Leiden - disc chape for gladius?

[Tarbicus]

But to throw out Hellenistic armour and weapons as being worn by officers, can you offer an alternative example of what they would have actually worn? Using a 17th-18th C example of representation of officers is valid, but not proof that the same was happening 1600 years previously. I agree that representational art is dubious in a large scale propaganda piece, but I'm not convinced that every individual's portrait would have the same degree of stylisation. Tombstones of common soldiers are of individuals and offer us a unique view of them which we pretty much accept as accurate, which to a degree could be the same with officers but of higher quality.

Added: Have you seen what Galba once wore? http://www.romanarmy.com/rat/viewtopic.php?t=15779
Not necessarily a linothorax of hellenistic style, but it certainly does make you wonder.