Scale Armour

"Hybrid armour was widely used among several cultures. A typical example is the arrangement of mail with integrated plate, worn in the Middle East and India. However, the extraordinary combination of scales inserted into a mail weave is rarer and appears to have been adopted exclusively by the Romans.

This type of armour is defined by the minute size of all its components. It is made up of a mail backing of alternating rows of riveted and solid rings; the outer diameter of the links measuring no more than a few millimetres. The scales that cover the outside of the garment do not resemble those commonly seen in Roman scale armour (lorica squamata); here each scale is folded through a 90 degree angle at the top, where four small holes are found in the horizontal ledge thus formed. The scales are attached to the mail by inserting riveted links through the holes before closing them and as a result become an integral part of the weave. On every other row of rings - the riveted ones - there is a horizontal row of continuous individual loose scales, which do not overlap. But vertically, the rows of scales are superimposed downwards, each scale partially covering two beneath it, creating an imbricated pattern. The scales are very small, rarely exceeding 11 mm, and they show a vertical medial rib. This last diagnostic feature in addition to the mobility of the individual scales would have given this armour its “feathered” appearance .
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Thrace had the potential to field huge numbers of troops, and the Thracian way of warfare had a huge influence on Classical Greek and Hellenistic warfare. Many examples of weapons and armour have been found in Thracian sites.. After Thrace was conquered by the Romans, the Thracians provided a ready source of tough auxiliaries to the Roman army.

This book gives an overview of Thracian history and culture, but focuses predominantly on their warfare and weapons. The latest archaeological finds are used to give the most detailed and accurate picture yet of their arms, armour and costume. He identifies and differentiates the many different tribes, showing that their weapons and tactics varied. The resulting study is of interest to anyone interested in the archaeology and history of the region or in classical warfare as a whole.

CONTENTS
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PREFACE
INTRODUCTION
THE SOURCES

HISTORICAL OUTLINE
The Sixth Century
The 5th Century
The 4th Century
The 3rd and 2nd Centuries BC: The Beginning of the Roman era
The 2nd and 1st centuries: the end of Thracian independence.The End of the Thracians

THRACIAN COSTUME
Classical and Archaic Thracians
Thracian costume of the Hellenistic and Roman eras

ARMOUR
Helmets
Body Armour
North Thracian Armour
Greaves
Shields
New Shields

WEAPONS
Swords & Knives
The Bronze Age and earlier
Knives
Swords
The Iron Age
Long Swords
The Akinakes
The Machaira, or kopis, and other Thracian curved swords
The Sica - sword or rhomphaia?
The Rhomphaia
Spears & Javelins
Axes
Catapaults
Bows and Arrows
Slings and Staff Slings
Clubs
Unconventional weapons – Carts and spiked axles - The defence of the Shipka Pass

THE THRACIAN ARMY
Thracian Armies – size and composition
The Bronze Age
Chariots
Cavalry
Early Thracian cavalry
Heavy Cavalry
Light Cavalry
Light Cavalry Shields
Thracian Horses
Later cavalry developments
Spurs
Lances
Saddles and Saddle Cloths
Cavalry Shields, swords, and the shift back to javelins
Hamippoi
Infantry
Slingers
Archers
Javelinmen
Peltasts
Long Spears
Later Infantry Developments
The Peltast in the Fourth Century
The Iphicratean reforms
Thureophoroi
Thorakitai
The Thracian army in Britain
Cohors I Thracvm Cohors II Thracvm
Cohors VII Thracvm Alae Primae Thracvm

MILITARY ORGANISATION
Thracian Formations
The navy “Thrace, the Final Frontier” – The Military Geography of Thrace

FORTIFICATIONS

BATTLES AND TACTICS
Sitalces’ invasion of Macedonia, 429 BC (Thucydides 2.100)
The 10,000 in Thrace -Seuthes' rebellion, 400 BC (Anabasis 7.3.4 -7.7.57).
The Triballia attack Abdera, 376 BC (Diodorus Siculus XV. 36. 1-5)
Order of battle
Alexander’s invasion, 335 BC (Arrian 1.1.6)
Order of Battle
The Battle of the Lyginus River, 335 BC (Arrian 1.2-1.3)
Order of Battle
The Battle of Raphia 217 BC
The Battle of Cynoscephalae (197 BC) – “Peltasts in the Mist
The Battle of Magnesia (190 BC) and its aftermath.
The prelude to the battle,:
The Thracians in the battle
After the battle of Magnesia: The Thracians ambush the Roman army
Order of Battle
The Thracians attack the Galatians on “Mt Olympus” (Livy 37.21-23)
The Battles of Kallinikos (171 BC) and Pydna (168 BC)
The Battle of Kallinikos, 171 BC (Livy 42.57-60.1)
The Battle of Pydna (168 BC) and the Pydna Monument
Thracian tactics

THRACIAN TRIBES
Bessi
The Bisaltai
Bithynia and the Bithynians
- Chronology
- Introduction
- History
- The Bithynian Army
Dii
Getai
The Moesi/Mysians
Odomanti
Odrysai
Paeonians
The Agrianians
The Thyni
The Triballi

GLOSSARY
Abbreviations used in the Notes
BIBLIOGRAPHY
-Ancient Sources
-Modern Sources
-Other References
-CD-ROM
-Video
INDEX

Few armour types would have looked as impressive and intricate as hybrid feathered armour, which was in use for the better part of the first three centuries AD. It consisted of an inner layer of mail that served as backing for an outer layer of thousands of small scales, each which bore a midrib that gave them a featherlike appearance. When worn, the armour would have resembled a metallic feather coat.

In 1902, farmers from the village of Ouddorp  found the fragments of what was first thought to be a medieval mail shirt. Although specialists were called in, no archaeological context is recorded. It was sold to the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden in Leiden, along with some ceramic remains for the total sum of 20 Guilders. It was only later that it was identified as a Roman lorica consisting of a rare mix of scale armour fixed to a mail backing.

A considerable number of small iron scales were found among the remains of the disturbed funeral pure of the primary grave in Tumulus № 2 near Simeonovgrad: over 200 intact metal scales and fragments of another 60 or 70. They are of several shapes; the greatest part are rectangular with one corner cut in a curve, slightly convex, and pierced by four small holes along the straight sides (figs. 1-5). There are "left" and "right" scales of this type, and few others of pentagonal or trapezoidal shape. The dimensions vary between 1.2 and 1,4 cm and are thus rather small in comparison with similar scales supposedly from cuirasses. However they are most probable the remains of some protective armour; after examining different possibilities and adducing numerous parallels (figs. 6-17) and opinions, the author suggests tentatively that they might be remains of over-sleeves protecting the arm from the wrist to the elbow.