05-09-2013, 02:58 AM
Quote:I think that many people base their idea of pteruges on those depicted on statues of emperors or generals. Study of these images is certainly interesting, but personally I doubt that this brings us very close to what soldiers in the field would have been equipped with. The emperor statues feature pteruges which appear to be woven (the outer layer at least), which are edged, perhaps with leather, and which feature fringes, which may or may not be made from the twisted ends of the threads the outer layers are woven from. By contrast (and even allowing for possible painted details which have been lost), the pteruges depicted on military funerary stelae (eg - M. Favonius Facilis, M. Caelius and C. Castricius Victor) seem much plainer. One gets the impression of looking at slabs of thick, undecorated leather.
I make two assumptions about pteruges. Firstly, that they were intended as flexible protection which extended beyond the extent of the hard armour, and secondly that their origin was related, either directly or indirectly to the pteruges which featured on the much earlier linothorax.
These two assumptions lead me to a third assumption: that they should be sufficiently robust as to be able to dissipate a good deal of blunt force trauma.
Working on the assumption of a descent from the linothorax and given the stiff appearance on the stelae, pteruges could be made from multiple layers of stiff linen or perhaps even strips of rawhide with linen and/or leather outer layers. It has sometime also occurred to me that the reason pteruges are generally shown with two or more layers might not be just to allow to coverage of gaps created by movement, but might also be to allow a tough outer layer combined with padded inner layers to reduce blunt force trauma. Either way, I wouldn't put fringes on the pteruges of a frontline soldier.
If you want to depict a general in 'parade dress' on the other hand.....
Crispvs
As someone who's taken a great deal of time looking into and ruminating on the subarmalis, I'd just like to add my vote of confidence and general agreement with everything Crispus says. Excellent and succinct summary!
Alexander
