09-28-2005, 05:49 PM
Aitor,
(reviving an old thread here)
I had a good look at at De Rebus Bellicis again, and I noticed that our author, when describing the elusive plumbata et tribolata, does not mention the lead weight. Now of course, from the name alone you would expect this. But he describes both weapons in great detail, and indeed mentions the lead weight for the second (known) version, the plumbata mammilata. Would it be possible that the 'caltrop' version, if it existed at all, had only a caltrop for a weight? He says that it was "soldered on just below the point" , while the lead weight of the mammilata was "attached at the same point"
Your thoughts?
(reviving an old thread here)
I had a good look at at De Rebus Bellicis again, and I noticed that our author, when describing the elusive plumbata et tribolata, does not mention the lead weight. Now of course, from the name alone you would expect this. But he describes both weapons in great detail, and indeed mentions the lead weight for the second (known) version, the plumbata mammilata. Would it be possible that the 'caltrop' version, if it existed at all, had only a caltrop for a weight? He says that it was "soldered on just below the point" , while the lead weight of the mammilata was "attached at the same point"
Your thoughts?
Robert Vermaat
MODERATOR
FECTIO Late Romans
THE CAUSE OF WAR MUST BE JUST
(Maurikios-Strategikon, book VIII.2: Maxim 12)
MODERATOR
FECTIO Late Romans
THE CAUSE OF WAR MUST BE JUST
(Maurikios-Strategikon, book VIII.2: Maxim 12)