On the Pallium

Contents

1. 1Tertullian tells the Carthaginians, who mock him for wearing the Greek cloak (pallium), that it was once their own dress before Rome gave them the toga, and that they have simply forgotten it.
2. 2All of nature, from the heavens to the seas, lands, and peoples of the world, constantly changes its “dress,” so it is unreasonable to blame a man for changing his.
3. 3Animals such as the peacock, serpent, and chameleon change their coverings, and man himself, naked at creation, came to be clothed through the fall and through the invention of clothing, of which the pallium is one widely used form.
4. 4Tertullian mocks the Romans for adopting Greek athletic fashions and for effeminate changes of dress, from Achilles and Hercules to Alexander and Roman matrons, and argues that the pallium, now worn by Christian wisdom, deserves respect rather than ridicule.
5. 5The pallium is simple to wear, unlike the laborious toga; it withdraws from public life yet serves the public by lancing the luxury and cruelty of famous men of the toga.
6. 6Even silent, the pallium rebukes vice and clothes all the learned arts; Tertullian ends by saying it has now been honoured by a better philosophy, since it clothes a Christian.