Leather Squamata.......Really?

[Flavivs Aetivs]

The current consensus is that it was *probably* horse armor. It wasn't tanned leather either, it's just cowhide.

Here's the thread on it:

http://www.romanarmytalk.com/17-roman-mi...0&start=30

I won't deny the probability it was infantry armor, and considering units in Egypt almost never saw action, they wouldn't need metal armor.

However, from my experience leather, although light and flexible, traps body heat. It also has little defensive value, being unable to stop stabbing and piercing attacks.

It's possible, just not plausible.

Given the presence of perigrini cataphractarii in Egypt, and that at the time a lot of cataphract mercenaries were Sarmatian, I think it's probably Sarmatian in origin. That would also be consistent with the large scales/lamellae used in Eastern Cultures.