KALKRIESE LORICA SEGMENTATA

       Roman Empire

       Used from: Ca. 10 BC-AD 60

       Used by: Legionary infantry

 

 

 

IMPERIVM ARMORY KALKRIESE LORICA SEGMENTATA

Made exclusively for IMPERIVM by Daniyal Steelcrafts, India

Price: $495

Earliest known version of the Lorica Segmentata

Ca. Late 1st century BC - mid 1st century AD

Authenticity Rating:  9.75

History:

The ancient Roman imperial legions outfitted their troops with progressively more formidable and versatile forms of armor.  For quite some time the majority of infantry were outfitted with chainmail, adopted from Italy’s Celtic neighbors who had been wearing such armor for centuries.  Both the Greeks and Romans had utilized breastplates, or muscle cuirasses, of bronze that protected the entire torso, but such armor was costly and difficult to make, requiring that it be specifically tailored to the individual who would wear it.  Other nations had seen limited use of strips or bands of metal attached to one another and employed as a body defense.  In the time of Augustus, the first Roman emperor, segmented plate armor, which is commonly known by the modern name developed by scholars, lorica segmentata, was pioneered for usage by the average legionary.  This form of armor allowed protection and cost-effectiveness to go hand in hand, producing modular armor that could be easily manufactured and easily adjusted to fit a variety of individuals. 

The Kalkriese

This version is based on archaeological reconstructions of a variety of fragments, focused largely on the breastplate found in Kalkriese in 1994.  This piece was associated with the Varus disaster of 9 AD, in which the Roman general P. Quintilius Varus commanded three doomed legions that were ambushed and massacred by Germanic Tribesmen in the Teutoburger Forest.  This find revolutionized our understanding of the development of the lorica segmentata, providing evidence that such armor existed and was employed at least a generation earlier than previously thought.  Various finds of fittings and random plate fragments have been found throughout the former Roman Empire and have since been linked to Kalkriese-type armor. 

In emulation of the original, the breastplate of our version is forged of 2.3 mm mild steel, providing excellent defense against direct blows to the region of the heart.  The mid-collar plate is also forged of the same thick material.  The upper shoulder guard and back plates are shaped from 16 gauge steel and the remainder of the armor is fashioned from 18 gauge steel in emulation of other examples of lorica segmentata.  Like many examples of ancient Roman armor, such graduated levels of thickness provided the best defense for the most vital organs, while ensuring overall weight savings while still giving excellent protection to the extremities and the rest of the torso.                           

The Kalkriese breastplate was extraordinarily well-crafted, even to the point of being lined with thin brass piping. We have edged both breastplates and the lower edge of the bottom girth hoop in brass, providing a beautiful custom-tailored look not found on the later, more mass-produced Corbridge model. Following the speculative reconstruction of M.C. Bishop, the girth closures are all fastened with straps and buckles, rather than the simpler tie loops found on the Corbridge, or the tongue-and-slot system of the Newstead lorica segementata.

The Imperium Ancient Armory Kalkriese is made by Daniyal Steelcrafts of India, patterned meticulously on the reproduction first made by our own scholar-turned-armorer Dr. Arick Greenberg in early 2007.  It is made of 12, 14, 16, and 18 gauge (2.3, 1.8, 1.5, and 1.2 mm) mild steel, approximating that used by the Romans.  The plates are hand cut and its pieces are lovingly fitted and finished to the finest replication of ancient world craftsmanship. That is to say that while not all surfaces and edges will bear a machine-cut look, they will give the wearer the feel of donning a cuirass made by the finest armorers of the Roman Empire. 

The Kalkriese cuirass presently comes in three size ranges, designed to fit U.S. jacket sizes 38-40, 42-44, and 44-46, with girth sections sized accordingly. There is some room for adjustment on this cuirass, due to the use of straps and buckles to hold both the upper sections and girth hoops together, and a slight amount of opverlap on the girth hoops. Some custom "tweaking" may also be possible to accommodate harder-to-fit sizes. Please provide us with both a jacket size and waist measurement.

Accuracy Rating

We rate this at a 9.75.  There is necessarily a bit more speculation involved with replicating the Kalkriese than the Corbridge and Newstead models, for which there are more archaeological remains. Nevertheless, this model is as close as we can get using modern steel instead of beaten iron plate.