Late Roman Army

Roman Soldiers Through the Ages

The Port helmet based on that from Port bei Nidau now in the Landesmuseum, Zurich. Over a padded subarmalis is worn a mail shirt with shoulder doubling. The spatha has a handle made from walnut with a bone grip. A Gaulish style tunic is worn, with cloak and Gaulish brooch. Short woollen trousers, bracae, are worn with socks, undones, and caligae. The circular shield is in its cover. The bag is based on find from the Comacchio shipwreck.

The helmet is a Coolus E, based on that from the Walbrook Stream now in the British Museum. A scarf, focale, is worn with padded subarmalis, under a mail shirt with shoulder doubling. Short woollen trousers are worn with leg wrappings and military boots. The soldier is armed with a spatha and a quiver of javelins. A large shield covers the riders left side. The design is taken from Trajan's Column.

The helmet is a mid 1st century example of Robinson’s Imperial Gallic 'G' from the Rhine at Mainz, now at Worms. The cuirass is a Corbridge A, worn here without padding. The pugio is an Augustan example from Titelberg, worn belt plates from Rheingonheim. The scabbard worn on the right is based on example from Vindonissa dated AD 45-69, holding a broad Mainz-type gladius. Bracae are worn with leg wrappings and military boots. An early Principate heavy pilum is carried, alongside a curved scutum of shield. The design is once again taken from Trajan's Column.

The helmet is a Robinson Italic C based on one found at Cremona, probably lost in 69AD during the battle where the Batavians were heavily involved. The spatha is based on a find from Hod Hill, an auxiliary sword from mid- 1st century. The belt or cingulum has decorations from Tekje and London, and is worn with a Batavian belt. The fox fur on the helmet echoes both Trajan's Column and written descriptions of Germanic auxiliaries as wearing furs. A mail lorica hamata with shoulder doubling is worn with a boars tusk pendant as found in Newstead, and a manica based on the find from Carlisle with the addition of a sheepskin lining. For cold weather long bracae are worn with "puttees" as found at Vindolanda.

The helmets are versions of Robinson’s Auxiliary Cavalry A, partially sheathed in silver. The mail shirt on the left has a cape-like shoulder doubling, and wears a torc. Short trousers, bracae, are worn. Footwear is a mixture of caligae and military boots. The right-hand figure is wearing a Gallic style tunic with folded back cuffs, as well as leg wraps. His spatha handle is based on an early 2nd century find from Dangstetten.

A mail hamata is depicted, here still with shoulder doubling, along with a Robinson type Imperial Gallic type I, probably made at the end of the civil wars of 68-69 A.D. A manica is worn with greaves to protect the limbs against the two-handed Dacian sword, the falx. An oval clipeus shield is carried as depicted on the grave stela of Gaius Castricius in the Aquincum Museum, Budapest. A type B pugio is worn based on the example from Melun in France.

From a mixed infantry and cavalry unit. The helmet is the Robinson Auxiliary Infantry type C, based on a skull piece from the Museo Archaeologico, Florence. Robinson’s interpretation is questionable. The mail shirt at this time is not shown with shoulder doubling. Underpants, subligariorum, are worn with a pair of undones. The spatha is still attached to a baldric using rings on the scabbard.

What Robinson considered a poor quality Auxiliary Cavalry type F helmet is worn, based on the find from Kalkar-Hoenepel, Germany. A mail shirt is worn as are ocreae or greaves. The pugio is still worn, this example coming from the Kunzig iron hoard. The spatha, now worn on the left, is suspected from a broad baldric using a phalera. The belt runs through a scabbard slide. The waist belt is fastened by a simple ring and stud arrangement, common in the period. The legionary wears a long sleeved tunic and tight trousers over military boots with integral laces. The scutum or shield is made in the old tradition using in effect a version of plywood. At this time they were edged in leather or rawhide for structural stability. The bull, the proposed symbol of the VI from York can be seen on the shield. The pilum is still in use.

Flexible copper alloy scales seem to be normally smaller than iron examples, which generally seem to have been used for horse armour. Flexible armour was constructed by wiring each scale to its neighbours, then sewing the scales to backing fabric and to a horizontal woollen thread. The armour is then given leather edging for comfort. The resulting armour is quick to construct and relatively light. It is capable of expanding to allow for heavy breathing, as does mail. Its flexibility means it can be used for limb armour and be extended below the waist. Finds of loose scales or rows are often assumed to come from shirts, but may belong to limb defences. It is excellent against downward blows, good against horizontal strikes, and better than expected against upward stabs. The stitching, horizontal cord and wire all act against upward blows. Here a flexible scale coif, shirt and sleeves are worn based on the Dura Synagogue mural, the Battle of Eben-Ezer.
The broad baldric is based on an example from a votive deposit at Vimose, Denmark. Here it suspends a very pointed semi-spatha, again based on a find from Kunzig. The greaves are of a type seemingly used by infantry, with a material backing worn of leg wrappings. A quiver of javelins is carried as seen on a tombstone of Aurelius Mucianus from Legio II Parthica based in Syria. The oval shield, now planked with a sewn rawhide edge is based on those from Dura. A spear is carried decorated in the fashion of finds from Danish bogs.

