Armilausa

Armilausa (armelausa, armilausium), a kind of military tunic worn by foot-soldiers, reaching down to the knees; cf. Mauritius, Strateg. xii. p. 303: ποῖα δεῖ φορεῖν ἱμάτια τοὺς πεζοὺς εἴτε ζωστήρια Γοτθικὰ εἴτε ἁρμελαύσια ἔχουσι κονδὰ ( cut away ) μέχρι τῶν γονάτων. It was red (Paulin. Nol. Epist. 17 (13), 100.1, in Migne, Patrol. lxi.). The Scholiast on Juv. 5.143 explains viridem thoraca by armilausam prasinam, both words curiously illustrating the change from classical to low Latin. Mayor (on Juv. l.c.) says it was a kind of waistcoat. Zeuss (Die Deutschen und die Nachbarstämme, ed. 1837, pp. 308-9) supposes it to be a Celtic word, and that the name of Armilausi was given from their dress to the mass of small Celtic peoples which Ptolemy places between the Μαρούιγγοι and the Danube. For other derivations, see Ducange s.v. ed. Favre, 1883. Isidore (Orig. 19.22, 28) is quite misleading when he says the armilausa was open before and behind, but closed on the shoulders, quasi armiclausa littera c ablata.

[L.C.P]