12-15-2004, 03:25 AM
Avete! Just posted this on Theo's afore-mentioned thread in Archeaology, but here's some thought if anyone's interested:<br>
<br>
After experimenting with several materials, I must confess that the leather pteruges wins hands down in my book (and I'm referring to legionary pteruges primarily... i.e., the ones reenactors would make and use, not someone portraying Augustus). Reasons:<br>
<br>
1) Heavy but pliable, able to withstand prolonged usage while retaining their sharp look.<br>
2) Haven't found any yet... well, how many linen pteruges have been found?<br>
3) The evidence shows them all to look like linen... the evidence also shows legionaries in the Dacian war wearing caligae, Attic helmets in the Byzantine era, et al. We know the Romans had a thing about keeping "traditional" appearances on their public monuments.<br>
4) Let's not confuse images of an emperor with those of ground assault troops. It's certain that the materials would be wildly different.<br>
5) How hard/time-consuming is it to whip up a set of hard wearing leather pteruges? About an hour at most, plus a lot longer to edge them, which you can do at your leisure, even while they're on the garment. How much time to glue multiple layers of linen together and do the same thing? Quite a bit longer, I suspect.<br>
5) The field life of any piece of equipment that relies on glue as its primary ingredient will naturally be shorter than one that does not (think rain and/or sweat-soaking).<br>
6) A pteruge damaged or torn from the subarmalis? Grab a strap-cutter vs. lemme just go glue a dozen layers of linen together... Yeah, that'll match alright.<br>
<br>
Dan's observations about them possibly being of a buff leather and hence less likely to survive (following his comment that he's fairly certain they were in fact made of linen) is one possibility as to the lack of evidence. A more plausible idea (IMHO): images of Arthurian and Germanic (and even Byzantine) troops frequently show them wearing pteruges on their garments after Rome "fell". Any reenactor who owns a padded leather subarmalis with pteruges can attest that it quickly becomes one of the most versatile and comfortable garments in our inventory. Could it be these items were simply worn til they fell apart, then were replaced, but with the pteruges eventually falling by the wayside? Hmm...<br>
<br>
Darius<br>
LVIVPF <p></p><i></i>
<br>
After experimenting with several materials, I must confess that the leather pteruges wins hands down in my book (and I'm referring to legionary pteruges primarily... i.e., the ones reenactors would make and use, not someone portraying Augustus). Reasons:<br>
<br>
1) Heavy but pliable, able to withstand prolonged usage while retaining their sharp look.<br>
2) Haven't found any yet... well, how many linen pteruges have been found?<br>
3) The evidence shows them all to look like linen... the evidence also shows legionaries in the Dacian war wearing caligae, Attic helmets in the Byzantine era, et al. We know the Romans had a thing about keeping "traditional" appearances on their public monuments.<br>
4) Let's not confuse images of an emperor with those of ground assault troops. It's certain that the materials would be wildly different.<br>
5) How hard/time-consuming is it to whip up a set of hard wearing leather pteruges? About an hour at most, plus a lot longer to edge them, which you can do at your leisure, even while they're on the garment. How much time to glue multiple layers of linen together and do the same thing? Quite a bit longer, I suspect.<br>
5) The field life of any piece of equipment that relies on glue as its primary ingredient will naturally be shorter than one that does not (think rain and/or sweat-soaking).<br>
6) A pteruge damaged or torn from the subarmalis? Grab a strap-cutter vs. lemme just go glue a dozen layers of linen together... Yeah, that'll match alright.<br>
<br>
Dan's observations about them possibly being of a buff leather and hence less likely to survive (following his comment that he's fairly certain they were in fact made of linen) is one possibility as to the lack of evidence. A more plausible idea (IMHO): images of Arthurian and Germanic (and even Byzantine) troops frequently show them wearing pteruges on their garments after Rome "fell". Any reenactor who owns a padded leather subarmalis with pteruges can attest that it quickly becomes one of the most versatile and comfortable garments in our inventory. Could it be these items were simply worn til they fell apart, then were replaced, but with the pteruges eventually falling by the wayside? Hmm...<br>
<br>
Darius<br>
LVIVPF <p></p><i></i>