Mass produced Dominate helmets fall into two groups, either the ridge helm, at its simplest composed of two halves joined by a central ridge, or the spangenhelm, composed of several panels riveted into an iron frame. The ridge helms are provided with neckguards and cheek-pieces attached to a leather edging or fabric lining often without the use of metal hinges. The iron edges of the helm are not even properly finished, but left raw and bound with leather or rawhide. They were often sheathed in gilded silver foil. The centre and right hand riders are wearing examples of the Deurne helmet exhibited in the Leiden Museum. Individual pieces of gilded sheathing were discovered in 1910 in a flattened state. They were passed to a local goldsmith who assembled the pieces and “re-inflated” them into the presumed shape of the helmet.

When viewing the original in Leiden Museum, it noticeable that its hinge protectors have been mounted upside down. The left hand rider wears a copy of the iron helmet found in Egypt at Deir el Medineh, and is now on display at the Coptic Museum, Cairo.

All helmets need some form of padding. Vegetius referred to the “pilleus Pannonicus”. The Pannonian cap can be identified with the hats worn by soldiers on the Arch of Constantine. Shaped liked a pillbox, it is particularly suited to the shape of the ridge helm. On the right hand rider a Germanic style type 1 spatha can be seen, worn from a waist belt. A glimpse of the padded subarmalis can be seen, with attached leather pteruges, protecting the wearer’s upper arms and legs. Over this is worn rigid scale armour consisting of copper alloy scales wired to their neighbours, top, bottom and both sides. It is given a linen backing and leather edging. The relative inflexibility means that rigid scale shirts do not extend below the waistline. It is relatively light, but gives excellent protection, the force of a direct blow hitting any individual scale been quickly dispersed to the neighbouring scales. Although 4th century shirts leave no evidence, reconstructions of scale body armour are generally made with an opening on the left-hand side. This means the fastenings are protected by the wearer’s shield. The hardened leather thigh guards come are based on one of the two finds from Dura. An early form of lamellar, these fit from the waist over the knee to partially cover the shin above the military boot. A manica is worn protecting the right arm, while the shield, displaying the blazon of the Equites Talfali, protects the left. A recurve bow is carried to the riders left, and arrow to the right. The horse barding is in part based on drawings of the destroyed Column of Theodosius copied by Franco Giovanni Battista il Semolei in the 16th century, now in the musée du Louvre. In all a speculative assemblage.

This infantryman is armed with an arcuballista or crossbow. Two 3rd century carvings of hunting equipment from the Haute-Loire region of France seem to show such weapons. A recurve bow of probably composite construction is mounted on a tiller, with a revolving circular bone nut as part of the trigger mechanism. A wooden handle is placed at the end of the tiller. The trigger itself is probably a simple “Z”-shaped lever, as used on all early crossbows. The operator places his right hand on top of the handle, forcing the bow into the ground vertically, while the string is pulled back and secured to the nut with the left hand. He is wearing a so-called Coptic tunic, based on surviving examples from Egypt. Tight trousers are worn, tucked into sprang-work socks and low shoes. His spatha is worn on a waist belt, under a broad military belt. His propeller shaped belt stiffeners date the figure to the late 4th century.

A marine from a lusoriae, a small fast warship with a single bank of oars developed during the late 3rd century. These could be pictae or ships painted blue for scouting duties as a simple form of camouflage. Tunics are described as a blue-green colour, venetus, by Vegetius, who writes that the same colour was used for the sails of ships. Trousers are worn with simple leg wraps and heavy boots. The falx, a type of sword with a curved blade, seems to have been used in the Classis Britannica, as shown on a coin of Carausius. It is certainly mentioned by Vegetius as been useful in cutting rigging when attached to a long pole. Such a weapon could be made from un-hardened iron.

These infantry are wearing rigid scale and mail shirts. The straight bar belt stiffener is a late Roman introduction into Britain, and perhaps these are troops of the comitatensis, the field army, operating in the south of Britain. Both simple ridge helmets display crests. The left helmet is based on an example from Intercisa dating to the late 4th or early 5th century. It has an attached metal crest. The helmet on the right is based on the Augst example, with a detachable wooden crest box attached to the central ridge.

The infantryman on the left is wearing a fashionable belt with bar stiffeners. The helmet is a basic so-called infantry design with cutouts to aid hearing. On the right we have a draconarius from an elite unit. This standard bearer is wearing a version of a gilded ridge helmet from Berkasovo, tentatively dated to the early 4th century. But some items of equipment are likely to have had a relatively long life within the army.

One of the bucellarii or bodyguards to a wealthy landowner is hunting with a recurve bow. This was based around a wooden core, upon which animal sinew and horn had been carefully glued producing a recurved shape. “Ears” were then attached to the ends of the bow, protected by bone or antler. These acted as levers for the flexible parts of the limbs. Laths on the grip stiffened the bow handle to prevent it flexing and bucking when the string returned to rest after release. Vegetius referred to the “pilleus Pannonicus”. The Pannonian cap can be identified with the hats worn by soldiers on the Arch of Constantine, with a simple pillbox shape.

This figure is loosely based on the Ashburnham Pentateuch. A woollen tunic is worn under mail and leather scale. Linen bracae are worn with high wide boots with knee extensions. The soldier carries a Germanic spatha and Gothic spangenhelm. A heavy woollen kandys or long sleeved coat is draped over the shoulders.

An iron helmet with some gold plate of Kabarian workmanship, worn with a basic Kabarian sabre. The armour is mail worn under a form of leather lamellar. Loose riding trousers are worn with riding boots and Scandinavian style spurs. The belt and pouch fittings come from burial mounds (16 and 160) Smolenskaja. A whip is carried, as well as a quiver and strung bow in it’s case. The assemblage speaks of a fusion of cultures.

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