ocrea

• a greave or leggin (made of mixed metal, and used to protect the legs of foot-soldiers, and also of hunters and country people; it was sometimes worn only on one leg): ocrea, quod opponebatur ob crus, Varr. L. L. 5, § 118 Müll.: ocrem montem confragosum dicebant antiqui. Hinc ocreae dictae inaequaliter tuberatae, Paul. ex Fest. p. 180 Müll.: ocreas et cristas invenere Cares, Plin. 7, 56, 57, § 200: leves, Verg. A. 7, 634. —The Samnites wore a greave only on the left leg: sinistrum crus ocreā tectum, Liv. 9, 4 (cf. Sil. 8, 419).—Worn by heavy-armed Romans on the right leg, Veg. Mil. 1, 20.— Worn by hunters; v. ocreatus.—By rustics, Verg. M. 121: ocreas vendente puellā, i.e. parting with the attire of a gladiator, Juv. 6, 258.

• a greave, leggin (of metal, to protect the legs): leves, V.: sinistrum crus ocreā tectum, L.: ocreas vendente puellā, i. e. the accoutrement of a gladiator, Iu.

O´CREA(κνημίς), a greave, a legging. A pair of greaves (κνημῖδες) was one of the six articles of armour which formed the complete equipment of a Greek or Etruscan warrior [ARMA], and likewise of a Roman soldier, as fixed by Servius Tullius (Liv. 1.43). The greaves were always put on before the thorax, which made it difficult to bend the body (Il. 3.330, &c.). In the Homeric poems, εὐκνήμιδες is a standing epithet of the Achaeans, and proves the general use of the greave. The Homeric greaves were usually made of bronze (Il. 7.41,. χαλκοκνήμιδες). The greaves of Achilles (Il. 18.613, 21.592) are said to be made of tin (κασσίτερος), and rang terribly (Il. 21.593, σμερδαλέον κονάβησε), a statement which has caused difficulty, as tin does not resound when struck. Helbig (Homerisches Epos, p. 196) suggests either that tin was an unfamiliar metal to the poet, or that the greaves were made of bronze, plated with tin. The Homeric greaves were sometimes fitted with silver anklets (ἀργυρέοισιν ἐπισφυρίοις, Il. 3.331, 11.18, &c.), which were perhaps the ring-like margins at the bottom of the greave (see illustration below).

In historical times, bronze was the usual material, as shown by the specimens discovered. In poetical passages greaves are described as of orichalc (Hes. Scut. 122), silver, electrum, and gold (Verg. A. 7.634, 8.624-Z2, 11.488-Z2).

Greaves frequently had a lining, probably of leather, felt or cloth. Traces of leather were found in a specimen from the Crimea (Antiq. du Bosp. Cimm., pl. xxviii., fig. 8; 1. p. 195); and many specimens, in the British Museum and elsewhere, have a row of small holes round the edge for the attachment of the lining (cf. the engraving s. v. GALEA). Another method of fitting the greave to the leg so as not to hurt it was by the interposition of a kind of sponge (ἀχίλλειος), which was also used for the lining of helmets. Aristotle (Hist. An. v., xvi.) describes it as of remarkable fineness, closeness, and toughness, and as used for the purpose of deadening a blow.

The greaves were accurately modelled to fit the leg, the two sides meeting exactly at the back of the calf. In order to put them on it was necessary forcibly to open them. How accurately the greave was intended to fit at the back of the leg may be observed in the heroic bronze fragment of which a view is given below.

Greaves thus fitted required in many cases no other fastening than their own elasticity. Often, nevertheless, they were further secured with two straps, as may be seen in the woodcut at Vol. 1. p. 189. Their form and appearance will be best understood from the accompanying woodcuts.

This woodcut represents the interior view of a bronze shield and a pair of bronze greaves which were found by Signor Campanari in an Etruscan tomb, and are now in the British Museum. These greaves are made right and left.

The annexed illustration represents a fragment of a bronze statue of heroic size, found in Magna Graecia, and now in the British Museum. It is the right leg of a warrior, wearing a closely-fitting greave, adorned above the knee with a carefully worked Gorgoneion of the archaic type. (Journ. of Hellen. Stud., pl. lxix.) The top of the greave is seen projecting somewhat above the knee. The illustration shows very clearly the ankle-ring (ἐπισφύριον: see the explanation proposed above). That the Greeks took delight in handsome and convenient greaves may be inferred from Homer's allusions to the subject, and from the extant remains. A specimen of an elaborately adorned Greek greave is engraved in Antiq. du Bosp. Cimm., pl. xxviii. fig. 7 (= Baumeister, Denkmäler, fig. 2221).

The modern Greeks and Albanians wear greaves, in form resembling sembling those of their ancestors, but made of softer materials, such as velvet ornamented with gold, and fastened with hooks and eyes (cf. Hobhouse, Travels, 1. p. 133).

Among the Romans, greaves made of bronze and richly embossed were worn by gladiators. Specimens have been found at Pompeii (Overbeck, p. 458; Baumeister, Denkmäler, fig. 2347-9; Gell, Pompeiana, 1817, pl. 18). In the time of the Empire greaves had not been entirely abandoned (Lamprid. Alex. Sev. 40), but were a distinguishing mark of the centurions. Compare a relief from Verona (Lindenschmidt, Tracht und Bewaffnung des röm. Heeres, pl. 1, fig. 6) and the relief from Petronell (Baumeister, Denkmäler, fig. 2276, and p. 2060; cf. also Zoega, Bassirel. pl. xvi.). At an earlier period the heavy-armed wore a single greave on the right leg, as that which was foremost in close combat (Veget. de Re Mil. 1.20). The Roman greaves were further distinguished from those of Greece, by the fact that they only covered the front part of the leg (προκνγμίς, Plb. 6.23, 8).

Leggings of ox-hide or strong leather, probably of the form already described, were worn by agricultural labourers (Hon. Od. 24.228; Pliny, Plin. Nat.19.7; Pallad. de Re Rustica, 1.43) and by huntsmen (Hor. Sat. 2.3, 234). The word κνημὶς was also used in a more general sense (κνημίς· τὸ ὑπόδημα, Hesych. s. v.).

(κνημίς). A greave; a piece of defensive armour covering the shin from the ankle to a little above the knee, and fastened by buckles or straps at the back of the leg which was left uncovered (Varro, L. L. v. 116). It was made of metal (tin or bronze), and often ornamented, embossed, or chased with various designs. That the greaves were an important feature of the warrior's equipment is seen by the epithet εὐκνημίδες continually applied by Homer to the Greeks, and from the minuteness with which he describes their various parts, especially the ankle-rings (ἐπισφύρια), which were often of silver (Il. iii. 331). Several species of bronze greaves have been found at Pompeii, probably belonging to the gladiators.