Paludamentum

paludamenta) was a cloak or cape fastened at one shoulder, worn by military commanders (e.g., the legatus) and rather less often by their troops.

[1] Children would also wear it sometimes, when there was bad weather and they needed protection.

The paludamentum was generally crimson, scarlet, or purple in colour,[2] or sometimes white.

[3] It was fastened at the shoulder with a clasp, called a fibula, whose form and size varied through time.

Putting on the paludamentum was a ceremonial act on setting out for war.