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hansvl · 11-01-2004, 04:09 PM

Hi, 
 
Does anyone know a good reference of a (typological) study on umbones (roman - germanic)? 
 
Hans

mcbishop · 11-01-2004, 06:24 PM

I don't think there are any, but I could be wrong. Bill Griffiths (of Segedunum Museum but now seconded elsewhere) was doing a thesis on shields which included just this, IIRC, but that got bogged down and I'm not sure if it's going anywhere. Surely there must be a Thom Fischer student somewhere doing this? ;-) 
 
Mike Bishop

hansvl · 11-01-2004, 07:17 PM

And there's me thinking every topic in Roman armour studies was already tackled. 
 
Hans

mcbishop · 11-01-2004, 10:36 PM

And there's me thinking every topic in Roman armour studies was already tackled. 
 
Far from it. In fact, there is a desperate need for synthetic works with some academic depth to them, like the Obmann dagger volume. Mike Thomas and I have tried with LS 1 & 2, and I have a little volume on cavalry equipment coming in the distant future, but there are literally hundreds of categories of artefact that deserve detailed treatment, not to mention unpublished site-specific catalogues of equipment. What about a study of dolabrae? A comprehensive catalogue of pilum finds? An up-to-date typology of helmets (wherein the traditional terms 'Imperial-' and 'Weisenau' etc would of course be forbidden ;-)? If I were in an academic job I would by now be churning out graduate students eager to do this sort of thing, but I'm not, so I can't. There are a handful of military equipment-related theses underway in the UK, but nowhere near enough. 
 
Mike Bishop

hansvl · 11-02-2004, 07:13 PM

Well, I would be very eager to do this sort of thing. But there was no tradition of armour related studies at my university. Epigraphic related topics were 'strongly advised' by the promoters. That's why I did my yearwork on dating problems of Roman (military) grave-monuments. I graduated as an archaeologist 10 years ago. Finding a steady job as a field-archaeologist or a researcher in Belgium wasn't the easiest thing (believe me, I tried hard). So I finally ended up in a steady job in the educational department of a museum .... of natural history. I had to think of my wife, my little daughter and now also of our second child (who will be screaming its longs out from late January onward), not to mention our house that had to be totally renovated. 
So for me it's too late to begin such time-consuming, but fascinating research studies for synthetic works on Roman militaria. Oh, if I could turn back time... (my wife and kids I would keep of course! ) 
Still, I would be happy to help any graduate student who is working on such a synthetic work when he would need information on militaria found in Belgium. 
 
Hans

Crispvs · 11-03-2004, 11:10 PM

I have often considered doing a Robinson type study of daggers. Obman's book is invaluable but it lacks the comprehensive photographic content of Robinson's work and relies on line drawings of variable quality and usefulness, as well as not being particularly accessable to monolingual English speakers. However, my time is also limited by the need to earn a living and I don't think I could afford the time, effort or cost of persuading all those museums to let me publish photos of the various daggers they jealously guard. So for the time being I will continue to stare at and study an ever growing folder of pictures and descriptions and wish that I had accepted the M.A. which I was offered by the ancient warfare lecturer at my old university rather than heading back to England to find whatever it was that I had been missing for most of my life. 
 
Crispvs Edited by: <A HREF=http://p200.ezboard.com/bromanarmytalk.showUserPublicProfile?gid=crispvs>Crispvs</A> at: 11/4/04 12:11 am

**Robert Vermaat** · 11-04-2004, 04:18 PM

Hi Hans, 
 
You're on! 
OK, I'm not a student anymore (10 years past that), but I'm studying Roman military equipment a bit nonetheless. At the moment I'm close to finishing my research of Late Roman plumbatae found in the UK, but I'm also busy on a much less intensive level with plumbatae in the rest of the Empire. 
I have no information about any plumbatae from Belgium. Could you help me out there? 
 
Valete, 
Valerius/Robert Edited by: <A HREF=http://p200.ezboard.com/bromanarmytalk.showUserPublicProfile?gid=vortigernstudies>Vortigern Studies</A> at: 11/4/04 5:19 pm

hansvl · 11-05-2004, 07:45 AM

Hi Valerius, 
 
I will look into that. Plumbatae, nor anything else of the later Roman period are my speciality, but I'll do some research for you. 
 
I'll get back to you asap. 
 
Hans

mcbishop · 11-10-2004, 08:11 AM

My sources tell me that Thomas Fischer does indeed have a student working on a corpus of shield bosses. There is also one underway on swords too. Patience will be required as these have yet to be submitted, but expect them to follow in the footsteps of the Obmann catalogue and reach publication in the not-too-distant future if they are awarded. 
 
Mike Bishop

hansvl · 11-10-2004, 07:34 PM

Good news. Looking forward to it. We'll just have to be patient. 
 
Hans

hansvl · 11-25-2004, 11:04 AM

Hi Valerius, 
 
An update on my research for plumbatae in Belgium: so far I found zip. But I only looked in the final reports for the Late-Roman forts at Braives and Liberchies. I found an interesting reference for a more general work on all the Late-Roman forts in Belgium. But I will have to buy that for my own Christmas-present next month (I have also the new B&C on my present-list). I had also some interesting articles on weaponfinds in graves. But they only list 1st to 3rd Century AD graves. 
 
I will continue my research. But you'll have to be patient with me. 
 
 
Greets, 
 
Hans

Crispvs · 11-25-2004, 11:27 PM

Hansvl, 
 
I would be keen to know more about any information you have on daggers and dagger sheaths. I would be interested in anything there is: line drawings, photographs, dig reports, descriptions etc. 
 
Crispvs

hansvl · 11-26-2004, 07:51 AM

Hi Crispvs, 
 
I will take a look into that too. But you'll have to be patient. I can't free much time right now due to my family situation. 
 
Hans

**Robert Vermaat** · 11-26-2004, 12:26 PM

Hello Hans, 
 
Thank you for your effort so far. 
If I may make a suggestion, it might pay off to look not just at forts, but also at walled towns. Most plumbatae found in the UK come from these. 
 
Valete, 
Valerius/Robert

hansvl · 11-27-2004, 09:15 AM

Hi Valerius, 
 
Well that shouldn't be too much work: IIRC Tongeren (Atuatuca Tungrorum) was the only walled Roman town in present-day Belgium. 
 
I will take contact with the museum over there to see if they know of any plumbatae found in Tongeren. 
 
Hans

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