Lorica hamata

The lorica hamata is a type of mail armour used by the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. During the 1st century it was starting to be supplemented by lorica segmentata, but had been reintroduced as standard-issue armor by the 4th century. It was a standard-issue armour for both primary Legionary and secondary Auxilia troops. They were mostly manufactured out of bronze or iron. It alternated with rows of closed washer-like rings, and riveted rings running horizontally, this produced a very flexible, reliable and strong armour. Each ring had an inside diameter of about 5 mm, and an outside diameter of about 7 mm.

The shoulders of the lorica hamata had flaps that were similar to the Greek 'Linothorax' which ran from about mid-back to the front of the torso, and were connected by brass or iron hooks which connected to studs riveted through the ends of the flaps. Up to 30.000 rings would have gone into one lorica hamata.

The knowledge on the manufacturing of mail may have come from the Celts, though the first documented use occurred during the Roman conquest of Hispania. There were several versions of this type of armour, specialized for different military duties such as skirmishers, cavalry and spearmen.

Although labor-intensive to manufacture, it is thought that, with good maintenance, they could be continually used for several decades. Constant friction kept the rings of the lorica hamata free of rust.

Even the 2nd century, the lorica hamata was still common amongst the Legionary soldiers, despite the use of more advanced lorica segmentata. The lorica hamata remained common for both legionaries and auxilia. Later versions had sleeves and expanded to the knees unlike the earlier lorica hamata.