03-16-2012, 03:23 AM
It's not clear why Vegetius stated that the Roman infantry when he wrote abandoned not only body armour but their helmets when Late Roman artwork and monumental works created after Adrianopolis shows infantry wearing body armour and wearing helmets. It may be that the troops Vegetius was grumbling about were Gothic recruits, he was railing against the barbarisation of the army after all.
Adrian Coombs-Hoar