Segmentata hinges: what function do they serve?

[lorica2011]

Specifically, why are there hinges on the breast and shoulder plates?

I've been scratching my head over the pictures and material covered on many sites, and it's still not really clear to me what advantage the hinges grant.

Just recently I roughed out a shoulder section as a prelude to making a full segmentata, and I just used a single plate for the major shoulder lame. When I check how it lies on me against various pictures of people's impressions, it seems that I have the general curve right, but I can't detect any significant loss of mobility which a hinge would restore.

At this point I am guessing that the hinge on the shoulder plate is only there to allow the hinge on the breastplate to swing around properly. Presumably this means that having a hinged breastplate DOES improve flexibility/mobility... I don't have one made up to check against, however.

Can anyone with experience in wearing/donning a segmentata comment on this?

Thanks,
-R

[Titus Marius Secundus]

I have no experience wearing a segmentata, but, I can't understand what you're talking about either. Those brass hinges verses leather straps? ...

[lorica2011]

[attachment=1325]sgextf.jpg[/attachment]

The large lobate hinges.

(pic stolen from legioxx)

[Titus Marius Secundus]

well u see with those, they are there to keep form and not twist, or else the armor would distort. Hinges are very flexible in the ways they're supposed to bend. The outer shoulder blades are supposed to twist and bend for the arm movements. If there were leather straps riveted instead, the plates would move side to side and up and down giving away vulnerable areas. Hinges, just up and down. Understand?

[Titus Marius Secundus]

P.S I looove the legio xx hand books etc!!! best out there

[Nurglitch]

Of course the definitive answer we will never know But we can speculate.

It is easier to obtain or - in field conditions - make a smaller sheet of metal than it is to obtain/make larger one. So armour constructed from smaller pieces has the advantage over armour constructed from larger ones.

In addition the shoulder guards are hinged in the area you would expect to be hit. In this case it is easier to replace a bent/damaged section - you don't have to replace the entire shoulder guard.

Of course there may be another reason - this is how the first segmentata was made, possibly without any reason or simply because the armourer had only steel leftovers to work with, and since it worked averyone else just copied it.

[MARCvSVIBIvSMAvRINvS]

Make a segmentata without shoulder hinges and one with.

Then wear them alternately and while wearing it let a strong man with a wooden club hit you on the shoulder with all the force he has in him.

Then it will become very obvious why the hinges are there...

M.VIB.M.

[lorica2011]

I think MAVRINVS is describing this:



[attachment=1326]shoulder.GIF[/attachment]


Which would certainly make sense.

[Titus Marius Secundus]

meh, I don't know :/ seems like a tough one :-( The hinges will offer more protection to a blow what straps that will give. So hinges make a more solid piece! ?

[john roberts]

The hinges themselves would have provided no protection. The originals were made of much thinner brass than you see on the replicas. Why the Romans bothered with such flimsy hinges is just one of those mysteries.

[Titus Marius Secundus]

well, looking at the finds of hinges, they look pretty thick, even though they have corroded some. I believe they were made from bronze, though brass has been around a since prehistoric times, I don't think they were brass....likely I'm wrong. It would have been nice if the Romans sculpted a life size legionary in accurate detail :-x not so smart