A string fragment of Bronze Scale Mail or Lorica Squamata armor consisting of numerous leaf shaped pieces of silvered bronze connected with bronze rings. This items has 11 leafs still attached together with a pair separate. Some of the silvering still remains and would have made this a very shiny piece of armor.

Each piece on its own has two holes on top and on either side. Once strung together this would have allowed numerous rows to be layered to eventually form a piece of armor of varied shape. Different types and sizes existed with a variety of styles and lengths depending on the area and era they were produced.  This armor was expensive to maintain and produce, making it something that was not mainstream and may only have been worn by a few infantry/legionaries or the mainly wealthier cavalrymen (due to its ease of movement).(1)(2)(3)(4)

-painting by M. Daniels

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Reverse View

Identical example in the Roman section at the British Museum, London July 2005