A dictionary of Greek and Roman . oraca indutus atnis squamis,Yivg. A 487). The basis of the cuirass was sometimesa skin, or a piece of strong linen to which themetallic scales, or feathers, as they are alsocalled, were sewed. (Virg. Aen. xi. 770 ; loc. ; Justin, xli. 2. 10.) The epithet Aeiridwros, as applied to a thorax,is opposed to the epithet (poXitwros. (Arrian,Tact. p. 13, 14.) The former denotes a similitudeto the scales of fish (Ksiriaiv), the latter to thescales of serpents ((poXicriv). The resemblance tothe scales of serpents, which are long and narrow,i
A dictionary of Greek and Roman . oraca indutus atnis squamis,Yivg. A 487). The basis of the cuirass was sometimesa skin, or a piece of strong linen to which themetallic scales, or feathers, as they are alsocalled, were sewed. (Virg. Aen. xi. 770 ; loc. ; Justin, xli. 2. 10.) The epithet Aeiridwros, as applied to a thorax,is opposed to the epithet (poXitwros. (Arrian,Tact. p. 13, 14.) The former denotes a similitudeto the scales of fish (Ksiriaiv), the latter to thescales of serpents ((poXicriv). The resemblance tothe scales of serpents, which are long and narrow,is exhibited on the shoulders of the Roman soldierin the woodcut at page 136. These scales wereimitated by long flexible bands of steel, made tofold one over another according to the contractionof the body. They appear very frequently on theRoman monuments of the times of the emperors,and the following woodcut places in immediatecontrast a &wpa£ \€iu8wt6s on the right and(poAiSoorSs on the left, both taken from Bartoli3Arcus The Roman hastati wore cuirasses of chain-mail,i. e. hauberks or habergeons (aXvcridcoTovs &cl>pa-aas, Polyb. vi. 21 ; Athen. v. 22 ; Arrian, I. c).Virgil several times mentions hauberks in whichthe rings, linked or hooked into one another, wereof gold (loricam consertam hamis, auroque trilicem, iii. 467, v. 259, vii. 639). In contradistinction to the flexible cuirasses, orcoats of mail, which have now been described, thatcommonly worn by the Greeks and Romans, moreespecially in the earlier ages, was called &wpa£crrddios, or crrarSs, because, when placed upon theground on its lower edge, it stood erect. In con-sequence of its firmness it was even used as a seatto rest upon. (Paus. x. 27. §2.) It consistedprincipally of the two yvaAa, viz. the breast-plate(perforate) made of hard leather or of bronze, iron,or sometimes the more precious metals, whichcovered the breast and abdomen (Horn. II. v. 99,xiii. 507, 587, xvii. 314) ; and
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Keywords: ., bookauthorsmithwilliam18131893, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1840
