I found an iron armor lvl 4 (green upgrade) with 1921 protections. But I forged the same thing, but lvl 14, but even with the green upgrade, its 577 protections.
IC has the same battle leveling rules as orsinium.
The whole of cyrodil has, last I heard. So, no surprise that your stats get boosted when there. Always check armor when outside a battle-levelled zone...