Roman Military· Equipment .

The Accoutrements of War

Proceedings of the Third Roman

Military Equipment Research Seminar

edited by
M. Dawson

BAR International Series 336

1987
 B.A.R.
5, Centremead, Osney Mead, Oxford OX2 ODQ, England.

GENERAL EDITORS

A.R. Hands, B.Sc., M.A., D.Phil.

D.R. Walker, M.A.

BAR-S336, 1987 : ' Roman Military Equipment'

© The Individual Authors, 1987

The authors’ moral rights under the 1988 UK Copyright,

Designs and Patents Act are hereby expressly asserted.

All rights reserved. No part of this work may be copied, reproduced, stored,
sold, distributed, scanned, saved in any form of digital format or transmitted
in any form digitally, without the written permission of the Publisher.

ISBN 9780860544302 paperback

ISBN 9781407346083 e-book
DOI https://doi.org/10.30861/9780860544302
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
This book is available at www.barpublishing.com
 C
ONTENTS

P
age

L
ist of I
llustrations

L
ist of Contributors i
x

P
reface

I
ntroduction
M
. Dawson 1

The Artefacts

The Roman saddle

P
. Connolly 7

O
n making a Roman cornu
P
. Barton 2
8

Appendix
N
. Wickenden 3
8

T
he Roman military tunic
N
. Fuentes 4
1

D
ura-Europos and the introduction of the '
Mongolian
r
elease'
S
. James 7
7

P
rofessor Robert Newstead and f
inds of Roman
m
ilitary metalwork from Chester
G
. Lloyd-Morgan 8
5

The Theory

The Wellingborough and Nijmegen marches

D
. Atkinson & L
. Morgan 9
9

'
The evolution of certain f
eatures'
M
.C. B
ishop 1
09

R
oman military equipment on third century tombstones
J
.C. Coulston 1
41

i
ii
 P
age
A note on Roman military equipment f
rom Romania
A
. D
iaconescu & C
. Opreanu 1
57

E
vidence for the Roman army in Southwark
M
. Hammerson & H
. Sheldon 1
67

The drawn sword

L
. Morgan 1
75

I
ndex 1
76

iv
 L
IST O
F I
LLUSTRATIONS

P
age
CONNOLLY
At Durham
, the s
addle proved remarkably easy to
mount despite the l
ack of stirrups 9
P
l.II The s
addle's horns provided a high degree of
s
tability f
or the rider 1
0
The s
addle horns hold the r
ider f
irmly in place -
even in potentially d
isastrous s
ituations common in
combat 1
3
P
l.IV The horns on t
he s
addle a
llowed the r
ider a
r
emarkable d
egree of mobility and balance 1
4
F
ig.1 The s
addle f
ragments f
rom Valkenburg and Vechten in
the Netherlands 2
0
F
ig.2 S
implified reconstruction of the main Valkenburg
p
iece 2
1
F
ig.3 D
r Groenman-van Waateringe's reconstruction of the
s
addle components 2
2
F
ig.4 The rear, L-shaped pommel stiffeners f
rom Rottweil 2
3
F
ig.5 The f
ront pommel stiffeners from Rottweil 2
4
F
ig.6a The front o
f the saddle tree 2
4
F
ig.6b The back of the saddle tree 2
4
F
ig.7 The suggested method of stitching the pommel f
acing
to the f
ront pommels of the main Valkenburg l
eather 2
5
F
ig.8a & b S
ide and threequarter f
ront v
iew o
f the
Valkenburg saddle
F
ig.8c, d & e The s
itting position f
rom the s
ide, back and
top
F
ig.8f A f
allen horse shown on t
he Julii monument f
rom
S
t. Remi in southern France
F
ig.8g A detail f
rom the tombstone of Gaius Romanius at
Mainz in Germany 2
6
F
ig.9a-e Front, underneath, back and t
op v
iews o
f t
he
r
econstructed saddle without g
irth strap
F
ig.9e A possible reconstruction of the g
irth s
trap
a
ttached t
o f
laps which are stitched to the wood of
t
he tree 2
7

BARTON
P
1.1 The cornu under t
rials a
t t
he R
oyal M
ilitary
College of Music, Kneller Hall 2
8
F
ig.1 The P
ompeii cornu, w
ith t
he r
econstructions of
Mahillon and Alexander 3
0
F
ig.2 D
etails of Kakaki bell
F
ig.3 D
etails of construction of bell
F
ig.4 D
etails of construction of bell 3
2
F
ig.5 D
etails o
f handle socket 3
3
F
ig.6 Mouthpiece 3
4
F
ig.7 The harmonic series which represent the range
 Page
of the reconstructed cornu 3
4
F
ig.8 The completed cornu 3
5

WICKENDEN
F
ig.9 Trumpet mouthpieces f
rom C
olchester, Verulamium
,
Lydney Park, and Wickford 3
8

