Roman Full Plate Armor?

[john m roberts]

There was a brief period in the 5th-6th century BC that a hoplite could have something close to full plate. I've seen at least one figurine of a hoplite in helmet, bell cuirass with pendant lower-abdomen/groin plate, thigh guards, greaves, upper and lower arm guards for the right arm, plus a shield. There were even hinged foot guards available. As noted before, the ancients never worked out articulation for the joints, but it was more complete armor for the footman than was to be seen again for centuries. However, the supplementary pieces soon fell from favor and the hoplites were again content with the classic combination of helmet, cuirass and greaves. So there was nothing impracticable about fuller plate coverage, it just wasn't considered desirable.