Gloves, Hand and Arm Protection - COMITATUS · Gloves, Hand and Arm Protection Winter 2010 by...

ComitatVs Guides for Members ~ Gloves of 10

Gloves, Hand and Arm Protection Winter 2010

by Stephen Kenwright

Hand protection is often useful against both the cold and in some craft based tasks, archery and contact sparring. In 2007 the A.G.M. decided that new members should wear protective gloves for the armamentum display at least until a qualified instructor/ Health & Safety officer (Victor) determines that they are safe without. If you do want to wear gloves, what should they look like? Until relatively recently, it was thought that gloves were unknown to the Romans (e.g. Wild 1968). Evidence from the period is scarce but an argument for their use and appearance can be drawn from sources compiled from across the empire and over several centuries.

Literary evidence for gloves from the Roman age includes both manicae, (from manus, 'hand'), which seem to covered the hand for warmth and for protection (as well as a kind of hand-cuff! According to Amphitryon these specifically 'hug the hand') and digitabula, (from digitus, 'finger', perhaps a compound meaning 'finger-guard'), which seem to be fingered gloves worn against the cold and evolving into digitale meaning thimble.

Gloves are mentioned in Homer and Herodotus. In his C12th commentary the Odyssey (xxiv. 228, 229) which mentions χειρίδες worn to protect the hands from briars and thorns, the Byzantine Eustathius of Thessalonica compares such to mittens used by labourers of his day for hedging and χειρίδες δακτυλανύται i.e. 'fingered mittens' or gloves, which supports the translation of χειρίδες as mittens worn for light protection.

In the Cyropaedia Xenephon describes the Persians wearing fur gloves which specifically protect the fingers from the cold. Pliny the Younger describes his uncle's secretary taking the precaution of wearing manicae during the winter, which clearly covered at least part of the hand to warm it, yet facilitated, rather than impeded, writing. This might be taken to describe a sleeve extending over the back of the hand but, were this the case, I would have expected Pliny to refer to a long sleeved tunic (tunica manicata 'tunic to the hand') as does Quintus Curtius Rufus in his C1st work. Mittens seem unlikely to aid writing. One might, however, imagine that a fingerless “wrist-over” resembling a boxer's himantes, covering the palm but not the fingers, as being ideal:

ad latus notarius cum libro et pugillaribus, cuius manus hieme manicis muniebantur, ut ne caeli quidem asperitas ullum studii tempus eriperet (Epist. Iii.5)

“By his side was a note-taker with a book and writing-tablets; whose hands in winter were protected with manicae so that not even the harsh weather should

Salvianus 1/1/10 Stephen Kenwright


take any time away from his studies.”

In Varro's, De Re Rustica (i.55) he mentions what appear to be fingered gloves (digitabula) for olive-picking:

Quae manu stricta, melior ea quae digitis nudis, quam illa quae cum digitabulis, durities enim eorum quod non solum stringit bacam, sed etiam ramos glubit ...

“Of those (olives) picked by hand, those (picked) with bare fingers are better than those (picked) with digitabula, as their hardness not only bruises the berry but also strips bark from the branches... ”

As the harvest is a winter activity continuing as late as February, I assume gloves would be desirable against the cold rather than for protection. Daremberg & Saglio suggested nearly a century ago that these digitabula are metal prongs, but I don't know why, as this doesn't seem to agree with the start of the sentence, or the emphasised contrast with bare fingers or reflect any finds that I know of. As the hardness of the glove is emphasised, I would interpret them as made of leather.

Closer to Comitatus' dateline and territory is a curse tablet from Bath in C4th cursive script which regards stolen manicilia dua (diminutive of manica) which some interpret as gloves or mittens (Allason-Jones 2005, Hassall and Tomlin 1985). Manicillium appears as a later gloss for χειρίδίον. Another from Uley in a C3rd cursive is similar though the writer gets the gender wrong and mispells it with a common late provincial indifference to i and a short e (manecilis and manicili[.]s). Certainly translating these as 'sleeves' doesn't sit naturally in this context.

