Roman Army Units in the Western Provinces (1): 31 BC-AD 195

[Condottiero Magno]

Raffaele D'Amato's latest publication, Roman Army Units in the Western Provinces (1): 31 BC-AD 195, arrived today...

After volume 2, unless there's a change in plans, the eastern provinces will also receive similar treatment.

From page 3 Intro:

On the subject of the iconography, the present author believes that we should also revise another old conception: that the representations of military equipment are simply a matter of 'artistic conventions'. We can surely imagine that those who produced artworks in both the central empire and the frontier regions had examples of Roman milites before their eye on a regular basis, and were aware of differences in their appearance (particularly when a dead man's heirs were commissioning his funerary monument). Despite the limitations imposed by techniques - carving, fresco and mosaics - and by the artisans' individual skills, the relative accuracy with which craftsmen depicted Roman soldiers is often confirmed by archaeological finds from relevant provinces.

One particular aspect that arises from the iconography is the apparent use of protective elements made from organic materials such as leather, linen and felt. Close examination suggests that an assumption by scholars that metallic armour must always have been preferred, for its supposedly superior protective qualities, cannot go unchallenged.

A decent introduction listing the distribution of units in the Western provinces by legion, cohort and ala, followed by a provincial breakdown of equipment finds. Raffaele Ruggeri's plates aren't as lively* as ones produced to McBride, Ó’Brógáin, Rava and Sumner, and some of the faces look odd, but okay. The illustration style and choice of muted/washed out colors reminds me of Roman soldiers in books from the 1970s. Being a D'Amato work, the plates have figures with leather armor - G2 an auxiliary signifer in a bluish tinted leather corselet.