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Ancient Times, Roman. - 017 - Costumes of All Nations (1882). The legions of the Roman Republic and Empire had a fairly standardised dress and armour, particularly from approximately the early to mid 1st century onward, when Lorica Segmentata (segmented armour) was introduced. [ 1 ]
Reconstruction of a Roman legionary. The lorica hamata (in Latin with normal elision: [loːr̺iːk‿(h)aːmaːt̪a]) is a type of mail armor used by soldiers [1] for over 600 years (3rd century BC to 4th century AD) from the Roman Republic to the Roman Empire. [2]
The size ranged from as small as 6 mm (0.25 in) wide by 1.2 cm tall up to about 5 cm (2 in) wide by 8 cm (3 in) tall, with the most common sizes being roughly 1.25 by 2.5 cm (0.5 by 1 in). Many had rounded bottoms, while others were pointed or had flat bottoms with the corners clipped off at an angle.
However, this name was not given to the armor by the Romans. Instead, it was given by scholars in the 16th century. [1] Despite the lack of knowledge on the Roman name for the armor, scholars can make educated guesses on the Roman name. It is obvious the name had the word lorica in it. [1] However, the following part of the name is unknown. [1]
During the Dacian Wars Trajan had to re-equip his soldiers wearing lorica segmentata with other forms of armor such as the lorica hamata and lorica squamata. [5] It is not known precisely when the Romans adopted the type of armor, [ 4 ] but it remained in use for about eight centuries, [ 4 ] most prominently in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD.
The size of a typical legion varied throughout the history of ancient Rome, with complements ranging from 4,200 legionaries and 300 equites (drawn from the wealthier classes – in early Rome all troops provided their own equipment) in the Republic, [1] to 5,500 in the Imperial period, when most legions were led by a Roman Imperial Legate.
The Roman legionary fought first and foremost with his contubernium, the basic eight man unit of the Roman army. [30] The men of the same contubernium fought, slept, ate, and trained together. This strong sense of camaraderie gave Roman legionaries a sense of pride and kept them fighting on the battlefield.
The armor from Ai Khanoum included an integrated gorget to which the manica was attached, while the armor from Taxila may have been for the thigh. [ 5 ] [ 6 ] [ 7 ] Manica was known in Anatolia by at least the 2nd century BCE, as evidenced on a relief from the Temple of Athena at Pergamon . [ 8 ]