Face mask or face guard in late roman period

[Caballo]

Thanks- I didn't know this one. Worth quoting the para in full (btw, could someone add the Latin original?):

"The trophy that you set up for that victory was far more brilliant than your father's. He led an army that had always proved itself invincible, and with it conquered a miserable old man.But the tyranny that you suppressed was flourishing and had reached its height, partly through the crimes that had been committed, but still more because so many of the youth were on that side, and you took the field against it with legions that had been trained by yourself.

What emperor can one cite in the past who first planned and then reproduced so admirable a type of cavalry, and such accoutrements?

First you trained yourself to wear them, and then you taught others how to use such weapons so that none could withstand them. This is a subject on which many have ventured to speak, but they have failed to do it justice, so much so that those who heard their description, and later had the good fortune to see for themselves, decided that their eyes must accept what their ears had refused to credit.

Your cavalry was almost unlimited in numbers and they all sat their horses like statues, while their limbs were fitted with armour that followed closely the outline of the human form. It covers the arms from wrist to elbow and thence to the shoulder, while a coat of mail protects the shoulders, back and breast. The head and face are covered by a metal mask which makes its wearer look like a glittering statue, for not even the thighs and legs and the very ends of the feet lack this armour. It is attached to the cuirass by fine chain-armour like a web, so that no part of the body is visible and uncovered, for this woven covering protects the hands as well, and is so flexible that the wearers can bend even their fingers.

All this I desire to represent in words as vividly as I can, but it is beyond my powers, and I can only ask those who wish to know more about this armour to see it with their own eyes, and not merely to listen to my description." I wish I could!!

With two descriptions from separate commentators, and depictions (albeit copies) on monuments, I think there is fairly strong evidence that facemasks were worn by some cavalry in the fourth century. Thats not to say that all cavalry wore them! I'd agree that there is no evidence for infantry wearing a facemask though.