By M.C. Bishop
ISBN: 978-1472851703
Osprey Elite 252 (2023) - £14.99
Following on from his excellent titles on Roman Shields (Elite 234) and Roman Plate Armour (Elite 247), Bishop here covers Roman mail (hamata) and scale (squamata) armours. As with the previous two titles in the series, Giuseppe Rava again provides the colour plates. To these are added several line drawings which aid in the better understanding of several pieces.
Bishop rightly opens with the idea – a modern term), it was less significant than mail and scale armour (p. 4). Both had longer histories and existed before and after plate armour was common. Indeed, Bishop’s parting point is that mail is still well and truly with us, such as that used for protection by butchers (p. 60). Scale armour too is still being explored with ceramic scales. Both types of armour were imports to Rome; early signs of the Roman military ‘system’ adapting and adopting outside technologies for their own uses. Mail (Bishop explains why he avoids the term ‘chain mail’ on p. 5) came from northern Europe; scale armour came from the east (the earliest example found is from Egypt). Bishop deals with each separately (mail pp. 9–21, scale pp. 22–38) which is entirely understandable even though their use overlapped for large periods. He then explores lamellar armour (pp. 39–43) and concludes with sections on manufacture, decoration, and maintenance before looking at mail and scale armour in use (pp. 43–60). Throughout, Bishop’s scholarship is aided by Rava's plates which add an immediacy to the points being made in the text.
