09-16-2014, 02:24 AM
I am now very curious about this matter. Certainly all those osprey books couldn't have been basing their reconstructions on nothing! Is there a basis to this? Or is it pure speculation?
My own research has only yielded a few Persian depictions of catapracts wearing what could be multiple types of armor. These are not detailed enough to determine what they are wearing exactly. Laminated arm guards seem probable, but the chest could be mail, a solid cuirass or a cloth surcoat. However, we do know that mail aventails were used with plate helmets by both the Romans and Sassanids. As combing lamellar and laminated armor would probably create gaps, would some mail not be sensible? The aventails prove that ancient knew the value of covering gaps with a flexible armor.
My own research has only yielded a few Persian depictions of catapracts wearing what could be multiple types of armor. These are not detailed enough to determine what they are wearing exactly. Laminated arm guards seem probable, but the chest could be mail, a solid cuirass or a cloth surcoat. However, we do know that mail aventails were used with plate helmets by both the Romans and Sassanids. As combing lamellar and laminated armor would probably create gaps, would some mail not be sensible? The aventails prove that ancient knew the value of covering gaps with a flexible armor.
