Roman's clothing, armour and equipment

[AlienDwarf]

http://www.parthia.com/parthia_horses_burris.htm

Aaa yes thats right ,when Antony went into conquest Persia Armenian king alerted him not to go from Mesopotamia into Iraq then Persia cause the terrain will be just too open and wide ,Roman army would be overwhelmed by the cavalry,offered him passage trough Armenia but alas he didn't listen so he lost most of the fighting forces.....outcome and trying to find face to impress Cleopatra he invited the Armenian king and his family members into Cilicia then captured him accusing him for treason and double table play with Persian king chaining him with golden chains and offered him to Cleopatra ,the later had purpose to put her son as the ruler of Armenia and its domain.

[G-AWZT]

The Gallic type helmets of the 1st AD for example, are heavy! I put on a repro helm done by a blacksmith and was surprised by the weight. The Roman soldiers must've complained having to wear them on long marches through enemy territory.

[armored_diplomacy]

Great posts everybody !








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The Fulham Sword (found in Fulham, UK) and also in the British Museum is an example of a subtype of the Mainz gladius, with a blade that is somewhat more "waisted" in the middle part of the blade. (Image also shows one of few known shield bosses of the rectangular legionary shield). Like the Mainz gladius, the Fulham has a long point.

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Gladius hispaniensis type Mainz (Speyer Museum), with silver covered handle

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Gladius blades from the Republic to the early Principate. Left of line Hispaniensis type, right of line Pompei**** Type; Below sheath decorations and sword handles
Drawings from Roman Military Equipment by Bishop & Coulston, Edition 2, 2006 © M.C. Bishop

[Michigander]

Like this:

In reference to the early c. 1066 Varangian Guard above with the round shield on his back; was the shield of any practical value in that position? Or, was that only storage on the man until it was needed, at which time it would be removed from the back and strapped to a forearm?

[TheKiwi]

I don't know about the sheild, but chain over the face and a beard must have been a living hell...

[BloodyTalon]

In reference to the early c. 1066 Varangian Guard above with the round shield on his back; was the shield of any practical value in that position? Or, was that only storage on the man until it was needed, at which time it would be removed from the back and strapped to a forearm?

Its there for storage.

[Astaran]

I`m familiar with Armenian qualities in medieval times, but really heavy cavalry , like clibanarii and later cataphracts were off spring of Parthian heavy cavalry. Parthians were nomadic people so they didn`t kept standing army ,even when they conquered Persia they remained loyal to their way of life , kept separated from their Persian cousins. Their military was mix of horse archery and shock heavily armoured cavalry ,classical steppe warfare ,clear example is Battle of Carrhae in 53BC.

This man is spot on. The Sassanids were a Persian dynasty founded by Ardasir I. who toppled the Parthian rule in what is today Iran. Unfortunately (for the Sassanids) they kept on fighting the Romans in border wars and skirmishes for about 400 years and were in the end too exhausted to fight off the Muslim expansion from the south.

The heavy cavalry was used by the Parthian as well (Battle of Carrhae as you pointed out), but horse archers still dominated. The Sassanids on the other hand, deployed a very formidable heavy cavalry which was later "copied" and "romanized" by Rome/East Rome with the cataphractii. But it is difficult to say which date should be counted: the emerging of the first heavily armored horsemen in Roman service (1st century BC) or the deployment of those horsemen in significant numbers (3rd century BC).

Really interesting topic, gentlemen.

[armored_diplomacy]

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Type Pompeius Gladius from the Guttmann collection

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Later Roman Sword blades
are shown in the graph below, ca. 3rd century AD. Especially the spatha types 6 and 7 from below graph are difficult to distinguish from contemporary Germanic sword blades, and seem to have been used by both cavalary and infantry. The days of the close combat in well organized ranks that suited so well for the "point" attack gladius hispanensis and pompei**** were clearly gone by then.

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Drawings of Pilum Parts, to the right from Oberaden

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Lance / Spearheads and catapult projectiles used in roman times. Catapults as the one shown below shot warheads at high speed over high distances. Light spears were used to throw, while heavy lances were used to thrust by cavalry soldiers.

