What type of helmet should one use with a Newstead lorica?

[Sextus Aurelius Propertiu]

Hi Peroni

Don't you look forward to replicate the Brigetio. It could be great ..!

Regards

Sextus Aurelius Propertius
Pc Eric-Alexandre POHER

[FlaviusCrispus]

What is the earliest point of usage for the Newstead lorica?

We at Legio VI Victrix (US) have studied this question pretty closely, and we believe there is good reason to place the introduction of the Newstead type early in the Hadrianic period (AD 117-138), or even slightly earlier.

Some of the girth section closures depicted on Trajan's Column are clearly of the Newstead-Iza type. I know many experts dismiss the fittings seen on Trajan's Column as unreliable, but in this case the resemblance is quite uncanny and not likely to be coincidental. Also, many of the chest/shoulder sections depicted on the Column show one-piece back plates, which is a Newstead feature not seen on the Corbridge. As the sculptors of Trajan's Column were likely using Praetorians as their models for legionaries, this seems to indicate that at least a few Praetorians (who would likely have had access to the latest armor and weaponry) were using early versions of the Newstead late in Trajan's reign.

Also, several historical sources indicate that Hadrian undertook a major revision of Roman military equipment at some point early in his reign, introducing new types of armor and weaponry and causing older types to be phased out. The (Hadrianic) Corbridge Hoard could thus represent a cache of obsolete armor destined to reforging and reuse.

Finally, our experience with the Newstead type shows that it is very much more robust than the Corbridge, and far less likely to shed pieces. If fragments of the Newstead cuirass start showing up on the archaeological record ca. AD 140, that indicates to us that they had been in use for some time before that.

[FlaviusCrispus]

Just to follow up on the previous post, here are a couple images that support our contention that at least some Newstead-type cuirasses are shown on Trajan's Column.

First, have a look at this one:




Note the girth hoop closures: There appears to be a squarish plate over the junction of each girth lame, running down the front. There also appears to be a stud of some kind at the corner of each plate. This is totally unlike anything found on a Corbridge cuirass. Now look at my Iza-model Newstead:



The square girth plates are also shown here:



Also note the large, solid back plates on the same soldier's cuirass, which is a Newstead feature not found on any Corbridge model, which have smaller, divided back plates.

These are just two examples: The same features show up on many other cuirasses on the Column, though by no means all of them.

I do realize Trajan's Column is not wholly reliable as far as detailed fittings go (where are the shoulder plate hinges on any seg, for example?). But it seems to me that the artist accurately depicts big, bold features that are recognizable from a distance (like the plates running down the front of a cuirass), while he might omit or more give a more sketchy rendering of smaller features, such as breast and back plate closures and such.

Robinson always contended that the cuirasses shown on Trajan's Column were Newstead models, but this was back when the Newstead was assumed to be a greatly "simplified" piece of armor. More recently, Mike Bishop did an article for ARMA refuting Robinson and concluding that they were actually Corbridge types. I think they're both partly right and partly wrong— we're seeing a mix of models here, some with recognizeable Corbridge features, some with Newstead, and some probable "hybrid" types that haven't yet been identified on the archaeological record. At any rate, I'd welcome a debate / discussion with Mike Bishop on this subject.

As far as which helmet would be appropriate for a Newstead cuirass, I'd say any of the later Italic models (D, G and H) which show some form of cross-bracing, or any of the Niederbieber types would be appropriate. I think it's quite likely many of the later Imperial Gallic (G-J) helmets would have still been in use early in the Newstead era as well, some perhaps "retrofitted" with cross braces.

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

Well, apparently there is absolutely no corelation between Trajan's column and any archaological finds.... :roll: guess you were busy in photo shop were you Flavius? :lol: