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Hi there!
We were wondering with my friend, what if the romans used woolen orbiculi and clavi as padding for hamata? We could make it from felt or thick wool, it would look almost the same way, as a woven or embroidered one, but would be quite practical for fighting.
Mark - Legio Leonum Valentiniani
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They could provide some padding value, if they were sewn on the appropriate area of the tunic. Most orbiculi, however, seem to be near the bottom hem, and the upper chest, on both sides. That would leave the vital organs still exposed.
I have to leave it to others to describe the specifics of their construction, but I was under the impression that orbiculi, and clavi were either sewn on, woven in, or embroidered sections of decorative cloth, not armor supplements.
M. Demetrius Abicio
(David Wills)
Saepe veritas est dura.
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Most finds of ornate tunics with orbiculi and clavi show marvellous ornament designs and these are mostly made of fine material within or directly on top of the fabric. Otherwise we see them re-used on a newer piece of fabric. I would say these then have little to no use as a padding.
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So the basic answer is, that you can't really imagine a design like that. Cheers, we only trie to make ourselve more practical.
(Also, I ordered like a ton of late roman books, and I'm flourishing with ideas I need to check in a few days
)
Mark - Legio Leonum Valentiniani
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IMO the leather edging around Roman mail is likely to help secure some sort of integrated padded liner. If this is true then there is no need to wear separate padding at all.
