Unknown Centurio Graz museum

[Dan Howard]

FYI, Athens had a huge white leather exporting business in classical times. The leather was TAWED with alum and salts, not tanned. The tawed leather was not as sturdy as the tanned leather, but was in demand anyway (white leather spola).

Tawed is not as good. It seems unlikely to make a cuirass of something that is fragile and water sensible...

When tawed leather is made properly it is tougher and more springy than tanned leather, but not as much as rawhide - somewhere between the two. It is a good material from which to make armour. It is just as water-resistant as rawhide and tanned leather. Some cultures made sails from tawed leather (including the Veneti - Caesar, B.G. 3.13). A marine environment is hardly conducive to materials that can't handle moisture.