The heavy cavalry was used by the Parthian as well (Battle of Carrhae as you pointed out), but horse archers still dominated. The Sassanids on the other hand, deployed a very formidable heavy cavalry which was later "copied" and "romanized" by Rome/East Rome with the cataphractii. But it is difficult to say which date should be counted: the emerging of the first heavily armored horsemen in Roman service (1st century BC) or the deployment of those horsemen in significant numbers (3rd century BC).

It´s pretty interesting how Roman cavalry was gaining importance; by the time of the Republic they were got over most of the times.

Now that you mentioned cavalry:



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^^ notice the armour; that "dragon skin-type" is usually deemed as not that good for someone who may be stabbed / speared from below

Bonn Landesmuseum
Gravestones of cavalry soldiers in full attack

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Modern Recreations of Roman Horse Equipment

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Face mask of type Kalkriese with two preserved cheekpieces. Both mask and cheekpieces executed in iron (base plate) and brass (cover sheet). This combination clearly was part of a cavalry type helmet (Weiler or Weisenau). This is supported by the shape and profile of the cheekpieces which feature an ear-protection. The best comparison is a complete brass Weisenau helmet with a similar type of mask and cheekpieces in the Shelby White collection in NY.

Dated: Augustan-Neronian
Private collection. Formerly 2006-2007 on display at Museum Carnuntinum ( Austria, Bad Deutsch-Altenburg)
Published: Exhibition catalogue "Legionsadler und Druidenstab, F. Humer, 2006," ISBN 3854602294"

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Example of a Late Roman - Germanic Face mask helmet (Sutton Hoo Ship burial, ca 600 AD). The helmet is based on a Spangen Helmet, London British Museum

BTW, I´m posting images from this awesome, *ss-kicking website: www.romancoins.info
Although I´ll try to post as many images as I can, I strongly advice you to take a look at them (with time !)
Credits and kudos to them !!

[Ought Six]

BTW, I´m posting images from this awesome, *ss-kicking website: www.romancoins.info
Although I´ll try to post as many images as I can, I strongly advice you to take a look at them (with time !)
Credits and kudos to them !!

Many of those facemask helmets are works of art in and of themselves. Nice find!

[armored_diplomacy]

Many of those facemask helmets are works of art in and of themselves

Absolutely, I wonder if their purpose was more ceremonial rather than practical.

[Ought Six]

Absolutely, I wonder if their purpose was more ceremonial rather than practical.

I would assume they are the equivalent for rich generals of 'dress blues', worn for occasions and parades. They seem to limit vision and breathing too much to be practical on the battlefield.

[armored_diplomacy]

I would assume they are the equivalent for rich generals of 'dress blues', worn for occasions and parades. They seem to limit vision and breathing too much to be practical on the battlefield.

Good point there !

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^^ notice the armour; that "dragon skin-type" is usually deemed as not that good for someone who may be stabbed / speared from below

I´m still looking at this image; there´s no helmet (it´s absence can be explained due to the "artistic" purpose of that object), he has a sword also, and his legs seem not to have any cover.

Notice also the lack of stirrups: they didn´t know them but ... I have some years of horseriding; riding & cantering without stirrups holding a whip can be challenging; I can´t imagine how fighting under that condition must be !

[zg18]

This man is spot on. The Sassanids were a Persian dynasty founded by Ardasir I. who toppled the Parthian rule in what is today Iran. Unfortunately (for the Sassanids) they kept on fighting the Romans in border wars and skirmishes for about 400 years and were in the end too exhausted to fight off the Muslim expansion from the south.

I would argue that Sassanid military was too much "Roman" oriented in the 7th century , it was built to fight Roman armies when Arabs appeared ,tactics and units used by Sassanids and Eastern Romans alike were not suited for battling newly emerged Caliphate. Yes they were both exhausted by warfare but Arabs didn`t conquer anything without fair fight.

[Rattfink]

In reference to the early c. 1066 Varangian Guard above with the round shield on his back; was the shield of any practical value in that position? Or, was that only storage on the man until it was needed, at which time it would be removed from the back and strapped to a forearm?

To protect him from the idiot in formation behind him who just got his first axe.

[Rattfink]

And wasn't a laminate canvas/ leather armor worn as well? I'll see if I can find anything on it.

The closest thing I could find to what I was thinking of is the Linothorax, which was a hardened laminate of linen and either leather or scale mail used by the Greeks and Macedonians. As far as I could tell, it is controversial whether it was ever popular amongst Roman armies.