It was a Dorian who first threw aside his heavy girdle during the Olympian contests and ran naked to the goal. In an allusion to this incident, and also to the custom of Spartan virgins appearing in a semi-nude state in the presence of the opposite sex during the performance of their gymnastic feats, C. O. Müller says that a display of the naked form when all covering was unnecessary and inconvenient was quite in keeping with the character and temper of the Dorians.[209] [209] _History and Antiquity of the Doric Race_, book iv., ch. ii., p. 1. Concerning the style of dress adopted by the Doric virgins, it is said to have consisted of a loose woollen garment called a _himation_. It was without sleeves and was fastened over the shoulders with large clasps. The _himation_ was completely joined only on one side, the other side being left loose and fastened with a buckle or clasp. Doubtless this adjustment of the gown was to enable the wearer to open it and throw it back, thereby securing greater freedom to the limbs while running and wrestling. This simple garment reached only to the calf of the leg, and was worn sometimes with a girdle, sometimes without. The pure state of morals in Sparta furnishes an explanation of that peculiar style of dress among women which has elicited so much comment among later writers, and which has stamped the Spartan women as creatures especially “devoid of modesty.” True modesty was evidently one of the leading characteristics of this people among both sexes, but the simulation of it, which, by the way, is usually practised just in proportion as the lower propensities have gained the ascendency over the higher faculties, was doubtless absent in Spartan society.[210] [210] We have the authority of Tacitus respecting the customs, character, and style of dress of the ancient Germans. Among this people, as is well known, the influence of women was in the ascendency over that of men, and the state of public morals was exactly that which might be expected. Respecting the dress of women, this writer says they “do not lengthen their upper garment into sleeves but leave exposed the whole arm, and part of the breast” (_Germania_, chap. xvii.). It is observed, however, that chastity was the characteristic virtue of this people among both sexes. The marriage bond was strict and severe, and we are informed that among the Saxons the women themselves inflicted the penalty for adultery. From an epistle of St. Boniface, Archbishop of Mentz, to Ethelbald, King of England, we have the following: “In ancient Saxony (now Westphalia), if a virgin pollute her father’s house, or a married woman prove false to her vows, sometimes she is forced to put an end to her own life by the halter, and over the ashes of her burned body her seducer is hanged.”