Show here your Roman soldier impression

[Crispvs]

From what we can tell from the assembled evidence for pay, auxiliaries were paid the same or almost the same as legionaries. There is far less second century provincial sculpture to look at, but first century AD stelae show no apparent difference between legionaries and auxiliaries, apart from the fact that auxiliaries are shown with flat shields and spears (often two) and legionaries are shown with curving shields and pila. The idea that auxiliaries were issued old or lower quality kit seems to come from Tacitus' description of soldiers putting in helmets and armour intended for other categories of soldier in the panic as Vitellius approached Rome in AD69. This may be nothing more than a rhetorical device though, and the evidence for differing equipment other than already mentioned is slim indeed.

Regarding the equipment of the Antonine Guard, I have always known them to be kitted out in mid first century kit in order to work harmoniously with other groups. The name is a geographical thing but has never seemed to influence their kit much, although I have not seen them for a few years and some things may have changed since then. I think that being able to work with other groups is a good thing but I think also that attention should be paid to having kit to portray soldiers on the Antonine Wall as well. This would mean each man would need a further belt to exchange for his first century one when in second century mode and an additional sword for the same reason. Suitable belt fittings can be seen in the upper part of this picture by Mike Bishop:
http://s129.photobucket.com/user/mcbisho...8.png.html

While a ring pommel sword in an appropriate scabbard (with slide and peltate chape) might potentially be on the pricey side, a second century AD belt, with only a buckle and a couple of other plates, might be relatively cheap. Armamentaria sells good trompetmeister style fittings which would be perfect. Incidentally, checking since my previous posting, it seems that some soldiers were still using the apron as late as the mid second century AD, but the terminals appear to have been of a different style. Two examples can be seen at the bottom of the picture I linked to above.

Crispvs