In ancient Rome, a heated hollow tube or rod, usually made of metal, used to curl or crimp hair; an early curling iron.
From Latin 'calamistrum', derived from 'calamis' (reed) because the original tools were heated reed tubes. The Romans adopted the technique from Greek beauty practices.
A calamistrum was literally the first curling iron—Roman beauty routines required heating these metal tubes in fires and winding hair around them, a risky but essential fashion statement.
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