Samnite Bronze Triple Disk Cuirass

Southern Italy, Samnite, ca. 430 to 300 BCE. An ancient Samnite bronze triple-disk cuirass or breast plate, with an incised brass segment at the neck, hinged shoulder and side pieces, attached by clasps. The triple disc cuirass originated in Samnite territory in the mountains of Southern Italy in the late 5th century BCE. This light armor was well suited to the Samnites' skirmishing method of combat. The armor was later adopted by the Etruscans and Romans. Custom stand. Size: 10" L x 10" W x 13.75" H (25.4 cm x 25.4 cm x 34.9 cm); 15.5" H (39.4 cm) on included custom stand.

A cuirass like this example would have been worn by warriors during the Samnite Wars and used in conjunction with an Attic helm and Greaves. The Samnite Wars between the early Roman Republic and the tribes of Samnium lasted for more than five decades and involved virtually all the states of Italy. Interestingly, the most formidable opponents of the Romans were mountaineers who defended the Apennines to the southeast of Latium.

The heyday of the Roman Republic took place in the period following the second Punic War, when drawing upon earlier experiences, it conquered more and more of the Mediterranean. Credit for the success of the Republic is due primarily to the earlier epic Samnite Wars that took place closer to home. The Romans had recently conquered the city of Veii which was fewer than ten miles away. Then they expanded, defeated the Latin League, and moved down the coast. It was at this point that the Romans met the Samnites who resided in the hills and mountainsides of south-central Italy and took pride in their identity as fearsome warriors. These hill peoples dominated neighboring tribes and amassed an empire that rivaled the size of the Rome's. One of these victims, the Campanians who lived around the city of Capua, appealed to Rome for aid, and so, Rome intervened and the Samnite Wars began.

cf.: J. Warry, Warfare in the Classical World, (1995), pp. 102-103; D. Cahn, Waffen und Zaumzeug, (Basel, 1989), pp. 70-71, no. 27.

Provenance: formerly in a E. S. collection, Berlin; previously in the H. B. collection, Germany, acquired before 1992

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#127984

Mounted on custom stand, original bronze hardware, side panels, and shoulder pieces extant. Surface with thick verdigris oxidation in areas. Repair and consolidation to front and back plates, losses to edges of some of the side plates restored.