4th Century Legionary Leggings

[Antoninus05]

Ave All......I now have a pair of Leggings for my 4th Century Roman Impression. I noticed in a lot of photos of different 4th Century reenactment groups , they are tied with something top and bottom. Are the ties leather wang, is it thin strips of cloth? What? Thanks in advance, Antoninus

[M. Demetrius]

Do we have to have 4th Century Legionary Legs to wear them? :grin:
Someone has some shown here that seem to be cloth strings, but I suppose cloth or leather would work just fine.

[Antoninus05]

I'm hoping the 4th Century guys will reveal the "mystery".

[John Conyard]

Waxed linen string. You can get never get enough.

[Cheyenne]

I use hand knotted cord - like a lucet square cord. Leather thonging is fine, but sometimes it can come undone with vigorous exercise. I have made leg wraps with the ties woven in to the top and bottom by making an extra tabby woven salvedge edge on each horizontal edge. This latter method is a bit time consuming however!!

Claire

[Graham Sumner]

Hi

The square shaped pieces of material which are wrapped around the lower leg are called leg wrappings as opposed to the bandage like strips of material that give a 'puttee' effect which are called leg bindings.

There are some wool leg wrappings which survive from Denmark that look very similar those seen in Roman provincial sculpture and which appear on the arch of Constantine worn by soldiers.

I think I am correct in saying that the leg wrappings from Denmark have integral ties.

Graham.

[Martin Moser]

I think I am correct in saying that the leg wrappings from Denmark have integral ties.

Indeed. The find comes from Sogaards Mose and is listed in:
HALD, MARGRETHE Ancient Danish Textiles from Bogs and Burials: A Comparative Study of Costume and Iron Age Textiles. Denmark, National Museum of Denmark, 1980. pp34.

[Antoninus05]

So, Leg Bindings (like WW1 puttees), again,what material is used to tie or secure them top and bottom?

[Martin Moser]

So, Leg Bindings (like WW1 puttees)

The find cited above is not like WW1 puttees, but rather a woolen rectangle that is wrapped around the leg and secured by a woolen cord (made of the same material as the rectangle) at top and bottom.

[Matthew Amt]

I wear wool puttee-style wraps with some of my medieval impressions, they were called winingas in Saxon England. I generally just tuck them in and they stay pretty well. My old leather pair had ties attached to the end, just narrow leather strips, but cord would work. But what seems to have been common was a little brass hook on one end of each band, very much like the crest-holding hook on an Imperial Gallic style helmet, that just hooks into the fabric to secure it.

I also have 2 pairs of rectangular leg wraps that I use with either Roman or Bronze Age kit. One has ties attached to one edge, near the top and bottom, that I made by twisting together 3 strands of wool yarn. With the other pair I just use strips of deerhide. I find that flat bands of leather or fabric are a little more comfortable than cords or leather thong for tying around the leg!

Valete,

Matthew

[Cheyenne]

Graham is right, the Soegaard Mose wraps have integral ties - that was what I was aluding to with my post.

For 4th Century stuff, I think the integral ties are the most authentic - the Danish example still has the leg inside the wrap!

[John Conyard]

Hi Mike,

As I am sure you appreciate Graham’s books give an excellent overview of Roman clothing. I suspect you may have them already.

I am happy to go with Graham’s terminology, although many of us use the Anglo Saxon term winingas for leg bindings just to save confusion. In the Anglo Saxon period the loose ends beneath the knee were often held in place using small metal hooked fastenings, or probably a narrow strip of denser weave as was done with late 19th/early 20th century British army puttees. For the Roman period I would use narrow strips of tablet or some other weave. In the USA http://historicenterprises.com/winingas-...ath=99_190 make very cheap versions with well hidden machine edging. Their 15th century hose are excellent.

But I suspect you are talking about the leg wraps you see on many photos of Late Roman re-enactors, very useful to keep you and your clothing clean. Such wraps have been found using integral ties, although many may have been no more than scraps of cloth tied at the ankle and knee. When making your tunics you will have suitable scraps of cloth left from cutting out the tunic pattern. Waxed linen thread naturally grips material very well and lasts for years, while leather stains and there is little point in lucetting ties for such as this. Although lucetting is great for attaching plate armour. Using such scraps of material wrapped around your leg suggest you are a lowly worker, used to working outside and of low status. So keep your fastenings simple. There is plenty of evidence for such leg wraps worn with “short trousers/long shorts” such as braccae. It is harder to find conclusive evidence of them worn with long trousers, but they do make sense. Everybody I know who has tried them likes the idea, and they are very good for keeping horse sweat of your clothing.

Good luck.

[M. Demetrius]

Good find, John, thanks!