06-22-2007, 12:30 AM
Salve Caste,
Well the Kasr al-Harit shield (also referred to as the Fayum shield) is dated I believe to the 3rd century BC (the reference I have states the site was where Celtic mercenaries were given land at that time) and although it may not be Roman, it's of the style that the Republican scutum is supposed to have been. It's made of three layers of birch strips, measures 1.28x0.64m and is 1.25cm thick in the middle and 0.95cm at the edges. It also has remnants of glue-soaked felt on its surfaces. I belive Polybios' description of the Republican scutum says it's about 1.25mx0.75m. He doesn't mention the type of wood and gets it wrong by saying there are only two layers of strips, so he's not the most reliable source :wink: It's likely that many kinds of wood were used- the Dura shield fragments are of several species, planewood comes to mind as one of them.
Well the Kasr al-Harit shield (also referred to as the Fayum shield) is dated I believe to the 3rd century BC (the reference I have states the site was where Celtic mercenaries were given land at that time) and although it may not be Roman, it's of the style that the Republican scutum is supposed to have been. It's made of three layers of birch strips, measures 1.28x0.64m and is 1.25cm thick in the middle and 0.95cm at the edges. It also has remnants of glue-soaked felt on its surfaces. I belive Polybios' description of the Republican scutum says it's about 1.25mx0.75m. He doesn't mention the type of wood and gets it wrong by saying there are only two layers of strips, so he's not the most reliable source :wink: It's likely that many kinds of wood were used- the Dura shield fragments are of several species, planewood comes to mind as one of them.
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