03-24-2011, 09:29 AM
Actually, much armour from the 14th century on was produced by armour guilds and sold openly in shops, avaliable to any soldier that wanted/was able to pay for it.
Didn't Roman soldiers have to buy their own gear? If they did, perhaps armour was manufactured and sold by private workshops following guidelines set by the government.
If Romans were issued their equiptment, the "government contract" theory is more likely.
I'm just not aware of much surviving information on how Roman armouring or the Roman military industry functioned.
From the 14th Century however is the begining of the end of the Medieval times, and a good 800 years since the Fall of Rome. Armor may have been sold at shops to anyone with enough money, but given that peasants usually lived in poverty (or were serfs) they had little ability to buy armor, let alone have a use for it. Until the Marius Reforms, soldiers were responsible for purchasing their own equipment is true, however do we know if they had to buy certain armor, or could they really buy anything as little or as much as they wanted? I do not believe we know. Post Marian Reforms soldier would have to pay if their armor had to be replaced, or if new equipment became available, but I would doubt they had to pay the entire cost, I am under the impression that they had to pay (and dont take it too seriously like this) but a deductable, meaning they only had to pay for a portion of their total equipment when upgrades were available
Didn't Roman soldiers have to buy their own gear? If they did, perhaps armour was manufactured and sold by private workshops following guidelines set by the government.
If Romans were issued their equiptment, the "government contract" theory is more likely.
I'm just not aware of much surviving information on how Roman armouring or the Roman military industry functioned.
From the 14th Century however is the begining of the end of the Medieval times, and a good 800 years since the Fall of Rome. Armor may have been sold at shops to anyone with enough money, but given that peasants usually lived in poverty (or were serfs) they had little ability to buy armor, let alone have a use for it. Until the Marius Reforms, soldiers were responsible for purchasing their own equipment is true, however do we know if they had to buy certain armor, or could they really buy anything as little or as much as they wanted? I do not believe we know. Post Marian Reforms soldier would have to pay if their armor had to be replaced, or if new equipment became available, but I would doubt they had to pay the entire cost, I am under the impression that they had to pay (and dont take it too seriously like this) but a deductable, meaning they only had to pay for a portion of their total equipment when upgrades were available
Quintus Furius Collatinus
-Matt
-Matt
