06-29-2021, 11:23 AM
(This post was last modified: 06-29-2021, 01:32 PM by Dan Howard.)
Segmentata was phased out when the state took over the armour fabricas and standardised armour production. Logistically, mail is far superior for a long list of reasons:
less spare parts are needed - only three components
few tools are needed
easier to fit to a range of body sizes
easier to store
easier to transport
more flexible
more comfortable
faster to put on and take off
has a longer lifespan
can be repaired in the field with a piece of wire
covers more of the body; if you want protection over the armpit, lower stomach, groin, etc., then segmentata is useless.
Segmentata only has two advantages:
it is lighter than other types of armour (except for a solid bronze cuirass)
it is cheaper and faster to make, which is probably why it was invented in the first place.
Mail might cost more than segmentata up front, but over its lifespan it is a lot cheaper than segmentata. Individual soldiers might prefer segmentata because it costs them less but state-owned arsenals would prefer mail because it costs them less. When the state took over the armour-making fabricas at the end of the third century, segmentata stopped being made.
Scale armour was the heaviest type of metal armour ever developed. It was invented around a thousand years before mail. I wrote an article for AW Magazine that covers this.
https://www.karwansaraypublishers.com/an...xii-3.html
less spare parts are needed - only three components
few tools are needed
easier to fit to a range of body sizes
easier to store
easier to transport
more flexible
more comfortable
faster to put on and take off
has a longer lifespan
can be repaired in the field with a piece of wire
covers more of the body; if you want protection over the armpit, lower stomach, groin, etc., then segmentata is useless.
Segmentata only has two advantages:
it is lighter than other types of armour (except for a solid bronze cuirass)
it is cheaper and faster to make, which is probably why it was invented in the first place.
Mail might cost more than segmentata up front, but over its lifespan it is a lot cheaper than segmentata. Individual soldiers might prefer segmentata because it costs them less but state-owned arsenals would prefer mail because it costs them less. When the state took over the armour-making fabricas at the end of the third century, segmentata stopped being made.
Scale armour was the heaviest type of metal armour ever developed. It was invented around a thousand years before mail. I wrote an article for AW Magazine that covers this.
https://www.karwansaraypublishers.com/an...xii-3.html
Author: Bronze Age Military Equipment, Pen & Sword Books
