Byzantine Weapons and Warfare

[egfroth]

That's funny :lol: I remember reading about this in Graham Sumner's "RMC (3)" and I believe these harnesses were only worn by infantry if I remember correctly.

Not that I'm aware of. Certainly the Sassanid representations show horsemen wearing them. Whether the same applies to Byzantine examples, I don't know. After all, who's to say whether a man in armour on foot is an infantryman or a dismounted cavalryman? The great majority of ikons of military saints, for example, show them standing - but I think we can safely assume, both by their saintly status and thequality of their armour, that they're supposed to be cavalry.

Egfroth, do you believe the plates in the Verona silver platebare a strong enough resemblance to these plates from Wisby or only a passing one?



~Theo

Yes, I think they look quite a lot like them. But if you wanted to duplicate the look, I guess you'd have to have your plates facing opposite ways in alternating rows, to reproduce those wavy lines you see in the armour on the plate.

Could look really cool, and I don't think I've ever seen it done.