Equestrian togas had a narrow purple stripe (clavus ... so letting equestrians into the Senate was a big step. Over time, the Senate would be open to Roman citizens from outside Italy.

The Roman Senate started life as an advisory council ... the honor of wearing the ‘latus clavus’ – the purple striped toga. In 27 BC, Augustus claimed he had restored the republic.

Life-sized statues of a man and a woman were discovered in a tomb in Pompeii, researchers said, thousands of years after a deadly volcano wiped out the ancient Roman city . Researchers say the nearly ...