Encomboma
ἐγκόμβωμα
Encomboma (ἐγκόμβωμα), an upper garment tied round the body in a knot (κόμβος), and worn like a bib or apron to keep the tunic clean. The regular dress of slaves in comedy was the ἐξωμὶς with an ἐγκόμβωμα over it (Pollux, 4.119; Alb. Müller, Bühnenalterth. p. 262: cf. Longus, Past. 2.33; Varr. ap. Non. p. 542). According to Müller, it was probably a slave's pallium stitched to the chiton behind, so as to leave both hands free and the movements of the body unimpeded.
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.