Ars Dimicandi about european Reenactment in german news

[Graham Sumner]

Lots of fascinating responses with lots of things to think about. Thanks for the technical help Jim you also raised some very interesting points.

Thanks for the information Mike. I was curious to know why the German archaeologists who presumably advised whoever made the model did what they did and based on what. And yes I remember the little Airfix figures with their leather shorts. Couissin too did the same reconstruction but I was amazed to see the same arrangement on the medieval sculpture in Turin. Perhaps even based on the Crispus sculpture or similar versions now lost?

Tobias wrote:

What proofes that? That proofes something about modern armies, not about ancient time.

It proves it was possible.

If you mean there were doubt about using the slings

No, the doubt was about throwing stones.

So you speculate that a collector took parts of a segmentata? Or do you mean he took something whole?

No, I was suggesting that something might have been found years ago then possibly misinterpreted, lost or forgotten. Not every archaeologist is an expert on Roman military finds or even interested in the Roman military. I think Mike Bishop himself has even found pieces of armour amongst old finds collections.

There have also been some finds which after they were discovered started out as being described by archaeologists as something else. Like the pay chest lid from Cremona which became the front plate from an Artillery catapult, or the leather subarmalis from Carlisle which became a tent fragment. There could be pieces of leather lorica in a museum collection not even on public view which are cataloged as parts of a water bottle or something like that. But how will we ever find out the truth if no one believes it even exists? :? D

and there arent sources for leather seg

Well that depends on your point of view and how you interpret the sculptural evidence, which is what we are debating.

Why have the not really old reconstruction of a caesarian time soldier in the Rheinsiche Landesmuseum Bonn a small round shield? Dos this allow to make the convers result: the scuta of Caesar were small, convex and round?

As I said before the Roman artist can appear to depict things very accurately but at other times it is hard for us today to understand what is being shown, but can we always say the Roman artist was wrong? In Gill Grissom terms the Roman artist was an eye witness at the Crime scene wheras we are 2000 years away looking at pieces of the evidence with non Roman eyes.

I'm looking forward to that. When will it appear?

As soon as possible! Hope this helps Tobias

And after all that I only got one laudes point while Dario gets eleven! :wink: I guess good looks has got nothing to do with it then.

Graham.