[Illustration: Lorica, as worn by a Greek Warrior. (From a Vase.)
Lorica, as worn by a Roman Emperor. (Statue of
Caligula in Louvre.)]
LŌRĪCA (θώραξ), a cuirass. The cuirass was worn by the heavy-armed
infantry both among the Greeks and Romans. The soldiers commonly
wore cuirasses made of flexible bands of steel, or cuirasses of
chain mail; but those of generals and officers usually consisted of
two γύαλα, the breast-piece and back-piece, made of bronze, iron,
&c., which were joined by means of buckles (περόναι). The epithets
λεπιδωτός and φολιδωτός are applied to a cuirass; the former on
account of its resemblance to the scales of fish (λεπίσιν), the
latter to the scales of serpents (φολίσιν). Among the Asiatic nations
the cuirass was frequently made of cotton, and among the Sarmatians
and other northern nations of horn.
[Illustration:
Lorica. λεπιδωτός.
Lorica. φολιδωτός.
(Bartoli, ‘Arcus Triumph.’)]