FUENTES
F
ig.1 V
ine dresser
F
ig.2 D
efaced olive harvester, f
rom C
ordova 4
2
F
ig.3 P
artly defaced s
lave, f
rom Waltersdorf, E
. Austria
F
ig.4 Tunic-clad soldier in a religious procession
, f
rom
Trajan's Column 4
3
F
ig.5 Rower, presumably a soldier, f
rom Trajan's Column
F
ig.6 Bare-shouldered soldier cutting down a t
ree, f
rom
Trajan's Column 4
5
F
ig.7 Soldier c
arrying a p
latform in a t
riumphal
procession
, f
rom the Belvedere s
arcophagus
F
ig.8 Soldier c
arrying a box of t
ablets, f
rom t
he
Chatsworth relief 4
7
P
1.1 The s
econd reconstruction of a tunic when unbelted
P
1.2 R
ear view of the belted tunic 7
2
P
1.3 S
ide v
iew of the belted tunic
P
1.4 Front view of the belted tunic 7
3
P
1.5 A s
tance in the manner of the Chatsworth relief
(
Fig.8)
P
1.6 Two (
modern) f
ibulae s
ecure the two panels of t
he
tunic 7
4
P
1.7 The unknotted tunic with a bared shoulder
P
1.8 The unknotted tunic with a bared shoulder 7
5

JAMES
F
ig.1 The Dura thumbring, Yale no. 1929.475A
F
ig.2 The Dura thumbring
F
ig.3 D
etails of shaftments f
rom Tower 1
9 7
9
F
ig.4 S
haftments f
rom Tower 19 and f
rom "
L7-W", the wall
in the vicinity of the tower 8
0

LLOYD-MORGAN
P
l.I P
rof. Robert Newstead e
xcavating i
n t
he D
eanery
F
ield, Chester, April 1935 8
6
P
l.II. A Iron scale armour f
rom Hunter S
treet, Chester 1
914
I
I.B I
ron hob nails, copper a
lloy belt plaques and
f
ittings, Deanery F
ield, 1
928 8
8
P
l.III. A Copper a
lloy buckles and pelta s
haped p
laques,
D
eanery F
ield, 1928
I
II.B Copper a
lloy, l
ead, and i
ron pendants, Deanery
F
ield, 1928 9
0

vi
 P
age
P
l.IV. A L
ead '
luggage label', D
eanery F
ield, 1
928
I
V.B Copper a
lloy '
luggage l
abel', D
eanery F
ield,
1
922-3
IV.0 I
ron caltrop
, Deanery F
ield, 1
928 9
4
P
l. V. A Chester Pageant 1
910: Agricola with soldiers of the
2
0. l
egion
V
.B Chester Pageant 1910: '
Soldiers playing dice' 9
5

ATKINSON & MORGAN

P
ls.I & I
I The N
ijmegen march - these photographs show the
method of s
uspension of helmet and other equipment
on the march - this i
s to be contrasted with the
method i
llustrated on Trajan's Column 1
06

B
ISHOP
F
ig.1 The '
mental t
emplate' and the spread o
f ideas
amongst military craftsmen 1
12
F
ig.2 Types of phalera fastening 1
15
F
ig.3 B
elt plates
F
ig.4 '
St.Andrew
's Cross' belt plates 1
17
F
ig.5 P
endants 1
18
F
ig.6 The relationship between l
unula and trifid pendants 1
19
F
ig.7 '
Lorica s
egmentata' l
obate hinges
F
ig.8 '
Lorica s
egmentata' hinged strap f
ittings 1
21
F
ig.9 '
Lorica s
egmentata' hinged buckle f
ittings
F
ig.10 '
Lorica s
egmentata' tie hocks 1
22
F
ig.11 The distribution of embossed belt plates 1
23
F
ig.12 A l
arge '
bird-headed' pendant f
rom Cirencester
F
ig.13 The d
istribution o
f f
igured Thracian c
avalry
t
ombstones and '
bird-headed' pendants in Britain 1
24

COULSTON
P
1.1 Tombstone of an unknown soldier found in I
stanbul
Archaeological Museum 1
42
P
1.2 Tombstone of Aprilius S
picatus f
rom a n
umerus
D
ivitensium 1
42
P
1.3 Tombstone of Aurelius S
urus f
rom t
he l
egio I
Adiutrix 1
44
P
1.4 Tombstone of an unknown soldier found at t
he s
ite
of Herakleia Pontica 1
44

D
IACONESCU & OPREANU
F
ig.1 Cavalry parade horse armour f
rom t
he fort of Gilau 1
59
F
ig.2 C
avalry parade horse armour f
ragment f
rom I
nläceni
F
ig.3 D
ecorative plate f
rom c
avalry parade armour
d
epicting Mars; f
rom Straubing 1
60
F
ig.4 B
ronze s
tuds 1
62
F
ig.5 B
utton and loop f
asteners 1
65
F
ig.6 M
ilitary strap ends 1
68

v
ii
 P
age
HAMMERSON & SHELDON
P
1.1 Auxiliary harness pendant f
rom 1
5-23 S
outhwark
S
treet
P
1.2 Auxiliary harness p
endant f
rom 1
5-23 S
outhwark
S
treet 1
69
P
1.3 Lorica s
egmentata buckle f
rom Arcadia buildings
(
X-ray) 1
70
F
ig.1 C
arnelian gemstone with l
egionary motif f
rom 1
-7 S
t
Thomas' Street 1
70
F
ig.2 Location plan of military f
inds f
rom S
outhwark 1
73

v
iii
 L
IST O
F CONTRIBUTORS

P
. Barton 1
5 D
enbigh T
errace, London, Wll 2QJ,
England

M
.C. B
ishop D
ept. of Archaeology, The University
,
Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, England

