<P> Late republican practice and legal reform allowed the creation of standing armies, and opened a military career to any Roman citizen or freedman of good reputation . A soldier who showed the requisite "disciplined ferocity" in battle and was held in esteem by his peers and superiors could be promoted to higher rank: a plebeian could rise to equestrian status . Non-citizens and foreign - born auxiliaries given honourable discharge were usually granted citizenship, land or stipend, the right to wear the toga, and an obligation to the patron who had granted these honours; usually their senior officer . A dishonourable discharge meant infamia . Colonies of retired veterans were scattered throughout the Empire . In literary stereotype, civilians are routinely bullied by burly soldiers, inclined to throw their weight around . </P> <P> Though soldiers were citizens, Cicero typifies the former as "sagum wearing" and the latter as "togati". He employs the phrase cedant arma togae ("let arms yield to the toga"), meaning "may peace replace war", or "may military power yield to civilian power", in the context of his own uneasy alliance with Pompey . He intended it as metonym, linking his own "power to command" as consul (imperator togatus) with Pompey's as general (imperator armatus); but it was interpreted as a request to step down . Cicero, having lost Pompey's ever - wavering support, was driven to exile . In reality, arms rarely yielded to civilian power . During the early Roman Imperial era, members of the Praetorian Guard (the emperor's personal guard as "First Citizen", and a military force under his personal command), concealed their weapons under white, civilian - style togas when on duty in the city, offering the reassuring illusion that they represented a traditional Republican, civilian authority, rather than the military arm of an Imperial autocracy . </P> <P> Citizens attending Rome's frequent religious festivals and associated games were expected to wear the toga . The toga praetexta was the normal garb for most Roman priesthoods, which tended to be the preserve of high status citizens . When offering sacrifice, libation and prayer, and when performing augury, the officiant priest covered his head with a fold of his toga, drawn up from the back: the ritual was thus performed capite velato (with covered head). This was believed a distinctively Roman form, in contrast to Etruscan, Greek and other foreign practices . The Etruscans seem to have sacrificed bareheaded (capite aperto). In Rome, the so - called ritus graecus (Greek rite) was used for deities believed Greek in origin or character; the officiant, even if citizen, wore Greek - style robes with wreathed or bare head, not the toga . It has been argued that the Roman expression of piety capite velato influenced Paul's prohibition against Christians praying with covered heads: "Any man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head ." </P> <P> An officiant capite velato who needed free use of both hands to perform ritual could employ the "Gabinian cincture" (cinctus Gabinus), which tied the toga back . It was thought to derive from the priestly practice of ancient, warlike Gabii . Etruscan priests also employed the Gabine cinch . In Rome, it was one of the elements in making a declaration of war . </P>

Which character has been known to wear each color robe