After the fall of the Roman empire, did any nobles/wealthy folk still use Roman armour in medieval battles? I understand that it may not have been as effective as its counterparts, but did they still wear it as a sign of wealth/heritage/to look intimidating??
Edit: I specifically mean in Europe, and not the Byzantines who carried on a lot of roman traditions.
Well, it depends on what era of Rome you are talking about. There were many different styles and versions of armor out there across Rome's history. If you are talking about the famed lorica segmatata armor, then no. That armor was only used for a relatively brief period of time in Roman history, mostly because it was very expensive to make. Now if you're talking about the Late Roman Empire, those armies had been so German-ized and were wearing things like chainmail and what have you. The armies weren't too far off from what Early Medieval soldiers would wear. So its very possible that there was "Roman" armor afloat amongst the soldiers but it would not stand out as pop culture Roman