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Pileus (hat)
Felt conical or half-egg-shaped cap, worn in Ancient Greece, Rome and by ecclesiastics / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The pileus (Ancient Greek: πῖλος, pîlos; also pilleus or pilleum in Latin) was a brimless felt cap worn in Ancient Greece, Etruria, Illyria (especially Pannonia),[1][2][3][4] later also introduced in Ancient Rome.[5] The pileus also appears on Apulian red-figure pottery.
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The pilos together with the petasos were the most common types of hats in Archaic and Classical era (8th–4th century BC) Greece.[6] In the 5th century BC, a bronze version began to appear in Ancient Greece and it became a popular infantry helmet. It occasionally had a horsehair crest.[7] The Greek pilos resembled the Roman and Etruscan pileus, which were typically made of felt.[8] The Greek πιλίδιον (pilidion) and Latin pilleolus were smaller versions, similar to a skullcap.
Similar caps were worn in later antiquity and the early medieval ages in various parts of Europe, as seen in Gallic and Frankish dress.[8] The Albanian traditional felt cap, the plis, worn today in Albania, Kosovo and adjacent areas, originated from a similar felt cap worn by the ancient Illyrians.
A pointed version called pileus cornutus served as a distinguishing sign for the Jewish people in the Holy Roman Empire for five centuries (12th–17th centuries).[9]