Gladiator Armor

[darthbooger]

Hey Roman Armory,
The names Eddie, im US Army stationed in TX and I am looking for a new hobby. This whole leather working thing seems fun, and im kind of a gladiator nut. After going to this last renn fair I noticed a lack of leather armors, mainly cheap costumes and metal. Being the gladiator fan that I am, I am a huge Spartacus Blood and Sand fan. I was wondering first off if there are any patterns on here for the armor Spartacus wears in the ludus? Or something very similar. Also here in TX leather is fairly cheap, what kind of leather should I be buying for a project like this? I want the most authentic look possible of course.
Thanks!
Eddie

[M. Demetrius]

Hey, Eddie, which part of Texas? And welcome to the forum!

I guess the first question ought to be, "Are you looking for a costume like Spartacus on TV, or the equipment that Spartacus (the real guy) and subsequent gladiators actually wore?" If the former, I don't know of a place to buy costume.

If the latter, well there are many resources available to show how they dressed and what kinds of armor they wore. In my opinion, however uninformed I may be, neither TV, nor movies, nor Ren Faires are good historical sources to draw conclusions from, but if you're looking for fantasy costumes, that's another story altogether, and the arena is wide open.

[jvrjenivs]

As David already suggested, the real stuff wasn't much leather...

[darthbooger]

Yea, I just said what he wears in the ludud... which is leather

[darthbooger]

I am wanting to pick up leatherworking as a hobby and am looking for leather armor plans, and types of leather to use that is available today, and i know renn faires are not accurate places for history...

[jvrjenivs]

Yea, I just said what he wears in the ludud... which is leather

Well, in the ludus he would most probably have worn just a tunic. Linnen on a hot day or wool on a cold one. He might have used a belt with some leather backing, though.

[darthbooger]

Okay let me rephrase this im doing this based off the show... if you haven't seen it, dont comment, this forum is a waste of time...

[jvrjenivs]

Okay let me rephrase this im doing this based off the show... if you haven't seen it, dont comment, this forum is a waste of time...

??? I don't see your point. This forum is about doing historical correct stuff, so that is what you'll get comments on here. I did see the various movies about gladiators, but if you ask a question on a historical/re-enactment forum, you can expect to get an answer about historical figures, not about movies...

Good luck with your leatherwork, nevertheless. Making your own gear is a nice thing, anyhow.

[M. Demetrius]

I've seen some of the series, so I guess I'm eligible to comment? Also, I headed up a gladiator school a few years back, and did some research into helmets, padded arm/hand armor, different kinds of greaves, and that sort of thing. As a prototype, I made a leather manica, just to see how it went together and how well it would work. It worked fine, and was actually easier than I'd thought it would be. If the school had continued, I might have made one or more of those from brass or light steel. But it didn't, so I didn't.

I think I understand what you're trying to do. If you want replicas of what they wore on the show, I doubt you can find much to help you here, except what you can glean from researched topics on how some piece of gladiator gear was *actually made/used* and see how they transposed that to the TV series. There are a couple of forums around that deal with that sort of armor and weapons, also. Some of the Amtgard armorers are pretty close to what you're talking about. Leather is used often in their kit, so they might help you.

You'll need some rivets, probably the two piece ones like you can get at Tandy's will do for your purposes, and some of those have a domed piece on both sides, so the inside won't look so funky. They also have a number of sorts of metal studs and half-domes that are often used to decorate horse tack that might be of use to your project. And, they have some flat-headed copper rivets with round washers that are a breeze to use and peen.

You'll need a good pair of scissors that can cut belt-weight leather. A rotary leather punch, and maybe a couple of single-sized drive punches. A ball peen hammer and something to use for an anvil, for setting rivets and bending metal rods to make rings, etc. If you plan to use their copper rivets, then you really should get the appropriate Tandy rivet setting tool. It will save you a ton of time and bent rivets. Often, there is a small anvil surface on the stationary part of a common shop vise. You'll probably need one of those, too, but they're fairly cheap, and can be had from Harbor Freight or a similar store. Make mockups of heavy cardboard, or maybe the flat parts of plastic milk jugs before you cut the leather. Then when you have the fit and the look you want, you can cut the leather and assemble it.

If you use their dyes, though, be advised that most of them will bleed color when they get wet, so either seal the parts with lacquer, or use on of the oil-based dyes. The water dyes will always lose color onto whatever is under it, and while they come out of the leather, they rarely come out of cloth. Sigh. Ask me how I know that....

Does that help at all? While we don't really make or talk a lot about fantasy armor, if you begin to investigate how the Ancient Gladiators equipped themselves, who knows? the bug may bite and you'll start making historical reproductions of their gear.

Let me know if you need any other direction points. I'll try to find out what you are looking for, if I can.

[john roberts]

Eddie,
You're saying "Don't comment" to some of the top scholars in the field. I'm actually a fan of the series, but you'll have to show a little respect if you want decent advice. The series is a fantasy based loosely on historical fact. Some of the outfits are fairly accurate, but they're accurate for the late 1st century AD, not the early first century BC. The helmets are all wrong for the time period. The full-length manicae likewise. Ask politely, and you'll get great advice and we're pretty patient here. If you can't, check the fantasy forums.

[PMBardunias]

I'm a fan of the series too, but it is the lack of costumes that I admire...