05-07-2013, 11:25 PM
Philusestilius wrote:
I do think that with the lack of any metal cuirasses of the early to mid Imperial period were they not indeed made of leather, for it appears to be as rare to find a metal one as it is to find a leather one.
Part of that problem would likely be the scarcity of officers (who seem more likely to wear a muscle cuirass) in relation to the number of "enlisted". Of the hundreds of thousands of men who wore mail and segmentata, we have found only a relative handful of isolated samples to reconstruct what the common rank and file would have worn. The odds of finding an officer's musculata just laying around in good enough shape to tell us anything become depressingly remote.
It's a missing puzzle piece akin to a legion's eagle- we can be pretty dang sure that they existed, but none have ever been found (to my knowledge).
I do think that with the lack of any metal cuirasses of the early to mid Imperial period were they not indeed made of leather, for it appears to be as rare to find a metal one as it is to find a leather one.
Part of that problem would likely be the scarcity of officers (who seem more likely to wear a muscle cuirass) in relation to the number of "enlisted". Of the hundreds of thousands of men who wore mail and segmentata, we have found only a relative handful of isolated samples to reconstruct what the common rank and file would have worn. The odds of finding an officer's musculata just laying around in good enough shape to tell us anything become depressingly remote.
It's a missing puzzle piece akin to a legion's eagle- we can be pretty dang sure that they existed, but none have ever been found (to my knowledge).
Take what you want, and pay for it
-Spanish proverb
-Spanish proverb
