Another primary consideration in introduction & eventual disappearance of Segmentata?

[Dan Howard]

The only way for mail to be cheaper than segmentata is to take the cheapest part of both Roman and modern societies and conflate them. You need the cost of Roman slave labour and the cost of modern raw materials. In the past, raw materials made up a much higher cost of production than it does today. By the time the Romans got to the point of actually assembling the links into armour the majority of the cost had already been paid.