| The glory of Rome was brought about by the | | | | overlapping individual plates of steel and iron. This |
| power and success of the Roman imperial army. | | | | gave the soldier superior movement and flexibility |
| Why was the legionnaires so effective on the | | | | in the battle field. It also better was able to |
| battle field? There are a couple of reasons which | | | | deflect enemy missile fire and sword cuts, as the |
| will be briefly discussed below, but a big part of it | | | | plates sort of deflected the force of the blow |
| was the body armor, lorica segmentata, that was | | | | down the side to other plates. It also left no open |
| worn by the soldiers.First, the Roman army was | | | | spaces as the plates overlapped covering the |
| one of the best, if not the best, trained armies in | | | | entire upper body. Not only was the shoulder |
| the ancient world. Hard drilling at the barracks and | | | | plates overlapping, but the torso of the armor had |
| superiorly trained officers made the legions very | | | | overlapping plates as well. |
| disciplined and battle hardened. However, much of | | | | The fact that the entire armor could be |
| their success must be attributed to the | | | | compacted, stretched, and able to move with the |
| equipment and armor that they took into battle. | | | | wearer gave the legionnaires unprecedented |
| Roman boasted technologically advanced armor | | | | movement when throwing their pilum or thrusting |
| and weapons for their time. The Gladius short | | | | their swords.Today's replica Roman armor are |
| stabbing sword was excellent in close combat; the | | | | created to be as historically accurate as possible. |
| pilum was ingeniously created to be thrown and | | | | Most are based off of the Type B Corbridge |
| broken at the shaft once impact was made with | | | | armor that was unearthed in Great Britain. When |
| the enemy; and the armor they wore gave the | | | | possible, choose a lorica that uses metal hooks |
| wearer superior protection.Lorica Segmentata was | | | | for connection instead of leather straps, as these |
| superior and a marvel for a couple of reasons. | | | | are much more sturdy and less likely to break. |
| First of all, this armor was characterized by | | | | |