ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a brief overview of the varieties of ascetic and monastic life and of the different types of ascetic living that affected the choice of clothes. It presents the categories of sources, analyzes what kind of information they offer and how garments appear in them, and then turns to the Pachomian Rules (Praecepta) and their clothing inventories. The chapter considers how much space clothes are afforded in the Rules, discusses the origin of the habit, and surveys the contexts in which clothes appear.
