\'Hey, that is my Lorica!\"

[Vexillation]

Funny subject line apart (well, matter of opinion I guess ) I was thinking about something the other day. There is an old saying that I have heard (true or not, it is probably not meant to be read literally) that the ordinary roman soldier probably had more metal than a common german tribesman would see in a lifetime. In any case, a roman in a full suit of armour was a precious little thing walking by.

I have read some passages, most notably from the punic wars, of enemies stealing roman armour. But thinking of how valuable it should have been, wouldn't it be a rather common sight to face off against say "germans" in a lorica or roman chain mail?

If we take the battle of Idistaviso as an example, we could probably assume that at least some portions of the germanic warriors were equiped with roman armour from Varus not so fortunate brothers in arms, if not very large parts. Do we have any archeological sources of roman armour found in graves where they shouldn't have been? What is your opinion, was it common practices to loot and re-use the armour or would the armours have been broken down into other things?

What are your thoughts on the subject?

[Luka Borščak]

Germanic graves are pretty much full of Roman equipment. But it 's often hard to say if they are looted or the man buried was an auxiliary.

[Flavivs Aetivs]

In other cases we find Roman equipment in bog finds (Nydam/Illerup for example) and I think some sources record Barbarians looting Roman troops, or wearing Roman equipment in the Late Era.

[dave74]

As far as the weapons in the bog finds,here in a modern analogy.
A Chinese made AK47 found in Somalia with some *native* decoration/modification is:
A. Chinese weapon
B. Somali weapon
C. Chinese made Somali weapon
D. All the above
E. None of the above

[Diocle]

As far as the weapons in the bog finds,here in a modern analogy.
A Chinese made AK47 found in Somalia with some *native* decoration/modification is:
A. Chinese weapon
B. Somali weapon
C. Chinese made Somali weapon
D. All the above
E. None of the above

You forgot the point F!

F. Michail Timofeevič Kalašnikov (10 November 1919 – 23 December 2013), ..... old, glorious, wise man!

[Flavivs Aetivs]

He did make the best selling rifle in the world, and certainly one of the most utilitarian and practical ones.

What his rifle has been stereotyped for because of the poor judgement of some of some people, is another story.

[dave74]

Right,my point is,yes I believe seeing Germanics etc. in bits of looted/black market Roman kit would not be uncommon. No doubt it would be modified to fit personal and,maybe cultural tastes but,unless it got tossed in a lake as an offering,why wouldn't it be used? Spoils of war and all :grin:

[jkmol]

there's a few Roman helmets heavily modified by Germanics. Picture from cohibat.co.uk
This mod is based on solid archeological evidence, ie the marten fur (or dead ferret!) and the removed neck guard and cheekpieces.
You'd probably not recognise that as Roman.
Mail is pretty generic anyway.
[attachment=8847]recongellep.jpg[/attachment]

Segmentata p'bly to much maintenance to last.