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armor costs!
#1
Hello, I was also wondering how much did their armor cost at that time?

I am trying to find a cost of a Roman Legionnaires FULL KIT in 64 BC.

Any info much appreciated!

Thanks
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#2
I seriously doubt that anyone could answer this question even in general terms.
Author: Bronze Age Military Equipment, Pen & Sword Books
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#3
I could cite early medieval laws on the prices of arms and armour, but the society and economy were so different, I do not think it would help much...
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[Image: regnumhesperium.png]
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#4
Quote:Hello, I was also wondering how much did their armor cost at that time?

I am trying to find a cost of a Roman Legionnaires FULL KIT in 64 BC.

Any info much appreciated!

Thanks
I don't know of any data from that early. It would have depended on what that kit included (what kind of lorica if any?) and how it was acquired (pater's old lorica may be free, the batch of pila bought by one of the people raising the legion costs whatever he can get away with). There are a few references from documents under the empire but I don't think anyone has collected them.

In England around 1300, the average price paid for a lance, sword, shield, iron cap, haubergeon, and gambeson was around a pound (240d). A country carpenter made around 2d a day (2 pounds a year). Based on that, a good set of weapons and metal armour was probably worth several months' pay in the first century BCE.
Nullis in verba

I have not checked this forum frequently since 2013, but I hope that these old posts have some value. I now have a blog on books, swords, and the curious things humans do with them.
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#5
Polybius in describing the Republican army stated that any soldiers rated above 10,000 drachmas could afford a chain-mail coat.
Henry O.
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#6
This is an interesting site and somewhat relevant to this discussion:

http://ancientcoinsforeducation.org/content/view/79/98/
_____________________________________________________
Mark Hayes

"The men who once dwelled beneath the crags of Mt Helicon, the broad land of Thespiae now boasts of their courage"
Philiades

"So now I meet my doom. Let me at least sell my life dearly and have a not inglorius end, after some feat of arms that shall come to the ears of generations still unborn"
Hektor, the Iliad
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#7
Some relevance of total costs involved:

Cicero's comment that the two under strength legions he controlled in Cilicia in 51 B.C. each cost about 3 million sestertii in pay and maintenance a year (Cicero, ad Fam., V , 20, 9, & ad Att., V, 11, 5), which was about 60% of the annual revenues of the province (Cf., Frank, pp. 136ff).
(Mika S.)

"Odi et amo. Quare id faciam, fortasse requiris? Nescio, sed fieri sentio et excrucior." - Catullus -

"Nemo enim fere saltat sobrius, nisi forte insanit."

"Audendo magnus tegitur timor." -Lucanus-
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#8
There would be a big difference in "entry level" equipment cost for new recruit and a veteran who has bought his own better and maybe silver and gold embellished kit that in part functions as a sort of savings account. Costs for equipment would likely have varied by region produced and whether local manufacture contracted from producers near Rome or made in Legionary workshops with "Free" labor.
I think the best way to get an idea of cost would be to estimate the materials and unskilled and skilled labor man hours required for a basic kit and compare to the wage rates prevalent during the period considered.
John Kaler MSG, USA Retired
Member Legio V (Tenn, USA)
Staff Member Ludus Militus https://www.facebook.com/groups/671041919589478/
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