Padded Armour

[Robert Vermaat]

It is ridiculous to dismiss the description in D.R.B. as an invention. When we begin dismissing the ancient accounts we don't like, we soon have nothing to work with.

Dear Dan,

Please think before you write. Why would I deny the use of felt? I never said that. Nor am I describing the text of the DRB as an invention, or dismiss this source.

I'll explain the nature of De Rebus Bellicis to you. This is a document written with the intent of improving not only the army but also the finances of the Empire. The (anonymous) author was clearly not a military man, but may have been (it is thought) a civil servant, probably with some insight in the military and economy.
The DRB is full of inventions and well-meant proposals. The writer called for nonmilitary reforms, including changes in the monetary and legal systems and an end to corruption by provincial officials. besides that he describes many weapon improvements and new inventions. Spiked plumbatae, scythed chariots, horse-drawn ballistae, inflatable bridges, you name it. [color=red]http://www.xlegio.ru/sources/anonim_ref/...ram_bq.gif[color]Amongst all these the author mentions the thoracomachus.

Now you can say what you want, but in an MS that only deals with new inventions and proposal how to improve existing equipment, I can't see how the thoracomachus would be the only thing that was mentioned while (as you say) it was a tried and tested piece of equipment.

Either it had not been used in a long, long time, or the author is describing an improved version, as he is doing with all the other items in this MS.