P
. Connolly 1
5 C
hurch Gate, Spalding, Lincs., PEll
2RA
, England

J
.C. Coulston D
ept. of Archaeology, The University
,
Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, England

M
. Dawson Archaeology S
ection
, P
lanning D
ept.,
County Hall, Bedford, MK42 9
AP, England

A
. Diaconescu Muzeul de I
stoire a
l Transylvanie, 4
S
tr Emil I
sac, C
luj-Napoca, 3
400,
Romania

J
. Eagle 2
2 Ember Farm Way
, East Molsely
,
S
urrey, KT4 OBL, England

N
. Fuentes 7 C
oalecroft R
oad, London
, SW15 6LW,
England

G
. Lloyd-Morgan Grosvenor Museum
, 2
7 Grosvenor S
treet,
Chester, CH1 2DD
, England

L
. Morgan 3
4 M
idfield Court, Thorpelands No.2,
Northants., NN3 1XP, England

C
. Opreanu Muzeul de I
stoire a
l T
ransylvanie, 4
S
tr Emil I
sac, C
luj-Napoca, 3
400,
Romania

H
. Sheldon D
ept. of Greater London Archaeology
,
The Museum of London, London Wall,
London
, EC2Y 5
HN, England

N
. Wickenden Chelmsford Archaeological Trust, 1
Writtle Road, C
helmsford, CM1 3
BL,
E
ssex, England

i
x
 P
REFACE

The Roman Military Equipment R

esearch Seminar was f
ormed in
1
983 at a t
ime when specialists f
elt a
n increasing n
eed, not
only to discuss the relevance and u
sefulness of their d
iscipline
with other colleagues, but to place their studies in the wider
context of Roman archaeology and generally to increase awareness
i
n the potential of military studies.

As a measure of enthusiasm and s

uccess, t
he conference
which was f
irst held i
n Sheffield was quickly publishedl and
f
ollowed by a s
econd conference which was subsequently published
a
s a full BAR volume. 2 By the third conference, hosted i
n 1
985
by t
he Dept. o
f Archaeology at the University of Nottingham
,
contributions were being received from individuals working on
material f
rom s
ites as exotic a
s Dura-Europos in Syria and G
ilau
in Northern Transylvania, a
s well a
s f
rom nearer home.

The s
eminar took a f
amiliar form with a s
eries of papers
presented to t
he participants f
ollowed by a period of
d
iscussion
, often hectic, notes f
rom which in many cases have
been included in the submission of papers for publication.

I
n addition to the presented papers, there was a
lso a
d
isplay of replica armour by members of the Ermine Street Guard
and a photograph and t
ext d
isplay mounted by t
he D
ept. of
Greater London Archaeology (
Southwark and Lambeth).

I s
hould l
ike to take this opportunity to thank all of the
contributors - those who have produced papers f
or publication
,
and t
hose who have not (
L. Allason-Jones and P
eter Hazell), for
without their work the s
eminar would have been s
tillborn.
Equally welcome was the presence of the E
rmine Street Guard and
their excellent repertoire of replicas. Further I am i
ndebted
t
oo t
o the Dept. of Archaeology at the University of Nottingham
for hosting the conference and help in the arrangements.

F
inally special thanks must go to M
.C. B
ishop f
or his help
and encouragement t
hroughout a
s well a
s his preparation of the
typed text during the autumn of 1
986.

The Roman military equipment s

eminars are an annual e
vent
that a
ttract both s
cholars and amateurs and f
urther details of
f
uture meetings may be obtained f
rom the editor.

NOTES

1
. M
.C. Bishop (
ed.), Roman Military Equipment. P
roceedings of a
 S
eminar Held i
n the D
epartment of Ancient H
istory and
C
lassical Archaeology at the University of S
heffield, 2
1st
March 1
983 (
Sheffield 1
983). Copies a
vailable f
rom M
.C.
B
ishop ( ist of Contributors f
see L or contact address), price
£
0.90.

2
. M
.C. B
ishop (
ed.), The P
roduction and D
istribution of R
oman
M
ilitary Equipment. P
roceedings of the S
econd R
oman M
ilitary
Equipment Research S
eminar, BAR I
nternational S
eries 2
75,
(
Oxford 1
985)

x
i
 I
NTRODUCTION

M
. Dawson

The R
oman m
ilitary equipment s
eminar of 1
985 was g
enerally
i
ntended t
o explore the i
ssues r
aised by c
urrent r
esearch i
nto
t
he d
iversity o
f a
rtefacts l
oosely c
overed by t
he t
erm the
a
ccoutrements o
f war. The Roman a
rmy
, l
ike any o
ther
, d
id n
ot
s
imply c
oncern i
tself w
ith i
ts uniform and weaponry; on the
c
ontrary
, a
lthough s
uch a
spects c
urrently r
eceive t
he majority
o
f attention
, their equipment r
equirements c
overed a much wider
s
pectrum
, including areas s
uch as s
upply, t
ransport, building
(
and maintenance), t
raining
, and communication
.'

