The first line of defence was the shield
For most of antiquity, the shield was the main piece of protection, because it was cheap to make and could be carried by almost everyone. Early shields were built from wood, wicker or layers of hide, sometimes strengthened with a metal boss at the centre. Their size and shape varied with how soldiers fought. Very large body shields suited close-order spearmen who needed cover while advancing. Smaller round shields allowed freer movement for skirmishers and cavalry.
The Greek hoplite shield was a deep, round, wooden dish often faced with a thin sheet of bronze, and it was gripped with an arm band and a handle, a design that let the shield rest on the shoulder. The Roman scutum, by contrast, was a curved rectangular shield made of laminated wooden strips covered in leather or fabric, with a central boss. Both designs suited formation fighting, and each is tied to its own tactics, which the phalanx and legion articles describe more fully.
Helmets: protecting the head
Head wounds were deadly and helmets are among the best-preserved military finds. Early examples were of leather, felt or padded cloth. Metal helmets of copper and bronze appear in the Near East in the third millennium BCE, and the soldiers on the Stele of the Vultures are shown wearing close-fitting caps. Later Assyrian reliefs show conical iron or bronze helmets, sometimes with a crest or ear flaps, which are shown on soldiers in scenes that survive on Assyrian palace reliefs.
In Greece, the Corinthian helmet covered the whole head and face, with narrow slits for the eyes and a nose guard. It gave excellent protection but limited hearing and vision, and later Greek helmets, such as the Chalcidian and Attic types, opened up the face. Romans used a series of helmet patterns, typically with a deep neck guard and cheek pieces, and the design changed gradually from the Republic into the Empire. The Terracotta Army figures in China are a useful reminder that sculpture does not always match battlefield dress: most infantrymen are shown bareheaded, though many wear armour.
Body armour: materials and compromises
Body armour was always a compromise between protection, weight, cost and mobility. Common materials included:
- Leather and hide, sometimes hardened or layered, which was cheap and light but offered limited protection.
- Linen, glued or stitched in layers. Greek sources describe the linothorax, a body defence made of layered cloth, and similar protection was used in Egypt and elsewhere.
- Bronze plates and scales, sewn to a backing of leather or fabric. Scale armour was widely used across the Near East.
- Bronze cuirasses shaped to the body. The Greek muscled cuirass imitated the torso in metal.
- Iron mail made of linked rings, and later plate made of iron strips.
An early and well-known example from the Mycenaean world is the bronze plate panoply found in a tomb at Dendra, dated to around the fifteenth century BCE. It consists of overlapping plates with neck and shoulder pieces, and it is so heavy and rigid that scholars debate whether it was worn in combat or mainly in ceremonial or specialised roles. The wider world of Mycenaean palaces, with its chariot-based elite, may explain why such heavy gear survives.
Bronze armour had a practical weakness: thicker plate gave better protection but added considerable weight, and a full set of the Greek hoplite kit was a significant burden in hot climates. By the later Classical period, many Greek soldiers had moved to lighter linen body defences and fewer pieces of metal, trading some protection for endurance.
Mail and the Roman soldier
Mail, or chain armour, was made by linking small iron rings into a flexible shirt. It is traditionally associated with the Celtic peoples of Europe, though the exact origin is debated, and the Romans adopted it from the third century BCE or thereabouts. The Latin term is lorica hamata. Mail was flexible, repairable and reasonably effective against slashing blows, but it was heavy on the shoulders and took a great deal of labour to produce.
The famous plate-based armour of the early Empire, now commonly called lorica segmentata, is a modern name for an arrangement of curved iron strips fastened with leather straps and bronze fittings. Finds such as those from Kalkriese in Germany, a site connected with the defeat of Varus in 9 CE, show it was in use by the early first century CE. Segmented armour distributed weight better and could be made from standardised parts, but it needed careful maintenance. Many Roman legions continued to use mail, and auxiliary soldiers frequently wore mail or scale. The common picture of every legionary in segmented plate is therefore too simple.
Armour for animals
Horses sometimes wore protective coverings too. The heavily armoured cavalrymen of the Parthian and Sasanian world, known as cataphracts, rode horses protected by scale or mail. Such kit demanded wealthy states able to pay for specialist craftsmen.
What the evidence can and cannot tell us
Our picture of ancient armour comes from three main sources: actual objects, art and writing. Objects are the most reliable but are biased toward graves, sanctuaries and battlefields where metal survived, so cheap leather and linen gear is badly under-represented. Art can be stylised or heroic. Texts, such as military manuals, often give details but rarely describe what ordinary soldiers really wore. Where sources conflict, it is safer to treat reconstructions as plausible rather than certain.
Armour also signalled status. A decorated cuirass or crested helmet identified an officer or noble, and in citizen armies what a man wore often reflected what he could afford.