Coats, Hosen, and Hats (Dan. iii, 21)

These were not articles of dress, but badges of office. It will be recollected that Shadrach and his two companions had recently been set over provinces of Babylon; and Nebuchadnezzar degraded them by insisting on their wearing their insignia of office. The word cap would be better than “hat,” their caps of office; and sandals would be better than “hosen.” Coats or cloaks have always designated office. “Hosen” means what the Romans called calceus patricius, which were sandalled up to the calf of the leg. Every Latin scholar knows that calceos mutare means to “become a senator.”