01-09-2007, 06:01 PM
Hoke,
To be honest we do not know when Roman legionaries began wearing femenalia but the earliest evidence we have is from the Adamklissi metopes dating to Trajan's Dacian campaigns. From then on they are fairly commonly seen in sculpture.
This means that they may have been wearing them before the Dacian wars but as we do not have any evidence for them doing so I would recommend avoiding them for anything earlier than the early second century AD. You won't be in danger of being inaccurate then.
As to leg bindings, I would recommend using wool, both because wool is warm and because it tends to grip well against other woollen surfaces, meaning each turn of the binding on your leg should grip the one below and help to hold it up. I just used strips I cut from an old woollen blanket for mine but if you are a keen weever or know someone who is, purpose woven leg bindings would be stronger and longer lasting. I would recommend making them three to four inches wide and at least ten feet long. You could also consider linen, which would stand up to abraision from undergrowth better but would have a poorer grip on itself and would not insulate as well as wool.
Crispvs
To be honest we do not know when Roman legionaries began wearing femenalia but the earliest evidence we have is from the Adamklissi metopes dating to Trajan's Dacian campaigns. From then on they are fairly commonly seen in sculpture.
This means that they may have been wearing them before the Dacian wars but as we do not have any evidence for them doing so I would recommend avoiding them for anything earlier than the early second century AD. You won't be in danger of being inaccurate then.
As to leg bindings, I would recommend using wool, both because wool is warm and because it tends to grip well against other woollen surfaces, meaning each turn of the binding on your leg should grip the one below and help to hold it up. I just used strips I cut from an old woollen blanket for mine but if you are a keen weever or know someone who is, purpose woven leg bindings would be stronger and longer lasting. I would recommend making them three to four inches wide and at least ten feet long. You could also consider linen, which would stand up to abraision from undergrowth better but would have a poorer grip on itself and would not insulate as well as wool.
Crispvs
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