Leather Armor? (NO HOLDS BARRED!!)

[Theodosius the Great]

Not strictly true Theo. I have recently spoken to a couple of archaeologists, one told me they were working on some leather-work from a well known site which they believed were pteryges. Report forthcoming?

Hey, I'm glad to be wrong on this point, Graham
I hope they verify their findings.

As for possible fragments of hardened armor, I wonder if they resemble any part of a musculata. Earlier we talked about those metal fragments that definitely appear to be from a musculata (although, their authenticity is in question at the moment).

Leather lamellar : has that been confirmed to be Roman ? Maybe it's Persian ?

Waterproofing leather : hmm...would the Romans have known this ? It wouldn't surprise me but I've never heard of the possibility until now. Before today, my main issue with the possible impracticality of leather was that it eventually soaked, softened, then rotted in a span of weeks. But waterproofing would seem to alleviate this problem, assuming the Romans knew about / could do it. How could they do it ? Maybe coating it in wax ?

Nevertheless I think there has been an unfair bias against leather armour in the recent past, probably because it appears in Hollywood films so often and they can not be right can they!

Hehe, I don't belong to the camp that says Hollywood always gets it wrong. I like seeing Attic helmets, although they perhaps overdo it a bit.

~Theo