need terminological help: armour

[Tehanu]

Hello all. Could you possibly help me with this question?

When you look at the body armour on this statue



or in this photo



You see those stiff, rather short petal-shaped decorated pieces surrounding the man's body on the level of his hips and underbelly I guess. NOT the much longer, apparently less stiff straps which hang down and make the kilt-like part. Do you know the word in either English or Latin for those shorter petal-like things?

Thank you.

[Flavivs Aetivs]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pteruges

The word refers to strips of decorative leather that hung down from the shoulders, waist, or off of Rhomaioi (Byzantine) Helmets.

Also, that armor in the picture you posted is not historically accurate, for reference. Unless you're reenacting a soldier of the Penitus Oculatus in Skyrim.

[Nathan Ross]

I think they're more correctly called lappets. The pteruges are the longer leather or fabric strips forming the 'kilt', and probably attached to a garment worn beneath the cuirass. The lappets are the the edging of the cuirass itself, usually semi-circular and often embellished with moulded motifs.

Some illustrations of lappets on a statue...

[Antonius Insulae]

Yes, they are called lappets, or sometimes also "tongue pteryges", because they resemble human tongue in shape. There were usually one or two layers of lappets fastened to the hem of the cuirass (lorica/thorax) itself, sometimes three layers, but then there's no other pteryges used.
Most often in statues of emperors and generals we see two rows of lappets, and then the pteryges (longer strips of fabric or leather hanging underneath the armour) are sewn to a subarmalis/thoramachus (padded undergarment), and are not fastened to the armour itself.
Lappets were probably made of mostly leather, and decorated with metal appliques, like eagles, human heads and such. Sometimes it seems clear from the statues that the lappets are made of metal, since they have hinges.

I also recall that there were a Latin/Greek term for the lappets in existence... was it Cymation? Or Latinized version Cymatium? "Cymation" -Google search gives me Greek architectural things, and suggest that the word refers to the volutes of Ionic columns, or some other parts of the temple, but also gives pictures of architectural motifs which resemble these armour lappets very much!

I'll put some reference pictures from my great collection of statue armour photos. Your armour photo is a replica from the movie Gladiator, and not at all historically accurate. I've never seen lappets cut angularly like in that replica, they are always round, "tongue shape", if you will.

In same cases in the place of round lappets there are short pteryges fastened to the hem of the cuirass. Underneath them are the longer pteryges of a subarmalis.

The pictures include:
I. Two rows of metal lappets
II. One row of leather lappets, underneath it two rows of metal ones (statue of Germanicus)
III. One row of leather lappets, underneath it one row of leather pteryges
IV. One row of leather lappets and one row of short fabric pteryges
V. One row of leather lappets and two rows of metal lappets (statue of Mars)
VI. Three rows of possibly metal lappets (statue of Titus)
VII. One row of short pteryges (on the armour) and one row of long pteryges (on the subarmalis), fabric or leather?