09-22-2014, 12:26 PM
The armour used by triarii was not so different than armour used by principes. They wore maille armour (lorica hamata), which is not a light armour. Some (or most) of the hastati couldn't probably afford hamatae, since they were so expensive, so they used pectorales instead (small rectangular or round metal breastplates), but principes and triarii were probably not so differently equipped, other than the obvious difference between a pilum and a hasta. So the armour of triarii offered as much protection as the same armour used by part of the principes too, triarii were not "heavy" soldiers.
All effective armours are heavy, but Romans did have "light troops", called antesignani, who did not wore armour and helmets at all, just a gladius and a small round shield (parma). They were stripped of most of their protective equipment in order to make them fast enough to attack enemy horsemen (both the men and their horses). They were called antesignani ("before standards") since they stood and skirmished in front of the signa (standards of the legion), which were carried in front of the army. Postsignani ("after standards") is a term which was used to refer to all the other soldiers of the army, who were positioned behind their standards.
Romans got uniformed after Gaius Marius, who also changed the custom of soldiers paying their own equipment. After his military reforms men from all social classes could enlist to the army, since they didn't have to have wealth anymore to pay for their gear. Roman legionaries were all equipped similarly at this time, and the old classes of hastati, principes and triarii didn't exist anymore.
All effective armours are heavy, but Romans did have "light troops", called antesignani, who did not wore armour and helmets at all, just a gladius and a small round shield (parma). They were stripped of most of their protective equipment in order to make them fast enough to attack enemy horsemen (both the men and their horses). They were called antesignani ("before standards") since they stood and skirmished in front of the signa (standards of the legion), which were carried in front of the army. Postsignani ("after standards") is a term which was used to refer to all the other soldiers of the army, who were positioned behind their standards.
Romans got uniformed after Gaius Marius, who also changed the custom of soldiers paying their own equipment. After his military reforms men from all social classes could enlist to the army, since they didn't have to have wealth anymore to pay for their gear. Roman legionaries were all equipped similarly at this time, and the old classes of hastati, principes and triarii didn't exist anymore.
Antonius Insulae (Sakari)
