Phalera constructions

[Crispvs]

Brian,

I doubt that the Romans would have been so wasteful as to use a whole section of hide and then cut pieces out as shown in your photo. They certainly used complete sections of hide where they needed to, such as in tents, but we also know that they had a waste-not-want-not mentality which caused them to re-use anything they could under normal circumstances. The Carlisle manicae are a good example of that, but so are the numerous pieces of worn edge pieces of shield covers which had been cut away from the rest of the leather, presumably to use it for something else. With such a mindset, it would make far greater sense to use straps and sew them together where they crossed, as Renatus says, as this would end up wasting far less leather.

"one just above the waist the other below that allows waist belts to be worn for dagger and sword that do not interfere with the phalerae."

I agree with your placement of straps, but it should be noted that the dagger is incorrectly positioned and if worn the way the Romans did (ie without the anacronistic short straps), would be be around three inches higher on the body.

Crispvs