I have another question to discuss. I am interested how could tribune or legate of the Roman army look like during the period of 172 - 180. I am especially interested in helmet and armour. Please can you send me some links or names of books which could be useful?
Thank you very much for your help so far. Looking forward to your responses.
As there are no archaeological finds which can be labeled as officer's equipment, we have to rely only on the monuments for reconstructing the possible appearence of officers.
For the time of the Marcomannic wars the most important are:
The Column of Marcus Aurelius
The Aurelian panels of the Arc of Constantine
The Portonaccio sarcophagus
A Google search will direct you to lots of images.
To judge from these monuments officers looked not very different from the depictions executed in the first century. A good amount of artistic license cannot be ruled out, of course.
What is evident from some smaller pieces of art is the growing use of lorica squamata instead of musculata by emperors and officers in this period.
A Roman squamata (sadly very fragmentary) was found in the Germanic King's grave at Musov in Moravia, dated in the time of the Marcomannic Wars.
The iron scales are just 6 x 7 mm in size and were probably silvered.
It is quiete possible that this armour, presented to a Germanic ally, would resemble the cuirasses worn by Roman officers as well.
Quote:The iron scales are just 6 x 7 mm in size and were probably silvered.
As far as I know silvering on this scale armour was not detected and proved, although it is supposed that the scales were silvered.
Anyway, from the Roman military base on Musov-Burgstall we have a nice example of a Roman scale armour, which certainly was silvered. There is also a simple silvered breastplate, which probably belonged to the silvered scale armour (I'm not 100% sure now, but I can check this in the literature, if needed). These items may have belonged to some high-ranking officers of the Roman army.
Great, thank you very much! I know about scales from Musov, but I did not think it belonged to some high-ranking officer. I am not sure but i think that breast plate from Musov - Burgstall belonged to cavalryman - maybe cavalry officer or it was a part of parade armour.
Issue which is more important for me now is helmet. Did they still use attic type which is so commonly presented in movies and so on? Are there any other types which could be used?
Quote:Did they still use attic type which is so commonly presented in movies and so on? Are there any other types which could be used?
The trouble with the attic type is that we don't have any surviving examples that show us what they actually looked like (or if they even existed at all...) The Theilenhofen helmet ('Cavalry Sports H') is close in date to what you want (c189-233), and looks elaborate enought for an officer, but we know that it actually belonged to a lowly auxiliary trooper in a cohors equitata (which should warn us against assumptions that elaborate equipment was a preserve of officers!). Still, it would probably do quite well in the absence of anything better. There are other 'cavalry sports' types, probably dating from the 3rd century, that might also work - this one or maybe this one, or even something like the Aux Cavalry H. Again, though, we don't know quite who would have worn these helmets, or exactly when... But I would say a real example, even one potentially used by non-officers, might be better than a hypothetical one known only from artworks.
Quote:I know about scales from Musov, but I did not think it belonged to some high-ranking officer. I am not sure but i think that breast plate from Musov - Burgstall belonged to cavalryman - maybe cavalry officer or it was a part of parade armour.
Well, we do not know if the scale armour belonged to a high-ranking officer. The silvering suggests this possible conclusion, but as Nathan pointed out, the more elaborate and luxurious items did not necessarily have to be from officers only.
With regard to the breastplate, in my previous post I did not write about the decorated one, which probably really belonged to some cavalryman. I meant another one from Musov, which is much more simple (without any reliefs and decoration), but it is silvered. I will provide a (rather poor) photo of it in the evening, when I'm home.
The undecorated Breastplate (of the trapezoidal type) from Musov Alexandr mentioned, was made, as well as the scale fragments found with it, of silver according to the references:
J. Tejral, Römische und germanische Militärausrüstung der antoninischen Periode im Licht norddanubischer Funde, in: C. v. Carnap-Bornheim, Beiträge zu römischer und germanischer Bewaffnung in den ersten vier nachchristlichen Jahrhunderten (Lublin/Marburg 1994) p. 36
B. Komoróczy, Panzerschuppentypen aus der römischen Befestigungsanlage am Burgstall bei Mušov, in: Bouzek, J. u.a. (Hrsg.), Gentes, Reges und Rom, Spisy Arch. Ústavu AV ČR Brno 16, 2003, p. 82
the next reference (same author) says that the scales were made of silvered bronze.
B. Komoróczy, Marcomannia - Der Militärschlag gegen die Markomannen und Quaden - ein archäologischer survey, in: 2000 Jahre Varusschlacht, Konflikt (Stuttgart 2009) p. 123 fig. 16
One of the fragments is pictured in Bishop/Coulston, Roman Military Equipment (2nd ed. 2006) p. 139 fig. 84, 2 but they made no mention of its material.
Perhaps Alexandr (or someone else) can answer the question for the material the armour is made of.
Thank you for replies. I find it very useful. Meanwhile, I have come across a picture made by Graham Sumner in osprey book Imperial Roman Naval Forces 31 BC - AD 500. It is the picture on the plate D. There is a tribunus of Legio I Adiutrix from Antonine period and his helmet is very interesting. It is a kind of pseudo-attic helmet.
Quote:For a tribune or a legate of that period I would expect silvered and gilded armor, or silver armour with gilding. No less.
Yes I know, i do not care about material or decoration now. I am just interested in that helmet itself. What do we know about helmet like this? Could it be accurate.
EDIT: I am sorry I did not notice you have posted again. Thank you!
To be honest I do not know what should I search for. Nathan posted links to cavalry sport helmets and thats all what i saw there. I am quite a newbie in this and I do not know which helmets should i check.
By the way, that cavalry sports G Hedernheim seems to be dated to the end of the second century up to half of the third. That could be quite good choice.
That looks to me rather like a 1st century auxiliary cavalry helmet, but I don't recognise the actual model, so it might be based on something else.
Quote:
caiusbeerquitius post=303122 Wrote:Did you check the HELMET DATABASE?
To be honest I do not know what should I search for.
Just go to the drop-down menu under 'Robinson type' and work through the list. Most of those with pictures (and some of the others) have extra information under 'remarks'. The more elaborate (and potentially 'officer-ish') helmets tend to fall under the 'auxiliary cavalry' or 'cavalry sports' descriptions - these are H Russell Robinson's terms from the 70s (I think) but are still commonly used in English-speaking studies, despite some of them having been reconsidered (his 'Auxiliary Cavalry E-F' are nowadays often considered 3rd C infantry models, for example, and a number of his 'Cavalry Sports' types (the Theilenhofen I mentioned above, for one) more probably had a wider application than parade displays).
I notice, meanwhile, that the Bishop and Coulston illustrations show another interesting helmet, apparently dated to the Antonine period - it's number 3 (top right) on plate 87. 'Cavalry Sports' again, but not one I've seen before. Might look good on an officer, perhaps?...
Here is the promised picture of the silver/silvered? breastplate.
Quote:Perhaps Alexandr (or someone else) can answer the question for the material the armour is made of.
I have checked the mentioned references. Indeed the information about the material is inconsistent. I have looked at some other articles and in the absolute majority the armour is described as silver. Anyway, I will try to get more details about this.