The a
ssemblage f
rom S
aalburg, F
eldburg and Z
ugmantel i
s
p
articularly i
lluminating, comprising axes, dolabrae
, hammers,
m
attocks, c
hisels, f
iles, b
its, s
aws, t
urf c
utters, and
d
ividers, whilst other f
orts 2 have yielded weighing e
quipment,
m
edical instruments, vehicle mounts, and so on.

Of t
he a
rray o
f t
he army's r
equirements, only a s
mall
p
roportion of a
rtefacts s
urvives, however
, and of t
hese
s
urvivals we have a d
isproportionate number of c
ertain types;
a
nd of these d
isproportionate survivals, r
esearch has c
overed
but a f
ew a
spects. T
he r
easons f
or this a
re s
traightforward,
r
elating t
o t
radition
, s
urvival, f
ashion
, and i
ndividual
i
nterest
, not to mention the intrinsic attractiveness of c
ertain
f
orms. I
n every s
ense, t
hese r
esearch s
eminars have b
een
o
rganised, in s
ome small measure, t
o begin to g
et t
he balance
r
ight - providing a platform f
or opinion and research. C
learly
t
his will be a s
low business, a
s t
he study of m
ilitary artefacts
i
s only a recent phenomenon and the f
inancial s
upport f
or i
t i
s
s
lim indeed.

D
espite t
he o
rigins of i
nterest i
n t
he R
oman a
rmy
,
s
tretching back t
o the R
enaissance and before, the c
ontemporary
a
rchaeological s
ituation i
s one of confusion
. There i
s g
eneral
a
greement a
s t
o t
he date and occurrence of uniform f
ittings of
t
he f
irst a
nd s
econd centuries AD
, a
lthough not n
ecessarily to
which type of unit t
hey may have belonged. Works l
ike t
hose of
R
obinson
, 3 O
ldenstein
, 4 , and B
ishop 5 go a l
ong way to c
larifying
o
ur knowledge of t
he uniform of t
he imperial armies, a
s well a
s
highlighting the d
eficiencies by t
heir o
missions. A
s r
egards
i
dentification
, a
nd i
n s
ome cases t
he chronological occurrence
o
f the r
emaining a
ccoutrements of war, Manning's BM c
atalogue 6
a
nd a d
iversity o
f o
ther works have derived typologies and
c
atalogues f
or s
uch d
iaspora a
s l
ate R
oman belt f
ittings, 7

s
pades, hoes, and mattocks, 8 c
auldron chains, 9 nails, 1° medical
equipment, 1
1 ballistae, 1
2 and c
lothes f
asteners. 1
3

1
 I
ntegral t
o s
uch a
rchaeological works has been t
he
e
xamination of s
urviving s
culptural and o
ther d
ecorative
a
rtwork, which s
erve e
ither t
o i
dentify o
r r
einforce
i
dentifications of individual, often unassociated, artefacts. No
l
ess i
ntegral t
o the process of r
ecognition of l
oose i
tems has
been t
he analysis and r
e-analysis of l
arger a
ssemblages, l
ike
t
hose f
rom Newstead and Corbridge.

Thus we have t
he initial problem of artefact study - the
s
econd l
evel of development observed over the l
ast c
entury
, that
of the typology, has b
een l
argely s
idestepped (
Bishop
, t
his
volume). C
learly t
he typology has i
ts place particularly in
prehistoric study, when date r
anges are wide and tools, pottery,
and building types may indeed have developed a
long stylistically
d
iagnostic l
ines. I
n Roman military e
quipment t
erms, however,
t
he typology i
s t
he end product a
nd s
hould be s
een a
s a
d
evelopmental s
equence, with the vagaries of f
ashion
, e
conomics,
and military n
ecessity r
eflected in i
ts s
eries. O
f much m
ore
value i
s t
he corpus, 1
4 which s
eeks t
o d
isplay not only s
patial
d
istribution
, but to relate artefacts t
o each o
ther a
nd t
heir
point of d
iscovery.

The l
imitations of the corpus are t
hose imposed l
argely by
t
he archaeological past - interest in m
ilitary a
rtefacts a
rose
f
irst a
t the turn of the century, f
rom t
he excavations of major
s
ites s
uch as Newstead 15 and through t
he work o
f i
ndividuals
l
ike von D
omaszewski, Jacobi, and R
itterling. Most o
f the
a
rtefacts thus d
iscovered, and for the s
ucceeeding decades until
t
he l
ate 1950s, were u
sed i
llustratively
, their c
ontexts r
arely
precisely i
dentified. G
iven t
his l
egacy, only the occasional
typology was d
eveloped - l
ike f
or i
nstance t
he brooches f
rom
Camulodunum 16 - and with the quantity of coins and inscriptions
d
iscovered, artefacts took a s
econd p
lace. The r
evolution i
n
a
rchaeological t
echniques t
hat occurred in the 1
950s and '
60s,
with t
he n
eed f
or f
ast efficient rescue d
igs dominating by t
he
e
arly s
eventies, s
aw t
he emphasis c
hange. More and more s
ites
were examined t
hat could not be coin d
ated in every a
spect b
ut
s
till yielded c
lear s
tructural s
equences. I
t was possible t
hence
t
o p
ut f
orward the corpus, combining information f
rom artefacts
with c
lear (
often d
ated) c
ontexts, w
ith t
hose f
rom e
arlier
c
ollections t
o i
dentify a d
evelopment o
f t
ypes and o
ther
d
istributions; and to begin to u
se artefacts in a way that coins
had been u
sed previously.

