Some suits of armor were designed to impress rather than to protect; others were lifesaving tools used in battle, where they were tested against swords, spears and arrows. From the stiffened linen of ancient warriors, to the flexible chain mail of Roman soldiers, to the gleaming plate armor of medieval knights, armor has evolved over millennia to protect soldiers in battle.
But it comes at a cost: "Every suit of armor is a trade-off between mobility and defense," Barry Molloy, an archaeologist and ancient warfare expert at University College Dublin, told Live Science.
