Roman Military Wear

[Else]

I am looking for information on what Roman Centurions and Roman Legionnaries wore during the winter months when stationed in Southern England. I understand that they wore some sort of leggings but what were they made of and did they wear anything to cover their arms?

[Jimbow]

I would recommend Graham Sumner's books in the Osprey series, Roman Military Clothing 1 & 2. Here's a link:

 

Osprey Roman Clothing

 

They both deal with different periods, and have excellent illustrations and text. The clothing would be made from wool. There are illustrations of centurions, but can't remember off the top of my head how much winter wear is in there. Certainly the different types of cloaks feature heavily. Leggings are also depicted, but the period seems to influence to a degree the style of dress. There are opinions that the trousers would be of varied styles, some even checked as they were obtained from local tribes. But that's all hearsay

 

Cheers,

Jim.

[DanM]

You might also want to look for something called Dumbarton Oaks. I know very little about this organization, but I have run accross it from time to time in the bibliographies of some of the books I have read. This is just a guess, but it seems to be some sort of organization that sponsors papers on very specific historical information. For example, I saw a reference once to the military armor, weapons and other gear worn by heavy Roman cavilry along the Persian frontier during the later Roman Empire.

 

Maybe they have written something about your area of interest as well?

 

Sorry I cannot offer more information about these guys. Just a shot in the dark I suppose.

[Jimbow]

Here's an Amazon link to another book which may be of interest:

Alex Croom

 

Supposed to be very good and informative, with illustrations. However, it covers many aspects of clothing and may not have specific info about centurions.