05-25-2009, 11:19 PM
So I'm reading the book... Augustus: The Life of Rome's First Emperor by Anthony Everitt. What do I see a quarter of the way through the book (a biography mind you that is supposed to be accurate):
(Reference to a Legionary) "A soldier's armor consisted of a bronze helmet, a cuirass of leather or metal, an oblong or oval shield made of sheets of wood covered by ox-hide..."
Hang on there... a metal or leather cuirass? Am I missing something or were there never Lorica Hamata/Segmentata?
Is this a common misconception? That they had armor liked the ancient Greeks? I guess the General's (Senators) could or would wear armor like that, but he was referring to the standard soldier. I have heard that some sort of padding was often worn underneath the armor but that none have been found intact (either leather or wool).
So I wonder where he got that reference from. Seeing something like that makes me question the rest of his supposed accurate information in the biography of Augustus.
(Reference to a Legionary) "A soldier's armor consisted of a bronze helmet, a cuirass of leather or metal, an oblong or oval shield made of sheets of wood covered by ox-hide..."
Hang on there... a metal or leather cuirass? Am I missing something or were there never Lorica Hamata/Segmentata?
Is this a common misconception? That they had armor liked the ancient Greeks? I guess the General's (Senators) could or would wear armor like that, but he was referring to the standard soldier. I have heard that some sort of padding was often worn underneath the armor but that none have been found intact (either leather or wool).
So I wonder where he got that reference from. Seeing something like that makes me question the rest of his supposed accurate information in the biography of Augustus.
"It is the brave man\'s part to live with glory, or with glory die."
- Nomen: (T.J. Young)
- Nomen: (T.J. Young)
