The outfit of a military leader was primarily intended to show his own status and hierarchical rank; of course, the components of this kit were profoundly affected by the cultural influences and changes to which the society of the time was subject.
In the third century BC, the most prestigious reference model was Alexander the Great, who based his public representation on the image of the military leader in battle dress, as depicted, for example, on the Battle of Issus Mosaic from Pompeii.
Following Alexander's example, military commanders of the Hellenistic period conformed to the use of the ‘tube and yoke’ cuirass, at that time the upto-date battle armour that superseded the previously preferred bronze ‘muscled’ cuirass.
Armoured influences
For socio-political reasons, Roman magistrates did not adopt the model of the military commander in armour for their public representation until the late republican or Augustan era. Therefore, we have
