01-03-2005, 01:23 PM
Unfortunately, many of these still look to me like 'soldier fiddles with helmet', with the exception of the Byzantine piece which certainly seems plausible as two soldiers saluting a third... but if it is 10th-century Armenians in a Byzantine context then the link to any of the other sundry (and bizarre) postures is, at best, tenuous and culturally at several removes from the Roman imperial army.<br>
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That Germanicus gem has a rather worrying second hand creeping round the back of his helmet in a distinctly pythonesque sort of fashion and the figure in question appears to be pushing his own helmet on from behind, rather than saluting. This also looks like an engraving of a gem and I would prefer to see the original rather than the 'interpretation' offered by the artist; many 18th- or early 19th-century illustrators misunderstood (or even enhanced) what they were seeing in classical depictions.<br>
<br>
Mike Bishop <p></p><i></i>
<br>
That Germanicus gem has a rather worrying second hand creeping round the back of his helmet in a distinctly pythonesque sort of fashion and the figure in question appears to be pushing his own helmet on from behind, rather than saluting. This also looks like an engraving of a gem and I would prefer to see the original rather than the 'interpretation' offered by the artist; many 18th- or early 19th-century illustrators misunderstood (or even enhanced) what they were seeing in classical depictions.<br>
<br>
Mike Bishop <p></p><i></i>