Pteruges (also spelled pteryges; ) are strip-like defences for the upper parts of limbs attached to

armor Armour (Commonwealth English) or armor (American English; see American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, spelling differences) is a covering used to protect an object, individual, or vehicle from physical injury or damage, e ...

of the

Greco-Roman world The Greco-Roman world , also Greco-Roman civilization, Greco-Roman culture or Greco-Latin culture (spelled Græco-Roman or Graeco-Roman in British English), as understood by modern scholars and writers, includes the geographical regions and co ...

Appearance and variation

Pteruge featuring Jupiter Amon-MBA Lyon A2220-IMG 0615

Pteruges formed a defensive skirt of leather or multi-layered fabric (linen) strips or lappets worn hanging from the waists of Roman and

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

cuirass A cuirass ( ; ; ) is a piece of armour that covers the torso, formed of one or more pieces of metal or other rigid material. The term probably originates from the original material, leather, from the Old French word and the Latin word . The us ...

es of warriors and soldiers, defending the hips and thighs. Similar defenses, epaulette-like strips, were worn on the shoulders, protecting the upper arms. Both sets of strips are usually interpreted as belonging to a single garment worn under a cuirass, though in a linen cuirass ('' linothorax'') they may have been integral. The cuirass itself could be variously constructed: of plate-bronze ( muscle cuirass), ''linothorax'', scale, lamellar or mail. ''Pteruges'' could be arranged as a single row of longer strips or in two or more layers of shorter, overlapping lappets of graduated length.

Possible later use

During the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, especially in the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

and in the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

, such strips are depicted descending from the back and sides of helmets, to protect the neck while leaving it reasonably free to move. However, no archaeological remains of leather strip defenses for helmets have been found. Artistic depictions of such strip-like elements can also be interpreted as vertically-stitched quilted textile defenses.Dawson, Timothy: Byzantine Infantryman, Oxford (2007), pp. 20–21

References

Bibliography

* *{{cite book , first = Timothy , last = Dawson , title = Byzantine Infantryman. Eastern Roman Empire c.900–1204 , publisher = Osprey , year = 2007 , isbn = 978-1-84603-105-2

External links

Article about how to build pteruges
Roman-era clothing Greek clothing Byzantine clothing Ancient Roman legionary equipment Ancient Greek military terminology Ancient Greek military equipment Byzantine military equipment

Appearance and variation

Possible later use

See also

References

Bibliography

External links