More compelling, is the C4th tablet from Ratcliffe-on-Soar which lists "two greaves (ocrias), an axe, a knife, a pair of gloves..." (ma[n]ica[m], final 'm's being commonly omitted from colloquial Latin and twice more in this sentence alone). Tempting as it is to see this as military equipment, this more dispassionately calls to mind Palladius who mentions ocreas manicasque de pellibus i.e. leather greaves (perhaps better 'gaiters') and manicae, for use by huntsmen and agricultural labourers (De Re Rustica. i. 43).

Tan gloves are hardly likely to show up in art, especially mosaics. The first obvious representation I can find of true Roman gloves appear on sixth century mosaics in Jordan and Argos, which appear to show men hunting with birds wearing substantial gauntlets on their left hand.



Unfortunately, the Swedish Åsle mitten, previously dated to 200 A.D., gave a Carbon 14 date in the late 16th - early 17th century. What appear to be gauntlet-cuffs on the Vachere warrior are more likely to be sleeve-cuffs, as apparently his fingernails can be seen.

Boxers

“...binding on hand and arm these well-seasoned thongs of bull hide...seven folds of the hides of bulls...insewn with lead and with iron...” The Aeneid

Ancient Olympic boxers wrapped their hands with himantes meilichai, strips of relatively soft ox-hide leather which criss-cross to support the wrists and knuckles whilst allowing the fist to open and close. Experiment suggests that each should be three or four yards long.

By the C4th B.C. a hard striking surface over the knuckles had been added, making them himantes oxeis, “'sharp thongs', extending up the wrists on both hands" as Pausanias puts it, more enclosed and padded on the forearms with fleece, resembling fingerless, thumbless gloves. As padded, protective gloves, they have much to commend them, but the addition of the 'sharp' thongs make them specialist boxing equipment. Likewise, the metal re-enforced caestus was effectively a specialist gladiatorial weapon. The heavily padded gloves used for training boxers to punch were simply called 'balls' (sphairai) due to their globular shape, which enclosed the whole hand.

Use by Greek sportsmen does not suggest use by Roman soldiers in the field, but these forms do seem to have influenced the Roman equivalents and these padded gauntlets or wrapped hand bindings provide a period method of protecting the hand and wrist which one can argue would be familiar to soldiers and which might easily be a better model than modern gloves for the context of training that Comitatus portrays.


Himantes meilichai, himantes oxeis, caesti


Gladiators

Several types of gladiator wore a manica on their fighting arm. In the first century B.C. these were gauntlet sized, just covering the hand and forearm and resemble a boxer's caestus, which then was extended over the elbow and upper arm.

In the early centuries A.D. manicae could extend from the hand over the elbow to cover the whole arm, apparently made from some form of padding held with straps, often reconstructed as coarse linen or leather bound with thongs.

By the C4th they are also depicted as metal armour of segmented plates, mail or scale. The back of the hand was sometimes protected with a single large plate.



On the face of it there is little reason to assume gladiatorial equipment would be utilised by the army. However, Vegetius explicitly approves of the use of gladiatorial training methods, specifically the employment of the post, woven osier training shield and wooden training sword. Furthermore, the segmented manica was certainly used by Roman infantry in the first and second centuries and probably by Roman cavalry units in the fourth.

Soldiers

An excellent essay by Paul Browne (Caballo) comprehensively covers the military use of manicae, which is well established up to at least the late C2nd.

http://www.comitatus.net/Documents/The_Manica_3.pdf

The manica inscribed on the C1st memorial of Sextus Valerius Severus in Mainz shows clearly banded sections covering the back of the hand, with a separate thumb.

They are shown as apparently standard combat equipment worn by legionaries on the Trajanic monument at Adamclisi, Romania, with mail and scale armour as well as late C2nd-early C3rd reliefs at Alba Iulia in Romania and possibly the Arch of Severus at Leptis Magna, Syria, worn with segmented body armour.

