11-30-2014, 04:08 PM
If only the upper part of the soldiers were shown and they were not on horses, how would you then interpret the relief?
The cavalrymen are wearing some sort of ribbed sub-armalis, the outer 'shirt' is scalloped at the bottom and in one case also at the arm. They are armed and helmeted and obviously in action - I think the burden of evidence would lead the least informed viewer to think that, on balance, they are armoured. Given the similarity to the treatment of cavalry mailcoats on the reliefs of the monumental columns in Rome I think they are wearing mailcoats. The strips at the shoulder terminate in a staggered way, it is not conventional shoulder doubling and the treatment is very similar to depictions of the shoulder elements of segmented armour. Do I have cast iron proof of this, no. Once again there is an unrealistic burden of proof demanded.
Transplant the shoulder pieces from any of the soldiers left and centre onto the figure on the right in the image below and you get something almost identical to the Arlon relief:
http://apps.carleton.edu/reason_package/...1365535621
Incidentally the Arlon images show that the horsemen are wearing either gloves, long-sleeved shirts with cuffs or some kind of wrist bracer.
The cavalrymen are wearing some sort of ribbed sub-armalis, the outer 'shirt' is scalloped at the bottom and in one case also at the arm. They are armed and helmeted and obviously in action - I think the burden of evidence would lead the least informed viewer to think that, on balance, they are armoured. Given the similarity to the treatment of cavalry mailcoats on the reliefs of the monumental columns in Rome I think they are wearing mailcoats. The strips at the shoulder terminate in a staggered way, it is not conventional shoulder doubling and the treatment is very similar to depictions of the shoulder elements of segmented armour. Do I have cast iron proof of this, no. Once again there is an unrealistic burden of proof demanded.
Transplant the shoulder pieces from any of the soldiers left and centre onto the figure on the right in the image below and you get something almost identical to the Arlon relief:
http://apps.carleton.edu/reason_package/...1365535621
Incidentally the Arlon images show that the horsemen are wearing either gloves, long-sleeved shirts with cuffs or some kind of wrist bracer.
Martin
Fac me cocleario vomere!
Fac me cocleario vomere!
