Did Roman cavalry wear face-masks in battle?

[mcbishop]

Ammianus (25:1) describes Persian cavalry wearing face-masks in battle. He specifically mentions that the masks had only small holes for sight and breathing. If the Persians found such masks practicable for wear in battle then the Romans are likely to have done so as well. Despite Ammianus saying that Persians had eyes like those of goats, a Persian was a man like any other and if he could cope with the use of a face-mask in combat then logic would suggest that a Roman could as well.

A fair point, but these were very clearly heavy, armoured cavalry who could not be expected to perform the sort of manoeuvres Roman cavalry were undertaking in the hippika gymnasia. Moreover, the fact that Ammianus mentions the masks suggest they were not found amongst Roman cavalry.

Mike Bishop