Leather Cuirass Lorica Musculata, I used to think no way but

[Magnus]

What Dan just said is the whole point of this issue and explains it all!. It's art! You can do whatever you want in art. I'm saying that if they actually had leather musculata they'd run into massive problems with it creasing and cracking. Chances are the real deals were metal, but in art, they're showing something totally glorified and therefore probably not as accurate as we'd like it to be.

That musculata that you have...is it painted? When you bend it, do you do it often, and does it create creases where it's bent a lot? You know how leather gets after it's used and abused after a while...what roman officer in his right mind would want a throw away disposable leather cuirass that after a few weeks of use looks like junk because of the creases and cracks in it, even if it isn't painted?

Dress down armour for show? I doubt it! I'd rather be in a fancy tunic myself! That's why they had them, as well as togas and nice cloaks. And even then, two issues arise in my mind. 1) Metal armour is still a LOT better looking, especially when it's buffed. 2) What soldier wants to be in any kind of armour if they have a choice between that and a tunic? Probably none.

If it's supposed to be battle armour, then it had better be hardened at least...in which case it won't bend...lol.