<P> Pliny the Elder in his Natural History and Varro related that the Romans did not begin to cut their hair short until barbers were introduced to Italy from Sicily by P. Ticinius Mena in 299 BC . Women in Roman times valued long hair, usually with a center part . Apart from in the earliest times, men's hair was usually shorter than women's, although other cultures of the time, such as Greeks in the east, considered long hair to be typical of philosophers, who were thought to be too engrossed in learning to bother with hair . Strictly in the province of Rome, however, the shorter hairstyle was especially popular . When Julius Caesar conquered the Gauls, who favored long hair, he ordered it to be cut short . </P> <P> In the European middle ages, shorter hair often signified servitude and peasantry, while long hair was often attributed to freemen, as was the case with the Germanic Goths and Merovingians . </P> <P> The Gaelic Irish (both men and women) took great pride in their long hair--for example, a person could be heavily fined for cutting a man's hair short against his will . When the Anglo - Normans and the English colonized Ireland, hair length came to signify one's allegiance . Irishmen who cut their hair short were deemed to be forsaking their Irish heritage . Likewise, English colonists who wore their hair long in the back were deemed to be forsaking their role as English subjects and giving in to the Irish life . Thus, hair length was one of the most common ways of judging a true Englishman in this period . Muslims in Christian areas were ordered to keep their hair short and parted, as their longer style was considered rebellious and barbaric . </P> <P> The long hair tradition was widespread among English and French men in the 11th and 12th centuries, though it was considered, mostly because of endorsement of the Roman Catholic Church, acceptable for men also to have shorter hair . The tradition was largely brought about by monarchs who rejected the shorter hairstyle, causing the people to follow . Wulfstan, a religious leader, worried that those with longer hair would fight like women, and be unable to protect England from foreign invasion . This idea can be found in later military leaders as well, such as those of the American Confederacy . Knights and rulers would also sometimes cut or pull out their hair in order to show penitence and mourning, and a squire's hair was generally shorter than a knight's . Married women who let their hair flow out in public were frowned upon, as this was normally reserved for the unwed, although they were allowed to let it out in mourning, to show their distressed state . Through these centuries it was expected of Eastern Christians to wear long hair as well as long beards, which was especially expected from clergy and monks . </P>

When did long hair go out of style