Metal plate beneath Linothorakes or Spolades

[PMBardunias]

Paul,the image provided is too small,and very hard to imagine why it might have been a part of the thorax as you have illustrated.

I don't understand what you mean by too small. The fragment could clearly cover the whole chest in its original, undecomposed state.

In my spolas thread i have demonstrated how the "decorative" bands might have had a function,and my belief is that they added flexibility and feedom of movement.

Perhaps, but they are not seen on all images, so clearly were not a neccesity. (Your spolas is great by the way!)

Now if we assume that there were metal plates inbetween,since they have to be curved in one axis,it would be impossible to bent on the other. More so if they were riveted together.

But no worse that a bronze plate cuirasse, which obviously functioned fine. Also, we don't know how far down the metal extended over the abdomen.

Also,if the spolas is a tube and yoke cuirass made of leather,then at least the one that the Spartan hoplite wore when shot by a Carduchian certainly didn't have metal plates underneath! No arrow could have penetrated shield,leather and bronze and kill a man!

Clearly there is a lot of room around the metal that an arrow could penetrate, as well as the sides and rear. Plus the bronze or iron might not be very thick. Enought to stop a sword or spear may fail against a huge Karduchian arrow.

Also,the theory makes completely pointless the extensive use of scales on those corselets.

Not at all. I would not expect both to be seen on an armor. This does I think make very good sense of an armor like that shown above that has a scales on the sides-even the left- but not the front. I am also not suggesting that all such armors had this reinforcement, but that plates beneath were an option like scales above.

Last,this theory i think has originated on the Vergina cuirass,and this is quite differently constructed. Interestingly,in that cuirass the decorative band on the belly is just that,decorative.

This has nothing to do with the Vergina cuirasse. I believe the vergina cuirasse to be an all metal mock-up of a textile/leather armor. This is more analogous to a coat of plates, with a the metal beneath the material.