Calvus’s clients have thrown around them the morning we visit his mansion, and the garment which his special valet, Parmenio, drapes about him when presently the Senator announces, “I must visit the Forum.” Parmenio has to be assisted by no less than three other slaves while he literally winds the soft white mass of fine Milesian wool around his master. When skillfully draped, the toga appears to be an easy and elegant garment, leaving the right arm at liberty, and flowing around the person in noble lines implying dignity and deliberation. Well can it be called “one of the handsomest dresses ever worn by man”; but who can tell the pains required to get the huge semi-circular fabric into shape.[34] Every fold has to settle with precision; every corner has to trail to exactly the right length; and the whole has to be so adjusted that Calvus can walk easily without fear of dislocating his toga, although it is without brooches or other fastenings. When at last, however, all is ready, the results justify the effort. Its wearer appears every inch a Senator: one of the leaders of the arrogant imperial race. =69. The Tunica.=--The toga has to be worn everywhere in public, but the instant he is back from the hot Forum, Calvus is more than glad to fling it off. Indoors he, with all other Romans, wears the _tunica_. The tunic is a comparatively new garment in Italy. In early Rome probably the toga was the only clothing worn at all except a simple undershirt or loin cloth. The tunic in fact resembles closely the Greek _chiton_,[35] and is made much the same for men and for women. It is a kind of long shirt fashioned by sewing two pieces of cloth together, with holes for the arms or with short sleeves, and secured around the waist by a girdle. Long sleeves (Gallic style) are not unknown but they are accounted very effeminate. Without the belt the tunic falls well down to the ankles, but it is easily shortened by drawing the cloth up through the girdle and letting it tumble around the waist in a loose fold.