06-23-2005, 03:59 PM
Actually, the battle was Agincourt, but the principle remains the same. Hannibal reported seeing Roman soldiers who had buried there heads in the dirt at Cannae. A collapse of this type would have trapped plenty of people and induced unbelievable panic. It also explains why many ancient battles were simply over in a few minutes, the result was route and 10s of thousands of casualties on one side with only a few hundred on the winning side. Armies with good commanders and well trained, experienced troops avoided the conditions for collapse and tried to create it in the opposing army.
There is an academic disagreement about colors. One view is that Roman army colors were always drab: browns and mustards. The other is that they were colorful. Fabrics recovered from bogs are almost always brown. However, chemical analysis has revealed that they had another color, though I don't know what the results were. Mosaics show Roman officers wearing blue and green sagums. I tend to agree with those who believe the Romans wore colors, not just drab stuff. I think the drab idea is based on modern prejudice which favors colors that are camoflauge in nature.
Silk, I think is a product of Hollywood, and much of Hollywood's "info" has found its way into mainstream academic "fact".
The Roman of the 1stC BC wore mail for sure, but there is some evidence the lorica segmentata existed earlier than we think. The most common helmet was the simple Montefortino, but there were a variety of others in use: Gallic A, Agen, Port, and even leftover Greek style helmets. Swords from the 1stc BC are longer, not the compact Mainz-Pompei style of the 1stc AD.
As Romans conquered new lands and peoples, they encountered craftsmen and equipment that were many times better than their own. Examples are: iron helmets, the prized sagum, probably the segmentata. If your characters are compaigning in Northern Europe, they will probably be encountering this new and high quality stuff for the first time, and the financially better off will buy them to replace the lesser Roman stuff.
Probably, Romans had the same "marching kit" though we don't know for sure.
Keep asking re-enactors, though, there are many individuals out there who have discovered unusual, unpublished stuff.
There is an academic disagreement about colors. One view is that Roman army colors were always drab: browns and mustards. The other is that they were colorful. Fabrics recovered from bogs are almost always brown. However, chemical analysis has revealed that they had another color, though I don't know what the results were. Mosaics show Roman officers wearing blue and green sagums. I tend to agree with those who believe the Romans wore colors, not just drab stuff. I think the drab idea is based on modern prejudice which favors colors that are camoflauge in nature.
Silk, I think is a product of Hollywood, and much of Hollywood's "info" has found its way into mainstream academic "fact".
The Roman of the 1stC BC wore mail for sure, but there is some evidence the lorica segmentata existed earlier than we think. The most common helmet was the simple Montefortino, but there were a variety of others in use: Gallic A, Agen, Port, and even leftover Greek style helmets. Swords from the 1stc BC are longer, not the compact Mainz-Pompei style of the 1stc AD.
As Romans conquered new lands and peoples, they encountered craftsmen and equipment that were many times better than their own. Examples are: iron helmets, the prized sagum, probably the segmentata. If your characters are compaigning in Northern Europe, they will probably be encountering this new and high quality stuff for the first time, and the financially better off will buy them to replace the lesser Roman stuff.
Probably, Romans had the same "marching kit" though we don't know for sure.
Keep asking re-enactors, though, there are many individuals out there who have discovered unusual, unpublished stuff.
"In war as in loving, you must always keep shoving." George S. Patton, Jr.
