Is it plausible to depict the Segmentata using armor upgrades?

[Africanvs]

Do the men and/or women you serve with know you hold them in such low esteem? Many of the men I served with have gone on to do good things after our enlistment. And none of them have expressed any regrets for joining. I highly respect the men I served with, and while I can say we were a bit naive at first (being in our late teens, early 20s at the time), those "stupid" kids acted intelligent and mature when tasked with the tough missions that came our way. Whether it was evacuating the American Embassy and providing humanitarian aid in East Timor, providing riot control at the G8 Summit in Okinawa, or any other number of things, including Iraq, the Marines I served with always acted professionally. In comparison to most of the college kids I’ve had to put up with (and will have to put up with) on my way to becoming an educator, who cant even be trusted to drive their pretty cars their parents gave them, id rather be side by side with those "stupid" kids I served with, as you’re so willing to call them. And by the way, those "stupid" kids include many relatives of mine who also served. Besides family members who served in WWI and WWII, my father served in the Air Force, one brother in the Army in S. Korea, another brother served in the Navy aboard submarines, and myself in the Marine Corps. My brother in law is in the National Guard, and hes currently in Iraq. None of us have any regrets for the time we spent in.

Anyhow, congratulations on successfully derailing this whole topic.....Id rather be discussing the merits of the Lorica Segmentata, or the lack of merits for that matter, than dealing with your......never mind.

I can see that you're pretty emotional about this, but as a former Marine myself, let me say a few things. For one thing, you and I both know that there are plenty of stupid teenage Marines. Experienced Marines call them "boots" and they typically go through about a year-long process of getting their shit together once they hit the fleet, which is after a Marine finishes their initial training(for those who don't know). I think this must be the same for every soldier in the world who lives or ever has lived. It's basically the stupid newby phase, so don't get all sentimental when he says most recruits are stupid teenagers. Besides, what do you care what he thinks anyway? You know what you and your brothers did, and you know the quality of the people you served with. I was a grunt in Afghanistan, and Iraq, and many of the people I served with were good Marines, but there were plenty of dumb-asses as well. It isn't dishonoring the Corps to admit the obvious.

As for the LS, is the fact that it is a different kind of armor relevant? For example when the empire was fighting a lot of germans, they were facing a lot more clubs and other blunt weapons. Chain mail is all but useless against these types of weapons, because the bone gets crushed anyway. I imagine a banded form of iron mail would provide better protection against these simple but deadly weapons wouldn't it? Also, if you look at the LS, it just looks cool and powerful, even if it isn't so much. I wonder if the LS wasn't used as a psychological weapon more than anything. Kind of a symbol to represent the power of Rome. A whole legion marching with that shiny armor must have been quite a sight for a bunch of shirtless barbarians with clubs. (I'm sorry if these points have been made already, I didn't want to read every single post of this thread)

[ljperreira]

Stupid is too strong and offensive. Youre more likely to offend someone by calling them stupid than calling them naive. I dont think anybody was "stupid" (of course, theres always that 10%, as Ive said), just a bit clueless. I was a bit more offended that he indirectly called me a liar. I dont need to lie to prove a point on these threads, the sources I gave back up my theories, and I can provide pics of the armor ive made. I was just saying that in my experience that squad leaders, section leaders, platoon Sgts, and so on were pretty good at making sure your gear was serviecable, and that you maintained your weapons and equipment on a day to day basis. He said he didnt buy it. Im not "emotional" though, im just demanding a little respect. I hope this is all that needs to be said about this, Ive tried to get back on topic a couple of times.....

P.S. Please, dont tell me how im supposed to react to things, only I can decide that.

Ok, once again, back on topic....
I agree with you about the psychological effects of the LS. But the "barbarians" werent always without armor themselves. The chain mail shirts (Lorica Hamata) worn by the Romans is believed to be a direct copy of Celtic chain mail, including the "shoulder doubling" which draped over the shoulders and around the neck for extra protection. The celts also used versions of scale armor (Squamata). So it may not have been as impressive to all those the Romans came in contact with. But overall, seeing a mass of Legionaries not only all wearing armor but marching in step in disciplined order probably made quite a few of them wish they were at home eating lunch.