British finds have been identified, including both copper alloy (e.g. Carlisle) and iron (e.g. Newstead), the latter with surviving elements of a leather backing.


http://www.comitatus.net/Documents/The_Manica_3.pdf


A relief at Firuzabad of Ardashir I's battle against the Parthian king Artabanus in 224 A.D. shows a Sassanid horseman wearing mail armour to the knuckles seizing a Parthian with segmented armour to the knuckles.

Persian heavy cavalry seem to have influenced some Late Roman cavalry equipment, perhaps carried by the many C4th units of cataphracts and clibanarii recorded in the Notitia Dignitatum. I know of nothing to parallel the mail, but the segmented armour looks similar to Roman finds.

The mid-C3rd Dura Europos graffiti also shows a heavy cavalryman with banded arm protection, which is probably one of the Sassanid besiegers.



The Synagogue wall paintings include depictions of soldiers wearing knee length, long sleeved mail coats, which obviously protect the arm but not the hand.

A relief of two soldiers probably from the C3rd-4th Arch of Diocletian, both have long sleeves on their mail and scale armour respectively (Southern and Dixon 1996, Fig 18, p99).

Illustrations in the (later) copies of the C4-5th Notitia Dignitatum seem to show segmented limb defences including manicae. The accuracy of these copies is suggested by similar armour carved on the Column of Arcadius circa 400 A.D., now lost but recorded in C18th drawings.



Contemporary descriptions confirm that heavy armour could be extensive:

"Then the defenders [of Pirisabora]…. looked as if they were entirely of iron; for the plates exactly fitted the various parts of their bodies and fully protecting them, covered them from head to foot." (Ammianus Marcellinus, History Book XIX, XXIV:2.10)

".. a huge force of Persians appeared ... all covered in iron (‘catervae ferratae’), and all parts of their bodies were covered with thick plates, so fitted that the stiff joints conformed with those of their limbs; and the forms of human faces were so skilfully fitted to their heads that, since their entire bodies were plated with metal, arrows that fell upon them could lodge only where they could see a little through tiny openings fitted to the circle of the eye, or where through the tips of their noses they were able to get a little breath." (XXV.1.11 - 14)

Iron plates from a gauntlet with a suggested date of the C6th-7th were found in the Amlash region of Iran, with three strips of iron over the fingers, two over the knuckles and a larger plate over the back of the hand, with a similar structure alongside for the thumb, then studs on the wrist, which might have reinforced a leather base. It may be a late Sassanian bazpan, perhaps resembling the iron gauntlets that Mauricius recommended in his list of equipment for bucellarii (Strategikon, i.2 circa 600 A.D.).

Saxon PeriodComitatus sometimes do later period shows and members attend some Regis events , for example. The Old English word ”glof” might derive from an ancient common root with similar terms in other Germanic languages such as Gothic and Old Norse, suggesting to Owen-Crocker (2004) that such items were used in at least the early Anglo-Saxon period. The term hond-scio or 'hand-shoe', found as the name of a character in Beowulf, is usually translated as 'mitten' just like the Old Norse hanzki preserved in the Prose Edda and Poetic Edda.



In the C7th life of Columbanus, Jonas, Abbott of Bobbio, explains how gloves (tegumenta manuum quos Galli uuantos uocant) protect the hands in manual labour. The probably C8th Bewcastle cross seems to show a falconer wearing a gauntlet and the Life of St. Guthlac mentions the loss of a pair of gloves by a monk. Alammanic graves excavated at Oberflacht contained cloth lined leather gloves laced at the back of the hand. The C8th Frankish 'minstrel' whose body was excavated at Cologne was wearing fine decorated gloves, a different type on each hand: the left was cow leather and the right of deer-skin with ridge and groove decoration. In the C9th Eberhard of Friuli bequeathed a manica in his will as part of set of armour. A C10th mitten from Arnheiðarstaðir, Iceland was made of naalbinding.

