Cestus Belt

From FFXIclopedia, the free Final Fantasy XI encyclopedia

Statistics Cestus Belt [Waist] All Races Latent Effect: Hand-to-Hand skill +5 Lv. 30 All Jobs Latent effect Active while Monk is set as your Support Job.	Other Uses Guild Points Value: None Used in Quests: None
Synthesis Recipes None	Used in Recipes None
Desynthesis Recipe Unknown	Obtained From Desynthesis None

How to Obtain

Auction House Category: Armor > Waist (

)

BCNM

Name	Level Cap	Zone
Carapace Combatants	(Level 30, 15 minutes, 3 members)	Horlais Peak
Die by the Sword	(Level 30, 15 minutes, 3 members)	Qu'Bia Arena
Petrifying Pair	(Level 30, 15 minutes, 3 members)	Ghelsba Outpost

Historical Background

The Cestus was a girdle worn by ancient Greek women. One famous cestus was the Cestus of Aphrodite (also called the Girdle of Aphrodite), the goddess of love in Greek mythology. This cestus was adorned with symbols depicting the joys of love and had the power to inspire love since no being, be they god or man, could resist its captivating power. Cestus is Greek for "belt" or "girdle". Caestus is considered a variant spelling of Cestus. It seems odd Square-Enix would not make a belt called Aphrodite Cestus, which would enhance a BST's Charm power, but Square-Enix doesn't follow mythology exactly (or else the Cestus Belt would only be wearable by female characters).

• Edit*

The background for Cestus Belt is not Greek, it is Roman in origin. A cestus (or pair of cesti) was a type of Roman boxing "glove". The earliest cesti were bands of leather wrapped around the fist to enhance the force of blows. Later cesti were enhanced with heavy metals such as lead. As such, it makes perfect sense that the Cestus Belt would enhance hand to hand skill, much like the Gun Belt enhances marksmanship skill et al.