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| Vibia Sabina, wife of Hadrian, 2nd century CE. Source: iessi Flickr |
For someone
like me, who only allows my closest friends and family to know of my Pagan
ways, I must admit I sometimes feel a tinge of envy when I see “moderate” Muslim
women flaunting their religion so conspicuously by wearing colourful headscarves
and modest Western dress.* It is historical fact that modest dress and head
covering was widespread amongst ancient Roman women, so is this a tradition
that contemporary Roman polytheists should adopt? I like to think I’m pretty
open-minded so I want to try to understand what “the veil” meant to ancient
Roman women. In particular, I want to understand if it was a religious
practice.
Head covering
during religious rites
It is a fundamental
basic of Roman polytheism that in most religious rites one, whether male or
female, covers the head (capite velato), except where the ritus Graecus
applies:
