Leather Armor? (NO HOLDS BARRED!!)

[Sulla]

Just curios is this closest we get to a muscalata from the 1st century?


Image of Curios Piece

ROMAN MUSCLE CUIRASS ARMOR PIECE WITH NEMESIS CHEST TONDO
Material: Bronze
Era: Early 2nd Century AD
Culture: Roman
Style: Greco/Roman
Origin: From an old English collection, purportedly found in North Africa in the 1930s.
This is an Early 2nd Century AD Bronze Muscle Cuirass Piece with a Nemesis (Greek Goddess Of Retribution) Armor Chest Tondo. As there are no other known examples of Roman cuirass armor, this artifact is a highly important artifact. The piece is 28 cm x 27 cm and is made of very thin flexible sheet bronze, this thinness of the metal explains why there have been no other finds of this type of Roman armor. It weighs approximately 11 oz with half of that weight belonging to the nemesis tondo. The piece's collar rim is rolled and the tondo is attached by three rivet nails with a fourth one missing. The bronze sheet's workmanship is refined and shows very little evidence of hammering. Encircling the armor chest tondo is a small amount of dark discoloration. Starting approximately 3 inches below the chest tondo and continuing to the piece's bottom edges is a shiny residue with a similar but darker discoloration. This may be the petrified remnants of wax that would have once been used as a lightweight back filler for gold, silver, or gold and silver appliques applied to the armor. This discoloration and statues depicting cuirasses from this period indicate there were very likely more appliques which were applied to the armor in addition to the nemesis tondo, although the nemesis is the only remaining decoration on this piece. The nemesis tondo should have originally had a circular applique mounting over the nail rivets that would have had a gold or silver foil covering on the face of the tondo. With a thin leather or cloth lining the armor would have been extremely attractive, lightweight, and comfortable. There is no evidence of any gilding or silvering with this armor piece. I suspect that this armor had been stripped of its precious metal appliques, foil, or both in antiquity. The region where this artifact was purportedly found was where the ancient Roman province of Mauritania had once been. This province had one legion (Legion VIII Augusta) which means that the Roman Governor was also the legion's Legate (Commander).

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