Subarmalis designs?

[John Conyard]

This is an interesting topic Graham, but you are not getting much back!

Without definitive hard evidence, as Mike says, we are only guessing. But all reconstruction is to a degree guess work, and we do have some leads upon which we can propose some ideas.

We do have the iconographic evidence you posted, all open to interpretation and artistic licence.

Plus various bits of hard evidence of possible textile and leather “under armour” padding/lining such as helmet liners of fibre or felt, the greave liner of specially woven 5mm thick linen from Dura, the coif made of felt from Dura and the leather greave liner from Vindonissa.

Some written evidence which you mentioned such as Caesar’s felt or hide jerkins, and the thick cloth garment consisting of many layers of linen or felt one finger thick identified as a thoracomachus in De Rebus Bellicis. The latter covered in Libyan hide, probably oiled goat skin, to waterproof it.

And knowledge of “padding” extrapolated from other periods such as the idea that material fibres have to lay at angles to each other to increase resistance to blades e.g. felt with the fibres running in all directions or successive layers of linen with the warp placed at an acute angle to the warp of the layer below it.

On that basis, which is not really that much to go on, I would suggest that none of your attachments show plain felt, the lines of stitching seem to exclude it. Although they may show felt stitched to a cover of linen or thin leather such as goat which would help waterproof it and reduce wear. Two of your attachments seem to show a stud or rivet in the middle of a quilted panel, suggesting that it is holding a rigid plate of horn or metal in place - something akin to a coat of plates in which the plates do not overlap.

I do not really believe we have come close to reconstructing a plausible thoracomachus or subarmalis. But it is fun trying.