Re-enactment

Proper technique and care from all participants usually protects the hands from serious injury, but grazes, cuts and bruises to the hand are still amongst the most common problems in sparring and close formations, quite often on one's own shield, armour and equipment. On occasion in the past someone has picked up or been given a sharp when rushing to the next part of a display, so ideally one should know what you are going to use for contact demonstrations, know where it is and avoid using unplanned equipment. At the least, ensure that you double check you have a blunt before using it.

Fortunately, Comitatus present training scenarios, so one doesn't need to worry quite so much about what was worn for combat and it is much more credible that along with wooden training 'swords', capped spears and wicker shields one might wear padded arm and hand protection. Light protection e.g. from equipment scratches & arrow fletching cuts in archery can be provided easily by close fitting tan leather gloves, available from garden centres, which can be slipped off when near the public. They are also very useful for general camp duties.

You must take gloves off to be safe for throwing missile weapons.

Unpick any labels or elastic from the seams and consider re-stitching by hand with linen thread. Avoid gloves that are loose, which obviously can cause rather than prevent accidents. I now usually wear two pairs together for the armamentum for a bit more protection, without feeling the need for a fully padded glove. Most of the unpleasant effects of minor incidents can also be remedied by very basic treatment if you don't ignore them: wash cuts and put ice packs on bruises before they end up annoying you for the rest of the weekend & ensure your tetanus shot is up to date.



Authentic protection for the arm is easily provided by long sleeved mail shirts worn over padding, but this adds to the weight you carry significantly and makes archery and missile throwing much harder and hotter work. It is largely the padding that protects for our purposes, rather than the mail itself, which is designed to stop sharp blades from cutting. Similarly, mail backed gloves worn by some at battle re-enactments are surprisingly heavy, promoting fatigue and over-striking, doesn't give as much impact protection as leather, are unevidenced in our periods and thus have little to recommend them.

Armamentaria is offering a very reasonable manica reconstruction with separate plates covering the back of the hand and the upper part of the thumb in mild steel and in copper alloy on a leather base, which has been adopted by Victor as part of his C4th heavy cavalry impression and offers surprising freedom of movement. Note that the evidence points to manicae being worn with full armour by soldiers, not on it's own. Anyone fairly handy with cutting and riveting sheet metal could make their own relatively cheaply.

At the end of the day, no-one in Comitatus should be hitting you in such a way as to require the heavy duty protection needed for the massed competitive battles run by other groups, but many members enjoy participating in them, such as Regia's Jorvik Festival and owning a solid gauntlet is very useful for free sparring in training sessions.

Home made impact protection can be provided by thick (e.g. 4- 6mm) leather panels applied to the back of one leather glove on the fighting hand. They are a common 're-enactorism' but should be hidden from the public, as they are completely unevidenced. Don't use obviously modern gardening/welding/work gloves as a base. If applying stiff leather panels to a relatively flexible glove, you may need to sew on an intermediate thickness of flexible leather to spread the load. You can stitch this on by hand directly, reducing the number of holes you will need to punch in the thick panels with an awl. Alternatively, cover a hand guard (e.g. hockey glove insert) with a suitable outer glove, but fix it securely so it cannot come off / apart and look terrible.

For a much better look, overlay the leather panels to give a banded effect, modelled on the Iranian gauntlet or manica or, if you are happier keeping your fingers free, chop down gauntlets to resemble himantes and perhaps sew thonging over the top. I believe that these are a more believable interpretation than the standard re-enactor gauntlet, or even than the plain vegetable tanned leather gloves that I think slim evidence supports, but which might strike some as looking too modern. Grab a glove and enjoy sparring with spirit!


Gloves, Hand and Arm Protection - COMITATUS · Gloves, Hand and Arm Protection Winter 2010 by...

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