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Thank you Pete for your response:<br>
The shaped body armour you are referring to is called a Musculatta
& was generally parade armour & yes it was sometimes made in
bronze. There is archaeological evidence for hammered iron plate
musculatta & decorated courbouli versions. The only bronze ones we
find are ones that were obviously not meant for combat but merely to
look good. I've never heard of any that were made for combat, but who
knows, maybe someday, they'll find one. Combat armour (bronze, iron, or
steel) tends to be fairly smooth so blows are more likely to glance off
it. Besides it's cheaper that way.<br>
<br>
The gladiatorial helms you refer too are very much like modern
Hollywood armour - designed to look good & fail dramatically for
the audience. In 50 years of being a sword jock, I have yet to strike
sparks off of a blade or armour despite having been in thousands of
fights & witnessed even more. Armour rarely fails gloriously like
it does in movies, usually you just notice it later on as in "Gee!,
when did that plate fall off?" The less armour has to catch, the better
it lasts & the better it protects. Anything to keep the blow from
"sticking", LOL.<br>
<br>
Skal,<br>
Sven<br>
<br>
Pete Nash wrote:
<blockquote
cite="mid:8d5c4aa40908010038r1f66bc85y459c8e45aa00c586@mail.gmail.com"
type="cite">
<div class="gmail_quote">
<blockquote class="gmail_quote"
style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">As
to the molded cuirass of the Roman General it was Cuir Bouilli because
it was impossible to manufacture that level of complex curves &
decoration in a heavy metal plate at that time. They could arguably do
it in very light metal similar to gold leaf. Even if they cast it it
would be decorative only due to brittleness. (Coor-boo-lee)</blockquote>
<div><br>
I'd disagree with you here. The moulded cuirass was a holdover from the
armour of the early Republic, and commanders wore it out of a sense of
tradition. You can get all the curves and decoration you can imagine if
it is <i>cast in bronze</i>, like the originals. You should also look
at some of the exquisite gladiatorial helmets of the 1st Century AD
which are full of moulded details, yet even at that time were still
being made of bronze.<br>
<br>
Of course that's not to say that wimpy commanders wore gilded leather
versions for sake of comfort, after all most officers avoided direct
combat by the Imperial period... but personally (in the context of the
times) I'd see it as a sign of
weakness, undermining their Roman virtues and send warnings to the
legionaries under their command! :)<br>
<br>
Pete<br>
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