A
lthough the d
evelopment of t
he c
orpus was a n
atural
progression
, t
here i
s n
ow s
omething o
f an i
mpasse - work
c
ontinues on the recognition of a
rtefacts, but i
n s
pite of
continuing work on the i
st and 2
nd centuries AD
, 1
7 t
he 3
rd-5th
c
enturies are l
argely i
gnored. Worse s
till, despite t
hree papers

2
i
n 1
986, t
here i
s s
till no a
greement a
s t
o what p
recisely
c
onstitutes l
egionary or auxiliary uniform 18 . I
n 1
982, Holder 19
observed t
hat there was then a d
isparity between t
he t
wo m
ain
t
ypes of evidence - documentary/epigraphic and archaeological -
a
nd t
his r
emains t
he s
ame today.

The way forward i

s f
ar f
rom clear in the l
iterature - t
he
p
roduction o
f c
atalogues l
ike t
hose f
rom S
outh S
hields 2 ° and
C
olchester 21 makes a
ccess t
o l
arge bodies o
f a
rtefacts a l
ot
e
asier, b
ut s
till t
he r
esearcher must spend much time s
imply
s
earching f
or and e
xamining the context of individual a
rtefacts
before b
eginning a
ny analysis. Even t
his p
rocess has i
ts
g
eographical l
imitations, f
or in many of the B
alkan c
ountries,
i
n t
he Near E
ast, and North Africa, t
he a
rchaeological
t
echniques c
urrent do not a
llow f
or the publication of artefacts
which are i
dentified with their precise l
ocation or context. The
point here i
s to emphasise, t
hrough d
iscussion
, that not only i
s
t
he i
dentification o
f d
iscovered a
rtefacts an e
ssential
p
rerequisite, but so too i
s the detailed understanding of their
c
ontext and the possible r
eason f
or d
eposition. L
ikewise, a
c
lose o
r r
elative o
r a
bsolute d
ate r
ange for t
he artefact's
o
ccurrence, derived f
rom other s
imilar deposits and r
igorous u
se
of excavation d
ata
, i
s e
ssential before any d
iscussion of
d
evelopment or association may be attempted.

S
o if i
t proves possible to r
elate r
egiments to their bases
i
n t
he f
irst two c
enturies AD f
rom inscriptions or documentary
e
vidence, i
t follows that - g
iven a g
reater insight into the u
se
o
r f
unction of d
iscarded, l
ost
, or destroyed artefacts - the way
f
orward i
s c
lear. O
n the one hand, the continued s
earch for t
he
f
unction
, d
ate r
ange, and d
evelopment o
f a
rtefacts through
i
ndividual analysis; on the other t
o make m
ilitary e
quipment
work! That i
s t
o s
ay to u
se artefact a
ssemblages t
o identify
t
roops movements, g
arrison points (
of particular interest a
fter
t
he r
eforms of D
iocletian), f
ort f
unctions, e
ven building
f
unctions. I
n some areas, this t
ype o
f a
nalysis has a
lready
b
egun - B
ishop
, t
his volume, and t
he attempted correlation of
a
rrows with the cohors I Hamiorum
. 2
2

H
ence, i
t i
s t
he p
ious hope of this e
ditor t
hat s
eminars
s
uch a
s t
his s
eries w
ill help r
esearchers, in what i
s often
c
onsidered a minor f
ield
, t
o t
hink e
xpansively a
nd f
or o
ther
a
rchaeologists t
o r
ealise how u
seful the study of the minutiae
of Roman m
ilitary e
quipment can be.

NOTES

1
. P
IETSCH
, 1983.

3
 2
. DAWSON
, 1985, 1
40-1.

3
. ROBINSON
, 1975.

4
. OLDENSTEIN
, 1976.

5
. B
ISHOP, f
orthcoming.

6
. MANNING, 1
985.

7
. HAWKES & DUNNING, 1
961; BULLINGER
, 1
969.

8
. MANNING
, 1969.

9
. MANNING
, 1
983.

1
0. CLEERE
, 1
958; MANNING
, 1
976
.

1
1. KUNZL, 1983.

1
2. BAATZ & GUDEA, 1
974.

1
3. W
ILD
, 1970.

1
4. B
ISHOP, f
orthcoming; OLDENSTEIN
, 1
976
.

1
5. CURLE, 1
911.

1
6. HAWKES & HULL
, 1
947.

1
7. WEBSTER
, 1985.

1
8. MAXFIELD
, 1986; B
ISHOP, 1
986.

1
9. HOLDER
, 1982.

2
0. ALLASON-JONES & MIKET, 1
984.

2
1. CRUMMY, 1
983.

2
2. DAVIES
, 1977.

