[3] This attire was characteristically colorful, but lacking further description in ancient literature or a secure identification of the synthesis in art, scholars have viewed it variously as an ensemble or suit, or a single garment that was a sort of robe or tunic-mantle combination.
[5] The garment might be conspicuously expensive, and Martial mentions one of his friends giving a fine synthesis to his mistress on the occasion of the Matronalia.
[7] The toga, the Roman male citizen's characteristic garment, was cumbersome and considered inappropriate for reclining at dinner.
[8] The synthesis was a colorful alternative for private leisure, and wearing it in everyday public life was a faux pas.
It could be worn during the day in public only during the Saturnalia, the December festival during which social norms were turned topsy-turvy.