Pteruges

Julius Caesar is depicted in this drawing wearing pteruges beneath his lorica.

Pteruges (also spelled pteryges, from Greek, meaning feathers) refers to the decorative skirt of leather or fabric strips worn around the waists of Roman and Greek warriors and soldiers, as well as the similarly-fashioned epaulette-like strips worn on the shoulders or later, especially in the Middle East during the Middle Ages, the back of the helmets, in order to protect the neck leaving it reasonably free to move.

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  Pteruges of leather on the back of a byzantine helmet.
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  Pteruge featuring the face of Jupiter-Amon (from a statue ?). Courtesy of Musée des beaux-arts de Lyon

See also

• Linothorax

External links

• Article about how to build pteruges