B
IBLIOGRAPHY

ALLASON-JONES & M
IKET 1
984: L
. A
llason
-,J
ones & R
. M
iket, The
C
atalogue of S
mall F
inds f
rom S
outh Shields R
oman F
ort,
(
Newcastle upon Tyne 1984)

BAATZ & GUDEA 1974: D

. Baatz & N
. Gudea, '
Teile s
pätrömischer

4
 Ballisten aus Gornea und O
rsova (
Rumänien)',
S
aalburg-Jahrbuch XXXI, 1
974, 5
0-72

B
ISHOP 1
986: M
.C. B
ishop, '
The d
istribution of military
equipment within Roman f
orts of the f
irst century A
. D.' in
Studien z
u den M
ilitärgrenzen Roms I
II. 1
3. I
nternationaler
Limeskongreß Aalen 1983 Vorträge, (
Stuttgart 1986), 7
17-23

B
ISHOP f
orthcoming: M
.C. Bishop
, '
Cavalry equipment of the Roman
army i
n the f
irst c
entury A
. D.' in J
.C. Coulston (
ed.),
P
roceedings of the Fourth Roman M
ilitary Equipment
Conference, (
Oxford forthcoming)

BULLINGER 1
969: H
. B
ullinger, '
Spätäntike Gürtelbeschläge' in
D
issertationes Archaeologicae Gandensis 1
2, (
Bruges 1969)

CLEERE 1958: H
. C
leere, '
Roman domestic i
ronwork, a
s i
llustrated
by the Brading, I
sle of Wight, v
illa', Bulletin of the
Institute of Archaeology I
, 1958, 5
5-74

CRUMMY 1
983: N
. C
rummy, The Roman Small F
inds f
rom Excavations
in Colchester 1
971-9, Colchester Archaeological R
eports 2
,
(
Colchester 1983)

CURLE 1
911: J
. Curie, A Roman Frontier P
ost and its P
eople. The
Fort of Newstead in the Parish of Melrose, (
Glasgow 1911)

DAVIES 1977: J
.L. D
avies, '
Arrowheads f
rom D
inorben and the
s
agittarii', B
ritannia VIII, 2
57-70

DAWSON 1
985: M
. D
awson in J
. Dool & H
. Wheeler
, '
Roman Derby:
excavations 1
968-1983', Derbyshire Archaeological Journal
CV
, 1985

HAWKES & DUNNING 1

961: S
.C. Hawkes & G
.C. Dunning, '
Soldiers and
s
ettlers i
n B
ritain
, f
ourth t
o f
ifth century', Medieval
Archaeology V
, 1
961, 1
-70

HAWKES & HULL 1

947: C
. F.C. Hawkes & M
.R. Hull, Camulodunum.
F
irst R
eport on the Excavations at Colchester 1
930-1939,
R
eport of t
he R
esearch Committee of t
he S
ociety of
Antiquaries of London 1
4, (
London 1947)

HOLDER 1
982: P
.A. Holder, The Roman Army in B
ritain, (
London
1
982)

KUNZL 1
983: E
. Kunzl, Medizinische Instrumente aus
S
epulkralfunden der römischer Kaiserzeit, (
Bonn 1983)

MANNING 1
969: W
.H. Manning, '
Mattocks, hoes, spades and related

5
 tools in Roman B
ritain' in A
. Gailey & A
. Fenton (
eds.), The
Spade in Northern and Atlantic Europe, (
Belfast 1969), 1
8-29

MANNING 1976: W
.H. Manning, Catalogue of Romano-British I
ronwork
in the Museum of Antiquities Newcastle upon Tyne, (
Newcastle
upon Tyne 1976)

MANNING 1985: W
.H. Manning, Catalogue of the Romano-British I
ron
Tools, F
ittings and Weapons in the B
ritish Museum
, (
London
1985)

MAXFIELD 1
986: V
. Maxfield
, '
Pre-Flavian f
orts and t
heir
garrisons', Britannia XVII, 1986, 5
9-72

OLDENSTEIN 1
976: J
. O
ldenstein
, '
Zur Ausrüstung römischer
Auxiliareinheiten
', Bericht der Römisch-Germanischen
Kommission 5
7, 49-284

P
IETSCH 1983: M
. P
ietsdh, '
Die römischen E
isenwerkzeuge v
on
Saalburg, F
eldberg und Z
ugmantel', S
aalburg-Jahrbuch XXXIX,
1
983, 5
-132

ROBINSON 1975: H
. Russell Robinson
, The Armour of Imperial Rome,
(
London 1975)

WEBSTER 1985: G
. Webster
, The Roman Imperial Army, ed.3, (
London
1985)

WILD 1970: J
.P. Wild, '
Button and loop f
asteners i
n t
he R
oman
provinces', B
ritannia I
, 1970, 2
71-337

6
 T
HE ROMAN S
ADDLE

P
eter Connolly

I
n 1
967 D
r W
. G
roenman-van Waateringe published the l
eather
f
inds f
rom Valkenburg and Vechten i
n t
he Netherlands which
i
ncluded s
everal pieces f
rom R
oman s
addles (
Fig.1). I
n her
r
estoration these p
ieces f
ormed the s
addle c
overing. Each s
addle
had a l
arge main p
iece (
Fig.1,a) which covered t
he s
eat and the
i
nside of the four pommels and f
our o
utside f
acings o
f t
he
p
ommels which were s
titched t
o the main piece. These are roughly
t
riangular in shape with a rounded top. They appear to be of two
t
ypes: Type 1 (
Fig.1,e) has one rounded and one pointed corner
a
t t
he base and type 2 (
Fig.1,d) has both corners pointed. These
a
re s
hown i
n a s
chematic f
orm i
n F
ig.2. D
r G
roenman-van
Waateringe's analysis o
f t
hese p
ieces was a
ccompanied by a
r
econstruction d
rawing of t
he a
ssembled p
ieces o
f l
eather
(
Fig.3).

