Use of Leather as armor

[Sean Manning]

Larry.
I have been reading my Suetonius but in reference to another Emperor such as Galba when he set off for Rome when he discovered that Nero was dead in para' 11 where there is mention of armour, quote :- So he put himself on his journey clad in his coat armour, with his dagger hanging down from about his neck just before his breast ; -: unquote
Therefore this coat armour must imply a leather jack or leather armour of some sort but what ??

I suspect that that translation is quite old. The translator of Galba 11 iterque ingressus est paludatus ac dependente a cervicibus pugione ante pectus renders paludatus "dressed in a military cloak" as "clad in his coat armour". In the 14th and 15th centuries, the coat-armour was the outermost layer of a gentleman's military dress, and marked special seriousness and determination (see this essay by Will McLean). So it is not a bad translation to help a late medieval audience understand that he put aside the trappings of civil life and adopted those of military life. Today it is not so easy!