Face mask or face guard in late roman period

[Nathan Ross]

The lost column of Arcadius depicted a few helmets with masks and crests.

Thanks - I'd never noticed those before! Some interesting articulated limb armour on there too, by the looks of it.

The closed helmets (if that's what they are) on the lower two panels do quite strongly resemble certain crested 'cavalry sports' helmets - this one, for example, or this, with a face-mask rather like this perhaps.

All these examples are dated 2nd-3rd century, I think (on what grounds I don't know), but would appear to be a better model for a later cataphract helmet than the Sutton Hoo version.

(Incidentally, to address the original post, I think we can safely say that there is no evidence for the use of masked helmets by infantry!)