"Instant antique for stainless-steel warriors!"

[Matt Lukes]

Some think it means mirror finish - not me though.

Well if nothing else, that just seems impractical- with what would they have polished all their metal equipment to a mirror finish? I have a hell of a time doing it with anything other than a buffing wheel and jeweller's rouge! By wet sanding with 400, 600 and 800 grit sandpaper progressively, I got a single lorica segmentata steel pretty darn shiny (a test piece) but it was a LOT of work- there's no way I could do that to a whole cuirass. I have a hard time seeing any method the Romans might have used there to give anything but a burnished-type finish- which could be considered shiny in bright sunshine...