ties) have been discarded. The hinges have been replaced by simple rivets,and the belt and buckle fastenings by hooks. The shoulder plates are riveted together and thegirdle lames are larger than previous lames, although probably reduced to five or six pairs, thelower two pairs being replaced by a single pair of wide plates. The inner shoulder-guard plate inthis type is a single strip instead of three plates hinged together, coming down much further atthe front and back. This deep inflexible breast and upper back plates were laminated in thesame way as the girdles and held together by internal leather straps. The simplification of thelorica segmentata indicates that earlier designs were probably over engineered and the complexcuirass types were both labor and maintenance intensive and more prone to fall apart. Thisform of cuirass was used extensively for most of this period due to its successful form. Incontrast to the earlier armors the lorica segmentata was flexible, lighter and easier to maintainand repair. The design of this armor also adapted and evolved in response to the fightingtechniques of a number of different enemies and the economic needs of Rome at this time. Armor has much to tell about the Roman Army, its method of waging war, and the economyof the first century. The change in military equipment illustrates a process whereby Romanforces borrowed the technology of other people whom they came into conflict. These adaptionsare illustrated by the cuirass forms taken from the Greeks, and the Celts. Innovation occurredusing the available military and civilian technology to counter a threat posed by a particularenemy. Thus by the 1st century A.D. much of the soldiers' equipment, including the cuirass, wasderived from enemies of earlier periods. The four types of cuirass identified in this paper havetheir own characteristics and variations. They all have benefits or drawbacks in terms ofprotection, mobility and cost....
