It was the custom of the Romans to let their beard and hair grow during the period of mourning; as we are informed by Suetonius, Augustus did his, after the terrible Varian catastrophe. The slaves had the hair cut close as a mark of servitude. Wigs and false hair were worn by the Romans, more especially by the females; thus Martial——
“The golden hair which Galla wears
Is her’s—who would have thought it?
She swears ’tis hers; and true she swears,
For I know where she bought it!”
Juvenal describes Messalina putting on a wig of flaxen hair to conceal her own black locks when she left the palace in disguise:
“Et nigrum flavo crinem abscondente galero.”
Among the Gauls (Gallia comata) long and flowing hair was greatly esteemed. Cæsar says that he always ordered the long hair of the conquered races to be shaved off, in submission to the Roman arms; and, during the decline of the empire, whenever a province revolted, the patriot leaders urged the adoption of the opposite fashion of wearing long hair, as a mark of freedom and independence. Thus the fashion of the hair, as in later times, had a political significance, and took part in revolutions and the great struggles for social freedom.