This was a t
remendous s
tep f
orward in our understanding of
t
he Roman s
addle but D
r Groenman-van Waateringe did not e
xplain
h
ow i
t f
itted t
o t
he wooden f
rame t
hat she envisaged. The
e
xistence of so-called pommel stiffeners m
ade o
f b
ronze with
n
ail holes a
long the edges (
Figs.4 & 5
) proves that some s
addles
a
t l
east must have had a wooden f
rame or tree but, in their
r
econstructed f
orm
, there s
eemed to be no r
ealistic way t
hat the
Valkenburg/Vechten pieces could be f
itted to such a t
ree. T
his
has l
ed m
any p
eople to s
uggest t
hat it was j
ust a l
oose cover
f
or a s
addle.

I
I

I
n 1
984 whilst preparing a s
mall book on a Roman cavalryman
m
y attention was d
rawn to t
he s
addle b
ecause i
t d
ictates t
he
f
ighting c
apabilities of t
he horseman. The consensus of opinion
was that there was n
o t
rue s
addle a
t t
his t
ime and t
his,
c
ombined w
ith t
he l
ack o
f stirrups, s
eriously r
estricted the
c
apability of the c
avalryman. The s
culptural evidence f
rom f
irst
c
entury t
ombstones s
uggested t
hat t
he f
irst of these s
tatements
was not t
rue; one way t
o t
est t
his was to build a r
eplica of a
R
oman s
addle and t
o r
ide i
t.

I
t i
s e
ssential t
hat a
ny r
igid s
addle should be made to f
it
a particular build of horse. A f
ourteen hand pony was s
elected,
t
he average s
ize of t
he horse s
keletons found at the Roman

7
c
avalry f
ort at Krefeld-Gellep in Germany
, and t
he s
addle m
ade
t
o f
it it. F
irst the contours f
rom the withers to the c
entre of
t
he back were reproduced as a f
orma on which t
he s
addle t
ree
c
ould b
e c
onstructed. The t
ree of l
aminated s
trips of wood was
g
lued together in the same way a
s the D
ura E
uropos a
nd F
ayyum
s
hields and reinforced with an i
ron backet a
cross the withers.

The r
econstruction of t
he back of the t
ree presented no
problems a
s a pair of L-shaped pommel s
tiffeners f
rom R
ottweil,
n
ow i
n the museum at Aalen in Germany (
Fig.4) gave not only the
s
hape of the pommels but a
lso the exact d
imensions of t
he b
ack
o
f t
he s
addle. Fortunately t
he pommels f
itted the Valkenburg
l
eather (
Figs.la & 2
) a
lmost perfectly. The d
istance f
rom t
he
b
ack t
o t
he f
ront pommels could easily be calculated a
s could
t
he d
istance between the f
ront pommels, but although two f
ront
pommel s
tiffeners had a
lso been f
ound at Rottweil (
Fig.5) these
m
erely f
it over the pommels themselves and provide no c
lue a
s to
t
he shape of the f
ront of the s
addle.

Any s
addle has to f
it a
cross the withers of the horse and
t
herefore must r
ise to a peak at the f
ront f
orming an angle of
a
bout 6
0'. Assuming that the pommels stuck out at r
ight a
ngles
t
o t
he t
ree t
hey would have projected s
ideways at an angle of
a
bout 3
0° t
o t
he horizontal (
Fig.6a). T
his was t
he most
s
traightforward and obvious r
econstruction. To put them at any
o
ther angle would have required an arbitrary i
nterpretation o
f
t
he evidence a
nd would be unwarranted. As will be s
een l
ater
t
his proved to be of paramount importance in t
he understanding
of the f
unction of the f
ront pommels.

At t
his point the reconstruction came to a halt a
s i
t was
impossible to determine the depth of the s
ides of the t
ree. I
t
had been a
ssumed t
hat a
s t
he f
ront pommels o
n t
he m
ain
Valkenburg l
eather (
Fig.la) were smaller than the back ones t
hat
t
he Type 1 pommel f
acings, which were a
lso s
maller
, went w
ith
t
hem
. However i
f t
he l
ower part of t
he pommel f
acing (
D-E on
F
ig.7a) to the dart and t
he l
eading edge of the s
ide panel (
B-C)
t
o the bottom of the pommel were s
titched t
ogether
, t
hen t
he
whole t
hing would t
urn under f
orming a s
ort of bag. Not only
would t
his solve the problem of how the l
eather f
itted over t
he
t
ree but it would a
lso determine the depth of the s
ide which had
t
o be l
imited by t
he maximum extent o
f the f
olded s
ide panel
(
B-C). This s
eemed to be confirmed by t
he s
titching, f
or t
he
pommels t
hemselves had b
een stitched f
rom the inside with the
l
eather turning inwards to f
orm an invisible top s
eam (
Fig.7a
,
S
). This was d
one by p
re-punching the holes with an awl and

P
l.I: A
t Durham
, the s
addle proved remarkably e
asy t
o mount
d
espite the l
ack of stirrups.

