Birrus Britannicus

• The Birrus Britannicus, also known as a ‘Cucullus’, was a woollen cape with a hood, from Britannia, worn by the Britons and used by the soldiers on Hadrian's Wall.

Diocletian's Price List (301 CE)

• The Birrus was exported as a luxury item to Rome.
• Diocletian’s Price List fixed the value of a Birrus Britannicus at 6,000 Denarii, and of two other kinds of woollen rugs, the Tapete Britannicum, one priced at 4,000 Denarii, the other at 5,000 Denarii.
• Wages for a day’s labour varied between 20-50 Denarii per day.
• Consequently, these woollen goods can be seen to have been very expensive, worth around 5 times the annual salary of ordinary Romans.