Lorica Plumata Article by Erik Schmid

[Dan Howard]

Unless you actually see the stuff, it's very difficult to envisage just how small the scales are - around 5-7mm long. Even in this small scale, they have a median rib. I've always been intrigued by the name. Were they really meant to 'look' like feathers or were they meant to behave like feathers? Robinson states several times that sculptures such as the Adamklissi monument and some tombstones exaggerate the size of the scales. From even a small distance away, the median line, giving the appearance of a feather, is virtually invisible.

The medial ribs on larger scales (those attached to cloth or leather rather than mail) are visible from longer distances and look remarkably like feathers. Perhaps the Romans used the term "plumata" for these larger variants. There is no way that the Parthians would have covered their horses with scales as small as those found in the mail-and-scales variants we have, yet Justin calls it "plumata".