11-16-2010, 09:31 PM
Quote:Vegetius, Epitoma rei militaris 1.20:
... Quid ipsi draconarii atque signiferi, qui sinistra manu hastas gubernant, in proelio facient, quorum et capita nuda constant et pectora? ...
... What are the dragonbearers and standardbearers, which hold spears in their left hand, to do in battle, whose heads and breasts are naked ? ...'
This reference, plus others in Vegetius are generally taken to be part of his 'rail' against the what he perceived as the 'barbarisation' of the Late Roman army when he wrote. It's believed he wrote between 390AD and 420AD. Now, is there other evidence that at least some Late Roman infantry of this period were unarmoured?
Well, Perhaps.
The now destroyed Column of Arcadius, located in Constantinople, was erected by Arcadius to celebrate his 'victory' over the usurper Gnaius. The column was scetched by various artists in the 16th and 17th Centuries before it was pulled down. Several panels clearly show captured Gothic troops who were unarmoured. These Goths were technically 'Roman' in that they were part of Gnaius force, and he was a Roman military commander. Vegetius probably saw a number of Gothic recruites, relied on more and more by the Late Empire after the defeat at Adrianopolis, and its not clear if they would have been equiped in the Roman style or not. So, it may well be that the troops Vegetius saw and commented on were part of a Gothic garrison, and not representative of the Late Roman army as a whole.
Adrian Coombs-Hoar
