Roman weaponry from Britain in researcher’s private collection

One of the website’s readers, a professional historical researcher, shared documentation of interesting Roman armour artifacts from his private collection. These objects were discovered in England and later sold in a museum sale.

Among the artifacts presented is a bronze loop with preserved, intact structural joints, which is significant for research on the assembly techniques of Roman military equipment. Such items typically survive only in fragments or are significantly damaged.

The second significant find is a fragment of a lorica squamata – Roman scale armour. Lorica squamata was scale armour resembling fish scales. The plates, shaped like scales, rounded at the bottom, were made of bronze or iron. They were small, averaging 2 by 1.2 cm or 1.5 by 1 cm. They had holes at the top, which were used to connect individual plates into rows with wire, and then to attach the finished rows of scales to a leather or fabric backing. They were arranged so that they overlapped alternately.