The Roman Empire depended on the power of its armies to defend and extend the imperial borders, enabling it to dominate much of Europe, Northern Africa and the Middle East. Success was, in large part, founded on well-trained, well-disciplined soldiers who were equipped with the most advanced arms and armour available at that time. This is the story of the production of that armour. Roman Imperial Armour presents an examination of the metals the armour was made from, of how the ores containing those metals were extracted from the earth and transformed into workable metal and of how that raw product was made into the armour of the Roman army. The policing and protecting of such a huge empire required a large and well-organised force and the book goes on to consider the organisation of the army, its size, composition, the logistics involved in its deployment and provisioning and the training, remuneration and benefits offered to its men at arms.

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Foreword
• Acknowledgements
• Abbreviations
• 1 The Evidence
  • Introduction
  • Written and visual sources
  • Metallographic and surface examination
  • Experimental archaeology
  • Conclusions
• 2 Iron Production
  • Introduction
  • Sources of iron in the Roman Empire
  • Moving the ore
  • Charcoal production
  • Ore preparation
  • Bloomery iron production
  • Bloomsmithing (pimary smithing)
  • Clean iron
  • Conclusions
• 3 Blacksmithing Techniques and Production Methods
  • Introduction
  • Blacksmithing
  • Welding
  • Heat treatment
  • Advantages of hot and cold working
  • Work hardening
  • Forming sheet metal hemispheres
  • Producing holes in sheet metal
  • Materials testing in antiquity
  • Recycling metal
  • Manufacture
  • Economics
  • Conclusions
• 4 The Production of Sheet Metal
  • Methods of sheet iron production
  • Conclusions
• 5 Iron and Steel
  • Introduction
  • Methods of making steel
  • Hardening and tempering
  • Conclusions
• 6 Surface Treatment of Roman Armour
  • Introduction
  • Rust prevention
  • The surface appearance of Roman armour
  • Polishing
  • Coatings
  • A comparison of different surface treatments
  • Preventing rusting during storage
  • Conclusions
• 7 Helmets (galea or cassis)
  • Introduction
  • Parts of the helmet
  • Methods of manufacture
  • Conclusions
• 8 Scale Armour (lorica squamata)
  • Body armour
  • Lorica squamata
  • Typology of lorica squamata
  • The nature of scale armour
  • Field repairs
  • Case study: The Carlisle shoulder piece
  • Metallography
  • Wire to join scales
  • Replication of scale armour
  • The future of scale armour
  • Conclusions
• 9 Ring Mail (lorica hamata)
  • Introduction
  • Wire production
  • Wire drawing
  • Type of metals used for wire
  • Experimental method for producing a draw plate
  • Wire drawing
  • Ring types
  • Non-ferrous rings
  • Riveted rings
  • Conclusions
• 10 Segmented Body Armour (lorica segmentata)
  • Introduction
  • Conclusions
• 11 Leg and Arm Armour
  • Arm armour
  • Greaves (Ocrea)
  • Method of manufacture
  • Conclusion
• 12 The Shield and Boss (umbo)
  • Introduction
  • Shield edging (guttering)
  • The construction typology of shield bosses
  • Double-skinned ferrous shield bosses
  • Laminated shield bosses (welded)
  • Other materials
  • Conclusions
• 13 Conclusions
• Appendix 1: The Survival of Ancient Machines
• Appendix 2: One-sided Carburization
• Glossary
• Latin terms
• Bibliography
• Plates