03-07-2015, 11:33 AM
loved reading this thread as I have always been interested in the greek crest and roman plume
going to add my 2 cents for what its worth and leave myself open to criticism
as someone with a huge passion for military history, as well as a hobby which some might know as airsoft.. I can say one thing when it comes to preparing for "battle" .. you tend to want to carry things you will use.. carrying weight = functional first.. something that hinders you will always be something you tend to not want to bring..
however.. this does not mitigate the fact that when your out there with a bunch of guys, against a bunch of guys.. your gear can have a dramatic impact on you psychologically.. if your one of the guys wearing the best stuff on the field that day.. you feel it ;D
something ive always found interesting is that people seem to kind of forget that helmets were passed down generation to generation and that the crest while yes ofcourse was most likely for officers (for identification purposes) as well as the wealthy (for status) and not to mention the fact that the wealthy were also likely officers .. I would wager to some degree there were common occurances of lower soldiers with crests based on 2 reasons.. as the crest was depicted in mythology for gods.. this was likely imitated on the battle field, when you did something huge to turn the tide or took down a huge member of the opposite force in a spectacular fashion, I bet crests were either given or permitted to those soldiers deserving of one.. and inherently that crest would also pass down through generations to reflect the honour and glory that your family had fought for in the past..
*edit* also as far as attaching the crests... this should be somewhat obvious to some.. it would vary culture to culture, time period to time period, soldier to soldier perhaps.. soldiers tend to "jury rig" their kit frequently, id imagine especially so whilst on campaign.. weather you were wealthy enough to afford a helmet with the proper pieces to attach it to, or perhaps you did not originally have a crest but later acquired it and attached it with some adhesive?? I am willing to bet that it was almost as varied as the individual soldiers equipment
but anyways that's just my lack of sleep inspired opinion
cheers!
going to add my 2 cents for what its worth and leave myself open to criticism
as someone with a huge passion for military history, as well as a hobby which some might know as airsoft.. I can say one thing when it comes to preparing for "battle" .. you tend to want to carry things you will use.. carrying weight = functional first.. something that hinders you will always be something you tend to not want to bring..
however.. this does not mitigate the fact that when your out there with a bunch of guys, against a bunch of guys.. your gear can have a dramatic impact on you psychologically.. if your one of the guys wearing the best stuff on the field that day.. you feel it ;D
something ive always found interesting is that people seem to kind of forget that helmets were passed down generation to generation and that the crest while yes ofcourse was most likely for officers (for identification purposes) as well as the wealthy (for status) and not to mention the fact that the wealthy were also likely officers .. I would wager to some degree there were common occurances of lower soldiers with crests based on 2 reasons.. as the crest was depicted in mythology for gods.. this was likely imitated on the battle field, when you did something huge to turn the tide or took down a huge member of the opposite force in a spectacular fashion, I bet crests were either given or permitted to those soldiers deserving of one.. and inherently that crest would also pass down through generations to reflect the honour and glory that your family had fought for in the past..
*edit* also as far as attaching the crests... this should be somewhat obvious to some.. it would vary culture to culture, time period to time period, soldier to soldier perhaps.. soldiers tend to "jury rig" their kit frequently, id imagine especially so whilst on campaign.. weather you were wealthy enough to afford a helmet with the proper pieces to attach it to, or perhaps you did not originally have a crest but later acquired it and attached it with some adhesive?? I am willing to bet that it was almost as varied as the individual soldiers equipment
but anyways that's just my lack of sleep inspired opinion
cheers!
