 "Pteruges" formed a defensive skirt of leather or multi-layered fabric (linen) strips or lappets worn dependant from the waists of Roman and Greek cuirasses of warriors and soldiers, defending the hips and thighs.Similar defenses, epaulette-like strips, were worn on the shoulders, protecting the upper arms.Both sets of strips are usually interpreted as belonging to a single garment worn under a cuirass, though in a linen cuirass ("linothorax") they may have been integral.