Military pendant research?

[Utere Felix]

i am having a bit of trouble finding information on roman pendants and the meanings behind the shape and distribution of them, mainly military .... i am VERY green in this area of research and have only recently become interested in the identification of them...... i have 2 i am dealing with now, i know they are most likely military and worn to the left of the belt apron. 2nd to 3rd century, common sense would tell me they had some kind of fortification\\protection meaning, but i would like to know in detail what they are and why they had been worn.... any info, or a push in the right direction will be greatly appreciated!!!

thank you for your time!

[attachment=1:vfm711xc]<!-- ia1 0688.jpg<!-- ia1 [/attachment:vfm711xc]

[attachment=0:vfm711xc]<!-- ia0 0689.jpg<!-- ia0 [/attachment:vfm711xc]

[Matt Lukes]

Salve Felix!

First off, you have to put your real name in the signature line of your profile so it appears in postings and we all know who we're talking with

As for your question, what makes you think these are military pendants? Pendants from the Roman period are extremely common- just look at any online auction site and you'll find a whole bunch at any given time- so clearly they can't all be from soldiers' belts; in fact, it would seem the vast, vast majority are not. Those two you posted don't look at all like military belt pendants I've seen anywhere- and what exactly do you mean 'worn to the left of the belt apron'? I'm not aware of any secondary pendants on a balteus. The first, long one it would seem is a pendant of some sort but is there any reason it couldn't have been worn on a cord about the neck? And the second doesn't look like a pendant at all since the one hole is in the wrong orientation- that could be a rivet hole for all anyone knows (makes more sense to me, actually).