Show here your Greek warrior impression

[Daniel S.]

Leather over metal would be better against blades, no doubt. It seems to me that it would be difficult if not impossible to keep rust from forming on the metal under the leather, though.

That shouldn't be a problem in the short run if the steel/iron plates have been tinned or painted. It worked in medieval Europe and I believe (brass?) objects were occasionally tinned in Roman times. However, it seems that in the long run the surface can wear off (can't recall the details but I'm thinking of finds where only some parts of the tinned objects remain) but the fabric/leather cover should have given up long before that.

On the wider subject of plates hidden within tube and yoke corselets: From the discussion I have seen here I think there is no clear evidence for or against it. However the weakest argument against plates is that soldiers wouldn't have wanted to hide the metal plates beneath fabric or leather: There are so many examples of armour from other periods where plates are hidden that speaks against this. For all we know the Greeks could have grown tired of flashy bronze cuirasses and just moved on to more understated (or just different) armour -- some of which could have kept the supposed level of protection of thoraxes and some being more light-weight. It wouldn't be the only time in history where the selection of armour design is driven by fashion.

And how much would all that weight,to prefer it from a full bronze cuirass? I know that my leather spolas is quite heavy,without the scales i've added to the sides. I admit that bronze plates might have weighted less than the same surface covered in scales,but there is simply no evidence,and not even indication for this!

Something I've been thinking about is whether there could have been some suddenly realised benefit of keeping the sun off your thorax? In that case the added weight of fabric/leather over the metal would be less annoying than the increased heat level or heat burns of bare metal when fighting in denser formations more often. Since it is much easier to cover plates and replace the covering material if the plates are smaller that would make the (already existing?) tube and yoke design the natural shape to transition to even for the guys that want greater protection. Don't know how viable that idea is but it seems that heat has always been more of an issue than weight amongst armoured soldiers (at least amongst medieval armoured men).