Kausia
In its own language: καυσία
A flat hat of ancient Macedonia, worn by kings and later as sun cover in Rome
The kausia was a flat hat of ancient Macedonia, worn from the Hellenistic period and perhaps earlier. Kings wore a purple one with a diadem, while poorer people in Rome later used it as shelter from the sun, and depictions survive on coins and statues from the Mediterranean to northwestern India.
The kausia is a flat hat from ancient Macedonia. Kings wore a purple version with a diadem as part of royal dress, and the name comes from its use in keeping off the heat. It was worn in the Hellenistic period, perhaps before Alexander the Great, and poorer people in Rome later used it as protection from the sun.
What it is
The kausia, also spelled causia, was a flat hat of ancient Macedonia. Its name comes from the Greek word for keeping off the heat. The hat belonged to the Hellenistic period, and it may have been worn before the time of Alexander the Great. In Rome, poorer people later used it as protection from the sun. Ancient coins and statues show it from the Mediterranean to the east. Modern writers have argued about where the hat first came from.
The royal hat
Among the Macedonians the kausia was more than a sun hat. Kings wore a purple one with a diadem, a band around the head, as part of the royal costume. That is the clearest picture the ancient evidence gives of the hat's place in court dress, and the sources say nothing about its cut or material. Ordinary wearers, by contrast, used it to keep the heat off. So the same flat shape could mark a king in Macedonia and shade a poor worker in Rome.
Where it is shown
Depictions of the kausia can be seen on coins and statues. They have been found from the Mediterranean across to the Greco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek kingdoms in northwestern India, which shows how far the hat travelled in images. Persian sources called the Macedonians and the rest of the Greeks Yauna, their word for Ionians, and drew a line between Yauna by the sea and Yauna Takabara, those whose hats looked like shields. Scholars take the second phrase as a probable reference to the Macedonian kausia.
Debate about origins
Writers disagree about where the kausia came from. Bonnie Kingsley compared it with the pakol, a hat still worn in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Northwest India. She wondered whether Alexander and veterans of his Indus Valley campaigns carried it west as part of their kit, taking it from people in the southern Hindu Kush around 327/326 BC. Ernst Fredricksmeyer thought the kausia was already too settled a part of Macedonian dress to have come from Asia, and explained the likeness by local people adopting it after Alexander's conquest. Willem Vogelsang rejects both views, saying the pakol appeared independently in the early modern period.
How Kausia is kept
The kausia is not tied to a ceremony, so there are no steps to follow. In Macedonia it was part of ordinary dress and, in a purple form with a diadem, of royal dress. Wearers put it on to keep the heat off. In Rome, poorer people used it for shade from the sun. Today it is known mainly from ancient coins, statues and the writings of historians.
When and where
The kausia belonged to the Hellenistic period, and it may have been worn before the time of Alexander the Great. It was still in use in Rome, where poorer people wore it against the sun. There is no festival, season or fixed date attached to it in the sources.
The kausia comes from ancient Macedonia. Depictions of it appear on coins and statues from the Mediterranean to the Greco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek kingdoms in northwestern India. Poorer people in Rome also wore it as protection from the sun. The sources name no city as its home.
What Kausia means
Among the Macedonians the kausia carried rank as well as shade. A purple one with a diadem marked a king, so the flat hat could stand for royal authority. To outsiders the shape was distinctive enough to name a people by: Persian sources spoke of Yauna Takabara, those whose hats looked like shields. For poorer people in Rome it was simply cover from the sun.
Questions people ask about Kausia
What is a kausia?
It was a flat hat worn in ancient Macedonia. Its name comes from the Greek word for keeping off the heat. Macedonian kings wore a purple kausia with a diadem, and in Rome poorer people later used the same kind of hat as protection from the sun.
When was it worn?
It was worn during the Hellenistic period, and possibly before the time of Alexander the Great. It was still used in Rome, where poorer classes wore it against the sun. The sources give no festival or fixed date for it.
Where was it worn?
Its home was ancient Macedonia. Depictions of the kausia can be found on coins and statues from the Mediterranean to the Greco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek kingdoms in northwestern India. In Rome it served as a sun hat for poorer people.
How is it connected with the pakol?
The pakol is a hat worn today in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Northwest India. Bonnie Kingsley and Ernst Fredricksmeyer offered different links between the two hats, and Willem Vogelsang rejects both, saying the pakol appeared independently in the early modern period.
See also
TablionAn embroidered panel on the ceremonial mantle of Byzantine courtiers.
Karagöz and HacivatA Turkish shadow play of two quarrelling friends, acted on a lit screen behind a curtain
SampingA traditional Malay waist cloth worn over festive attire in Southeast Asia
KhruiA sheer ceremonial robe worn by Thai royalty and now as academic dress at universities.Good reading and sources
- Kausia on WikipediaEncyclopedia
- More photos on Wikimedia CommonsPhotos and video
- Wikidata recordOpen data
The facts on this page come from the Wikipedia article "Kausia", written by its contributors and used under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence, and from its Wikidata record (CC0). EveryParampara rewrote the text in its own words, with AI assistance, and compares every page with the article to make sure no passage is copied. It may be reused under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 licence with a link back.
It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-10.
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