Lorica

Definition: A lorica is a cuirass, which is a piece of body armor that covers the chest. It could be made of leather, or even linen, but the ancient kind that is most familiar (because it isn't prone to the type of decay animal and vegetable matter are subject to) is the metal muscle shirt sculpted like an idealized male body (the muscle cuirass). This armor was probably worn by senior officers in the Roman legions, as well as the emperor, but other variations on the lorica weren't limited to the Romans. The Sarmatians and Quadi (see Steppe Tribes) used hoof or horn cut into pieces and fastened like scales to linen shirts. A related tribe, the Rhoxalani, wore loricas with scales of iron on leather. Some of the scales on the Persian loricas were gold or bronze.

Pat Southern, in The Roman Army: A Social and Institutional History, says the Romans used:

1. mail armor (lorica hamata)
   with iron rings of about 7 mm in diameter stitched onto a backing, and worn by legionaries and auxiliaries;
   
   
2. scale armor (lorica squamata)
   consisting of overlapping rows wired together and sewn into cloth, worn by auxiliary infantry and some legionaries, commonly found by archaeologists; and
   
   
3. segmented armor (lorica segmentata)
   not a Roman term, but referring to a type of armor known from sculptures and remains in bronze, other portions having disintegrated, and possibly worn only by legionaries.

Trajan's Column shows a shorter lorica than previously. Trajan's men's loricas reach to their hips. This was important because the material of the lorica was heavy and so reducing its length made it more comfortable.

Chris Thomas, who was at the University of Aukland, in New Zealand in 2004, says the standard Roman body armor was the 7 kg chainmail lorica hamata with extra shoulder flaps. This was worn on top of a woolen military tunic (and probably padded jackets and arm guards [Southern]). It was in use from the second century B.C. to the end of the Principate in the third century A.D. Although used throughout that period, it was supplanted by a 1.5 kg lighter model, the lorica segmentata, in the first century A.D. This armor consisted of iron plates attached to a leather straps, hinged with buckles and straps.