Leather Armor? (NO HOLDS BARRED!!)

[tlclark]

The early musculata is largely inspired by the late hellenistic linothorax, meaning that in Republican and early imperial times, it is most likely leather or composite.

Why? What makes you think that the Greeks wore leather cuirasses? Virtually all of the evidence points to linen or metal. There is nothing to suggest that leather was used in the linothorax.

Yes and no. I agree that there is probably not any significant use of leather with the musculata, but I never said that there was. I only suggested a tighter link between the linothorax and the musculata. Near the end of the development of the linothorax in the hellenistic period, there are number of modifications that are made, scales and plates are added, as well as other features and decorations. Some of the decoratiosn could be leather, but that's not the same thing of course. When you look at the linothorax it disguises the form of the body, rendering the torso a cylinder. The musculata does not.

The early musculatae look more like the linothorax than the muscled cuirass. At some point the muscled form appears.

Now either the artist intended us to assume that the form was so tight fitting as to reveal the muscles, or the cuirass itself assumed the muscled form.

Rather, the reason I think the musculata uses leather is simple. The evidence suggests it is flexible, and yet it retains something of the muscled shape. What material available in the ancient world could do that? That list is pretty small, leather is the best alternative.