Pallium (Roman cloak) in the context of "Himation"

Fabula palliata is a genre of Roman drama that consists largely of Romanized versions of Greek plays. The name palliata comes from pallium, the Latin word for a Greek-style cloak (himation). It is possible that the term fabula palliata indicates that the actors who performed wore such cloaks. Another possibility is that the fabula itself is metaphorically "cloaked" in a Greek style. As in all Roman drama, the actors wore masks that easily identified which of the stock characters they represented.

Lucius Livius Andronicus (/ˈlɪviəs/; Greek: Λούκιος Λίβιος Ανδρόνικος; c. 284 – c. 204 BC) was a Greco-Roman dramatist and epic poet of the Old Latin period during the Roman Republic. He began as an educator in the service of a noble family, producing Latin translations of Greek works, including Homer's Odyssey. The translations were meant, at first, as educational devices for the school which he founded. He also wrote works for the stage—both tragedies and comedies—which are regarded as the first dramatic works written in the Latin language. His comedies were based on Greek New Comedy and featured characters in Greek costume. Thus, the Romans referred to this new genre by the term comoedia palliata or fabula palliata, meaning "cloaked comedy," the pallium being a Greek-style cloak. The Roman biographer Suetonius later coined the term "half-Greek" of Livius and Ennius (referring to their genre, not their ethnic backgrounds). The genre was imitated by later generations of playwrights, and Andronicus is accordingly regarded as the father of Roman drama and of Latin literature in general; that is, he was the first man of letters to write in Latin. Varro, Cicero, and Horace, all men of letters during the subsequent Classical Latin period, considered Livius Andronicus to have been the originator of Latin literature. He is the earliest Roman poet whose name is known.

The palla was an elegant cloak or mantle that was wrapped around the body. It was worn outside the house by (affluent) Roman women. It was a luxurious version of the Roman men's pallium. The palla was a traditional ancient Roman mantle worn by women, fastened by brooches. The shape was rectangular instead of semi-circular, as with the traditional toga. The garment dates to the 3rd century BC, but the type of dress must be much older. In Latin literature, the term palla is used ambiguously. It can denote not only a cloak, but also a foot-length sleeveless dress with straps (or a brooch) worn directly on the skin. The second is a common dress form in the entire Mediterranean world. In a Greek cultural context, this is called peplos. In a Roman cultural context, if worn by a Roman matron, it also takes the name stola.