Alicula
Alicula a short cloak coming down to the elbows, mentioned by Ulpian (Dig. 34, 2, 23) as proper to boys, by Petronius (Sat. 40) as worn by a hunter, and by Martial (12.82) as an inexpensive present. It was so called, according to Velius Longus (Putsch, p. 2230), quod alas nobis iniecta contineat; according to Ferrarius, from its collar or cape. Rich, however, derives the name from its resemblance to wings when fastened by a brooch and floating behind the back. There seems to be no reason for connecting the word with the chlamys ἄλληξ or ἄλλιξ. Saglio identifies the alicula with a garment worn by shepherds and countrymen in works of art, and by the Good Shepherd on sarcophagi and paintings in the catacombs, sometimes opening in front, and sometimes furnished with a small cape.
From William Smith (ed.), Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities. Text provided under a CC BY-SA license by Perseus Digital Library, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu, with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and Tufts University. Data accessed from https://github.com/PerseusDL/canonical-pdlrefwk/ on 17 October 2026.