Padded Armour

[tlclark]

Dear Travis,

I'm reading all your post "secretly" and I admire your research, really.
I'm becoming crazy too on this matter, and overall my problems are the shoulder pteruges.

The only support I can give to you is an additional statue. I took a hi-res picture in Naples few weeks ago:

http://www.romanhideout.com/images/it/n ... relius.asp

Hope this can help, and in the future I hope also to be more helpful with some other ideas.

Thanks for the compliments.

FABULOUS image!! Thanks! Grazie Mille!

The detail really does show that these were cloth or at least cloth faced. The texture is really fascinating.

One of the big problems is how the fringe is attached, with most suggesting that we are looking at a cloth core covered in either leather or felt with most re-enactors preferring leather.

Looking at these it looks to me as if it I have to consider another theory, that the pteruges are in fact, weft-faced woven bands in heavy wool.

I considered this over here on this thread.

http://www.romanarmy.com/rat/viewtopic.php?t=6543

Here's what I said then.

Travis,
In fact i intend to use that colour scheme for my subarmalis project! :wink:
Anyway, do the colour of the pterugae on each row alternate or does the colour change on each layer (or both!)? :?

Aitor

Well, it looks like both! So you have two layers (although in truth there may be three layers!) of pteruges, each with alternating blue and red pteruges. Interesting thing though, the fringe on all of them is blue!

Now I have two thoughts. If the fringe is blue, that argues for a cloth core that is blue, BUT...

Let's just consider something CRAZY. What if the pteruges are woven wool? A weft faced pteruge would be very dense and heavy, and would only show the color of the weft, BUT the warp would make up the fringe and that would be the color of the warp threads, which in this case would be blue.

Could pteruges simple be a very heavy tablet or loom woven weft-faced strap?!

this would explain the 'cloth-like' texture on many of them, and the edging, which could clearly be a selvage or wrapped edge. It could explain all of the phenomena we see in the sculpture.

Travis

Looking at your example I think it lends credence to the theory above.

Thanks again!

Travis