Lorica manica

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is part of the series on: Military of ancient Rome (portal) 800 BC – AD 476
Structural history
Roman army (unit types and ranks, legions, auxiliaries, generals)
Roman navy (fleets, admirals)
Campaign history
Lists of wars and battles
Decorations and punishments
Technological history
Military engineering (castra, siege engines, arches, roads)
Personal equipment
Political history
Strategy and tactics
Infantry tactics
Frontiers and fortifications (limes, Hadrian's Wall)

Lōrīca manica or simply manica was a type of iron or bronze arm guard, with fourteen curved and overlapping metal segments or plates (12 narrow plates and 2 large ones at the ends) fastened to a leather backing and with four buckles and laces to hold it in place, worn by Roman gladiators.

It was adopted from gladiators by Roman troops during the Dacian Wars to wear with the short-sleeved lorica segmentata as a protection against the falcēs, which could cut through or around the Roman legionaries' shields. Its use (along with metal greaves) is thus attested on several reliefs depicting that campaign, including the Tropaeum Traiani at Adamclisi and Trajan's Column. These seem to suggest that, like the lorica segmentata, it was only issued to Roman-born legionaries and not to auxiliaries. The Dacian campaign is the only one during which we have definite evidence for its use, and we do not know if its use in that campaign was widespread or rare, but it is possible and commonly accepted that it was issued elsewhere.^[1]

No find in the archaeological record, however, can be identified for certain as a manica, though some believe pieces found in a hoard of armour fragments near Newstead are in fact manica, ^[2] ^[3].

Finds at Carlise and in Romania have provided additional evidence that the Manica was in use by the Roman Military during the First Century AD, independent from the Dacian wars. Also, the Sculpture at Alba Julia provides secondary evidence of the Manicas use in 2nd / 3rd Century AD by the Military. ^[4]