barbaricarii

[Marcus Mummius]

Salvete,

Can someone tell me what kind of function the barbaricarii had? Apparently they worked in fabricae producing military equipment but that's all I now about them...

All help is welcome!

Kind regards,

[Robert Vermaat]

Romans? It was a trade, not a tribe. They were silver- and goldsmiths who handled the precicious metal that, for instance, covered Late Roman helmets. A VERY precise job, because too much or too little gold on a helmet could mean a death sentence! A barbaricarius had to produce 6 helmets a month.
They also stitched gold thread on clothing. I heard that the name originated from a Phrygian art of stitching with gold thread.

[Marcus Mummius]

Thanks Robert. I rephrased my question to be more clear. I meant what kind of job did they do.

I read the thing about having to produce 6 helmets a month too. Does this mean they had to cover 6 helmets with gold or silver in one month or did they have to produce 6 complete helmets each month?!

[Robert Vermaat]

Cover them I suppose. I bet the iron parts were made by others.

[Marcus Mummius]

Cover them I suppose. I bet the iron parts were made by others.

That's what I thought too. 6 complete helmets a month per person seemed impossible to me, even for very skilled workers.

[Marcus Mummius]

I have another question about helmets covered with precious sheet metal: was the decoration punched into the underlying material (brass steel) or into the precious metal?

I think into the underlying brass but I'm not sure...

[aitor iriarte]

No, the underlying metal was always iron and it only displayed mouldings, grooves and holes which would later show on the gilt silver/copper sheathing.
All the decorative features on the sheathing were stamped on it from the underside and filled with pitch to help keeping their shape.
Afterwards, each iron component was wrapped on the already stamped sheathing and the outer surface, mercury gilt.

Aitor

[Marcus Mummius]

Hi Aitor. Thanks. I believe this is the case with late Roman ridge helmets.

But what about the later Frankisch spangenhelmets of the Baldenheim type?

These were supposed to have been made in fabricae too. K. Böhner states that the fabricae stayed in bussines until at least 600 AD. Barbaricarii covered these helmets with gold (most of the time) or silver (seldom) sheet.

These spangenhelmets often had a bowl that was constructed out of iron shells and brass or bronze 'spangs' on top of them to keep them together. Do you think the gilding was done in the same way as the late Roman ridge helmets?

Here you can see some pictures of the helmets I'm talking about:





http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y233/M ... planig.jpg

Going from these pictures I get the impression that the iron segments of the bowl were not decorated. So I thought perhaps there used to be decorated pieces of brass covering the area between the 'spangs' that were gilded too. The decoration is made from the outside to the inside (punched in).

Afterwards, each iron component was wrapped on the already stamped sheathing and the outer surface, mercury gilt.

I do not understand what you say here :oops: . I know what mercury gilding is but the rest I don't get :?

[aitor iriarte]

Hi Jef,

Sorry, I was detached performing family duties... :roll:
I am afraid that my knowledge about Spangenhelme is not enough as to being of some help for you... :oops:
Anyway, I think that gilding on Spangenhelme elements is only applied on the copper alloy and DIRECTLY on them, via mercury gilding or sticking gold foil on them.

The proccess is quite different on Late Roman helmets: On them, all the components (usually, they are all made of iron, though some copper-alloy ridge creeps in from time to time, like those belonging to the Concesti and Augst helmets) are wrapped in copper or silver sheet (usually, much less than 1 mm thick but never as thin as foil). Here you can see one iron (plain) component and its detached (embossed) silver sheathing, both seen from the back:

And here, both assembled, back:

and front:


Sorry for the very poor quality of the pics. I've taken then a moment ago, with artificial light and no tripod... :oops:

Aitor