ROMAN LEATHER CUIRASS (IR80721)
KEY FEATURES: * Strong durable leather * Replicates an original * Perfect piece for the collector or reenactor

ROMAN BODY ARMOR (heroic cuirass)
The Roman heroic cuirass plate armour, is formed of a single piece of metal or other rigid material or composed of two or more pieces, which covers the front of the wearer's body. The earliest heroic cuirass was made of a thick leather which was later upgraded to be made of bronze. This important piece was generally worn in connection with a corresponding defence for the back, the term cuirass commonly is understood to imply the complete body-armour, including both the breast and the back plates. This complete body armour appears in the Middle Ages frequently to have been described as a pair of plates. The muscularity of the ideal male torso was standardized in Hellenistic and Roman times, sometimes further embellished with symbolic representation in relief, familiar in the Augustus of Prima Porta and other heroic representations in official Roman sculpture.