Linothorax again

[Jason Hoffman]

My experiments have certainly changed the way i look at linen armour, When i first started this investigation i was set to prove that the linothorax was glued layers of linen and not leather! The problem was that i couldnt make glue work, hide glue is just so inflexible the armour would break if you tried to fold it (if you could fold it), I couldnt get milk glue to even work and resins and fish glues all have flexibility problems. The biggest thing however is that the linen did not need gluing to be effective. something that the ancients knew about (curtains hanging below shields) and they dont appear to be glued as do the lower flaps of macedonian linen armours (Alexander mosaic). There is also other glue problems; water solubility, biological attack (it grows fungus really fast if left exposed to air).

I must admit seeing arrows bounce off bits of material really amazed me, you just dont think it will work until you see it happen.