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The plates in the lorica segmentata armor were made by overlapping ferrous plates that were then riveted to straps made from leather. [1] [4] [5] It is unknown what animal was used to make the leather and if it was tanned or tawed. [1] The plates were made of soft iron on the inside and rolled mild steel on the outside. [1]
Roman lorica segmentata worn with manica. Laminar armour (from Latin: lamina – layer) is an armour made from horizontal overlapping rows or bands of, usually small, solid armour plates called lames, [1] as opposed to lamellar armour, which is made from individual armour scales laced together to form a solid-looking strip of armour.
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] However the lack of unified production for the Roman army meant that there were still considerable differences in detail.
Manicae (along with metal greaves) are attested as a supplement to metal body armor on several reliefs depicting that campaign, including the Tropaeum Traiani at Adamclisi and Trajan's Column. Trajan's column in Rome seems to suggest that the lorica segmentata and the manicae were only issued to Roman-born legionaries and not to auxiliaries.
"This includes a weight from a groma, a Roman surveying tool used only by legionaries, and a piece of armour, known as lorica segmentata, which was worn only by the legions," he explains.
A reenactor dressed as a Roman soldier in lorica segmentata. Lorica segmentata was a type of body armour primarily used in the early Roman Empire, but the Latin name was first used in the 16th century (the ancient form is unknown). The armour itself consisted of broad ferrous strips ('girth hoops') fastened to internal leather straps.
Legionary wearing a lorica segmentata. Chain-mail armour (lorica hamata) was the standard type of body protection used by legionaries during the late Republican period. [47] It was generally composed of iron rings that measured an average of 1 mm in thickness and 7 mm in diameter.
Legionary soldiers of the 1st and 2nd centuries had use of the lorica segmentata, or laminated-strip cuirass, as well as mail (lorica hamata) and scale armour (lorica squamata). Testing of modern copies have demonstrated that segmentata was impenetrable to most direct and missile strikes.