The
klivanion or
klibanion ()
was a
Byzantine type of
Lamellar armour cuirass made of metal plates (
lamellae) sewn on leather backing or with no backing at all, with plates protecting the shoulders and the back. This type of lamellar armour first appears in late roman/early byzantine period (4th-5th c AD) and seems to have been adopted by the Byzantines from persian and eurasian steppic military cultures, presenting an evoluition/replacement for the outdated traditional ancient scale armour. The byzantine army used it continuously up until mid- or late 12th century, and arguably developed a distinct and successful tradition in the lamellar armour technology through all those centuries. It was, however, definitely out of use by 1204 and beyond, when it became replaced by other newer forms of the then fast evolvling european military technology, and most importantly by coat-of-plates armour. Etymologically, the name derives from the Greek
klivanos (κλίβανος), meaning "
oven"
[G. Babiniotis, 2002, Lexikon of the Modern Greek Language
]
/ref>, because of how this cuirass enclosed a man's torso air-tight (like an oven)[ Porphyra (Πορφύρα), da un' idea di Nicola Bergamo, a cura di Dott. Raffaele D' Amato. p.15][ Dawson Timothy (2009) Byzantine Cavalryman C.900-1204, Osprey Publishing.][Dawson Timothy, Klivanion revisited: an evolutionary typology and catalogue of middle Byzantine lamellar’, Journal of Roman Military Equipment Studies
/ref>][Praecepta Militaria I, 14-20, in Eric McGeer, Sowing the Dragon's Teeth: Byzantine Warfare in the Tenth Century, Dumbarton Oaks Studies 33 (Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks, 1996) ISBN: 9780884023319] The klivanion could also be worn together with a surcoat epilorikion (normally of a single fabric but it is possible it was also occasionally padded) as added covering.
Klivanion was also made for horses and this armor was made from bison hide.
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