Complicated Roman Hairstyle Decoded

News January 9, 2013

(Jean Raoux [public domain], via Wikimedia Commons)
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Jean Raoux  Vestal Virgin
(Jean Raoux [public domain], via Wikimedia Commons)

SEATTLE—The hairstyle worn by Rome’s Vestal Virgins has been recreated by Janet Stephens, a hairdresser and amateur archaeologist who has recreated other ancient hairdos. “These were the six most important women in Rome with possible exception of the emperor’s wife,” she explained at the annual meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America. She figured out the complicated pattern of braids by studying two busts of vestal virgins. 

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