05-06-2016, 02:03 PM
The whole point os this thread is that I want to investigate if Romans could make fast and cheap iron musculatas.
We know they definetly had to use some type of technology which did not left hammer signs on segmentatas.
But segmentata is made from small pieces. Were they made small from the beggining or maybe a bigger plates which were cut for strips? I don't know.
Im just looking for some theory which would lead to technological leap during Empire.
Technology was know before empire as we can see grey (iron or steel) musculata on a mosaic from about 80yrs BC.
But due to lack of technology it was diffucult, time and money consuming to make musculata from ingot opposite to small strips of segmentata.
Yet it was republic and principate. I can imagine that during imperial period technology could move forward along side with imperial manufactures.
No more hitting with hand-hammer, let's make (for example) 50kg hammer mounted on some kind lever, or even heavier with use of a watermill, becasue why wouldnt they?
If rollers, maybe they had found out how to make wider plates, not just longer?
I don't know that but during imperial period ways of supplementing military equipment had to be way faster. I can't imagine 2 guys hitting one ingot all day long as it required skills while pulling lever requires mostly man power.
Im just trying to find out if there was possibility that at some point musculatas were way cheaper and faster to make than any other armor (like Sim and Kaminski claim) and Im trying to combine this with a sudden increase of musculatas in art (sculptures, paintings etc).
Just a theory...
And yes, you are right. First, you need to make an 4-5mm sheet from an ingot using hammer (question is was it done fully manually - I doubt that - or using some heavy hammers to speed it up). Once done, such 4mm sheet could go through rollers to convert into 0,5-1,5mm sheet.
So in the end, we know they did this somehow, yet the question stand how, on what scale, how fast and how effective.
We know they definetly had to use some type of technology which did not left hammer signs on segmentatas.
But segmentata is made from small pieces. Were they made small from the beggining or maybe a bigger plates which were cut for strips? I don't know.
Im just looking for some theory which would lead to technological leap during Empire.
Technology was know before empire as we can see grey (iron or steel) musculata on a mosaic from about 80yrs BC.
But due to lack of technology it was diffucult, time and money consuming to make musculata from ingot opposite to small strips of segmentata.
Yet it was republic and principate. I can imagine that during imperial period technology could move forward along side with imperial manufactures.
No more hitting with hand-hammer, let's make (for example) 50kg hammer mounted on some kind lever, or even heavier with use of a watermill, becasue why wouldnt they?
If rollers, maybe they had found out how to make wider plates, not just longer?
I don't know that but during imperial period ways of supplementing military equipment had to be way faster. I can't imagine 2 guys hitting one ingot all day long as it required skills while pulling lever requires mostly man power.
Im just trying to find out if there was possibility that at some point musculatas were way cheaper and faster to make than any other armor (like Sim and Kaminski claim) and Im trying to combine this with a sudden increase of musculatas in art (sculptures, paintings etc).
Just a theory...
And yes, you are right. First, you need to make an 4-5mm sheet from an ingot using hammer (question is was it done fully manually - I doubt that - or using some heavy hammers to speed it up). Once done, such 4mm sheet could go through rollers to convert into 0,5-1,5mm sheet.
So in the end, we know they did this somehow, yet the question stand how, on what scale, how fast and how effective.
Damian
