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In classical antiquity, the muscle cuirass (), anatomical cuirass, or heroic cuirass is a type of cuirass made to fit the wearer's torso and designed to mimic an idealized male human physique. It first appears in late Archaic Greece and became widespread throughout the 5th and 4th centuries BC.M. Treister, "The Theme of Amazonomachy in Late Classical Toreutics: On the Phalerae from Bolshaya Bliznitsa," in Pontus and the Outside World: Studies in Black Sea History, Historiography, and Archaeology (Brill, 2004), p. 205; Charlotte R. Long, The Twelve Gods of Greece and Rome (Brill, 1987), p. 184. Originally made from hammered bronze plate, boiled leather also came to be used. It is commonly depicted in Greek and Roman art, where it is worn by generals, emperors, and deities during periods when soldiers used other types.
In Roman sculpture, the muscle cuirass is often highly ornamented with Greek mythology. Archaeological finds of relatively unadorned cuirasses, as well as their depiction by artists in military scenes, indicate that simpler versions were worn in combat situations. The anatomy of muscle cuirasses intended for use might be either realistic or reduced to an abstract design; the fantastically illustrated cuirasses worn by gods and emperors in Roman statues usually incorporate realistic and the navel within the scene depicted.
From around 475 to 450 BC, the muscle cuirass was shorter, covering less of the abdomen, and more nipped at the waist than in later examples. It was worn over a chitoniskos. In Neo-Attic, the muscle cuirass was worn over a longer chiton.Long, The Twelve Gods, p. 184.
The Italian muscle cuirass lacked the shoulder-guards found on Greek examples. Examples among the Samnites and Oscans sketch a blockier torso more roughly than the anatomically realistic Greek pieces.Nic Fields, Roman Battle Tactics 390–110 BC (Osprey Publishing, 2010), p. 7 with images. Many examples come from graves in Campania, Etruria, and elsewhere in southern Italy.
Polybius omits the muscle cuirass in his description of the types of armor worn by the Roman army, but archaeological finds and artistic depictions suggest that it was worn in combat. The monument of Aemilius Paulus at Delphi shows two Roman infantrymen wearing Lorica hamata alongside three who wear muscle cuirasses. They were worn mostly by officers, and may have been molded leather as well as metal, with fringed leather (pteruges) at the armholes and lower edge.Pat Southern, The Roman Army: A Social and Institutional History (Oxford University Press, 2006), p. 157. The muscle cuirass is one of the elements that distinguished a senior officer's "uniform".Hugh Elton, "Military Forces," in The Cambridge History of Greek and Roman Warfare (Cambridge University Press, 2007), p. 62.
Another conventional decoration is the gorgoneion, or Medusa's head, on the upper chest, and often vegetative motifs on the pectorals.Elfriede Knauer, " Knemides in the East? Some Observations on the Impact of Greek Body Armor on 'Barbarian' Tribes," in Nomodeiktes: Greek Studies in Honor of Martin Ostwald (University of Michigan Press, 1993), pp. 238–239. One of the elements of iconography that identify the Greek Athena and the Roman Minerva, goddesses who embodied the strategic side of warfare, was a breastplate bearing a gorgoneion (see Aegis). Other deities, particularly the war gods Ares and Mars, could be portrayed with muscle cuirasses.
]]The cuirass on the famous Augustus of Prima Porta is particularly ornate. In the center, a Roman officer is about to receive a Roman military standard (aquila) from a bearded "barbarian" who appears to be a Parthian Empire. The Roman, who has a hound at his side, is most often identified as a young Tiberius, and the scene is usually read as the return in 20 BC of the standards lost at the Battle of Carrhae in 53 BC. The anatomically realistic navel (Greek omphalos, Latin ) is placed between the two central figures, slightly below ground level in relation to the feet and centered above the personification of Earth, positioned over the abdomen.Lawrence Keppie, The Making of the Roman Army: From Republic to Empire (University of Oklahoma Press, 1984), p. 230. Her reclining position, cornucopia, and the presence of suckling babies is common to other goddesses in Augustan art who represent peace and prosperity. Other figures include a lyre-playing Apollo riding a griffin, Diana on the back of a red deer, and the quadriga of the Sun at the top.Paul Zanker, The Power of Images in the Age of Augustus (University of Michigan Press, 1988, 1990), pp. 175, 189–190.
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