Trajan's Column, which still stands in the centre of Rome, depicts legionaries in very impressive plate armour. Renaissance historians interested in ancient monuments called it lorica segmentata. They knew that gladiators also used it in the arenas, but that was it for a long time. It was not until archaeological finds in the second half of the 20th century shed more light on this piece of military equipment, which allowed us to understand how it was made, how it worked and how long it was used. The most famous discovery of Roman plate armour occurred in Corbridge, England, in 1964; other fragments have been found elsewhere in the UK and Spain, and a near-complete set was discovered in 2018 in Kalkreise, Germany. Thanks to scientific methods, we now have a good understanding of the technology used to make this armour, a chronology of its use and, thanks to various groups of reenactors, a wealth of information about its practical use, strengths and weaknesses. This book by a leading expert on the subject also presents a more recent view of other components of Roman armour: the so-called muscle cuirass, arm guards, shin guards and horse armour. The drawings in the book are based on the latest knowledge and archaeological findings. For a better idea, artistic representations of the use of plate armour in scenes from the everyday life of Roman soldiers are also included.
Author.
Date of publication: 27.02.2024
Catalog No.: 60040
ISBN: 978-80-271-5058-8
Format / pages: 170×240, 64 pages
Language: english
Publisher: Grada