Hadrian Wall Garrison 4th Century AD (Around 360 AD)

[Robert Vermaat]

Many sources indicate soldiers wore white tunics with decorations for everyday life duty, and red tunics during battle. Is the information reliable? Did military tunics come with decorations? or was it something a soldier would add on his own?

I am not sure about 'many sources' but I guess you may have read my Roman Military Clothing 2 were I suggested this might be a possibility based on the evidence I had collected.

Wasn't that an idea of Dan Peterson?

And the Late Roman army did not wear uniforms with all the men similarly dressed! that's a modernism that we can't seem to get rid off.

Really Robert? I would find that hard to believe looking at modern Late Roman re-enactors as they all dress very differently and certainly not uniform in any way.

I think most Late Roman re-enactors do it right. With 'we' I meant the public, which expects rows upon rows of exacly similarly armoured and dressed soldiers. I still blame Asterix.

Archaeologically there is a lot of evidence for 'uniform' and I use the term loosely, type of equipment especially in the mid to later empire no doubt with the introduction of the arms factories. I am quite sure they were capable of producing sets of wool tunics in a few standard sizes which is what the sources tell us they did. Now as to colour and decoration.....well we all know that is a different story.

The thing is, looking at the introduction of state-produced equipment, I would also expect standardised equipment. But when we look at helmets, there are no two helmet alike.. So far at least.
As to clothing - sure, standard tunics should be expected too, but so far I have seen no artistical represnetation of exactly similarly decorated tunics..

The infantrymen and their shield in the illustration above seem to owe more to Dan Shadrake's Britannia rather than Deepeeka!

Without any doubt!