8
P
i. I
 •

1
0
s
ewing f
rom both f
ront and back u
sing two p
ig hairs a
ttached to
e
ither end of a piece of t
hread. Once t
he l
eather had b
een
f
itted over t
he p
ommels a
ll f
urther stitching had to be done
f
rom the outside a
ccounting f
or t
he d
ifferent coarser s
titching
on t
he dart and s
ides (
Fig.la).

I
t r
equired a
n enormous amount of trial and e
rror to make
t
he f
rame the r
ight s
hape to f
it inside the l
eather a
s it had to
b
e s
titched up f
irst but, after t
earing t
he f
irst c
over and
r
estitching the s
econd s
o many t
imes t
hat t
he e
dges
d
isintegrated, the wood and l
eather f
inally f
itted. t
he r
esult
was r
eminiscent o
f t
he l
ozenge s
haped s
addles s
hown on many
f
irst century tombstones s
uch a
s that of Gaius Romanius at Mainz
(
Fig.8a) and the one shown on the Julii monument at S
t. Remi i
n
s
outhern France (
Fig.8f).

The c
rescent s
haped holes (
Fig.2,X
,X,X,X) o
n t
he main
Valkenburg l
eather and a
lso on other f
ragments c
oincided w
ith
t
he l
ower edge o
f t
he t
ree. These are c
learly f
or attaching
c
ords or t
hongs to t
he edge of the t
ree. These cords c
an be s
een
o
n many Roman s
culptures and had a dual purpose; to t
ie b
aggage
t
o t
he f
ront and back of the saddle and to s
uspend decorations
when on parade. At f
irst I thought they might be f
or a
ttaching
t
he g
irth s
trap but they would be f
ar too f
limsy.

The a
rchaeological r
emains t
ell u
s n
othing about t
he
a
ttachment of the g
irth strap. One must a
ssume that the tree was
n
ot totally covered by the l
eather and that the g
irth strap was
a
ttached d
irectly t
o t
he t
ree. This may have been done by the
u
se of saddle f
laps. T
hese s
eem t
o be s
hown o
n t
he J
ulii
m
onument (
Fig. 8
f). I
f this i
s the case then the g
irth strap, the
c
rupper a
nd t
he breast plate may a
ll have been attached t
o the
f
laps (
see F
ig.9e).

Although the b
ronze pommel s
tiffeners had p
roved v
ery
u
seful in making t
he reconstruction
, their exact f
unction i
s f
ar
f
rom obvious. I
t i
s u
ncertain whether t
hey f
itted inside or
o
utside the l
eather covering. T
he e
xamples f
rom N
ewstead i
n
S
cotland have names s
cratched on them which suggest that they
m
ust have been on t
he outside b
ut t
hey a
lso have t
races o
f
l
eather o
n t
he o
utside which suggest the opposite. One c
ould
a
rgue that the names were put there by the bronzesmith t
o t
ell
t
he s
addler which s
addle they were f
or or on the other hand that
t
he t
races of l
eather were f
rom a s
addle cover. S
ince some have
n
ail holes and s
ome s
titching holes i
t i
s d
ifficult t
o b
elieve
t
hat t
hey had a
ny s
trengthening f
unction
. They must therefore

T
he saddle
's horns provided a high degree o
f s
tability
f
or the r
ider.

1
1
 have been e
ither f
or s
haping the pommel on the inside or purely
f
or decoration on the outside. Used outside they would c
ertainly
have l
ooked v
ery f
lashy and typically R
oman
. However t
here i
s
l
ittle to s
upport this s
uggestion and M
rs. van D
riel-Murray (
see
b
elow) strongly f
avours the f
ormer solution.

I
II

T
he main r
equirements of a s
addle a
re that i
t provides t
he
r
ider with a s
ecure s
eat and that i
t t
ransfers the weight of the
r
ider f
rom t
he spine to the f
lanks of t
he horse. The l
atter i
s
a
chieved by padding the saddle underneath (
see F
ig.6) l
eaving a
c
hannel down the m
iddle s
o that the c
entre of the t
ree i
s r
aised
a
bove the horse's spine and withers. The padding could have been
a
ttached e
ither t
o t
he t
ree or to the f
laps o
r it could have
b
een entirely s
eparate. I stuffed the area where the s
ide panels
t
urned under and this s
eemed to work f
airly well.

W
ith the s
addle padded and the g
irth strap attached i
n t
he
m
anner d
escribed above t
he s
addle was r
eady to be r
idden
. The
horse was not too happy a
bout t
he unfamiliar s
hape b
ut he
a
ccepted i
t w
ithout t
oo much t
rouble. I
t i
mmediately became
c
lear that t
he pommels were e
ntirely f
unctional a
nd t
heir
e
fficiency d
id not s
eem to be much affected by t
he s
ize of the
r
ider. When s
itting a horse t
he r
ider's l
egs s
played o
ut
(
Fig.8c, d
, e
). As a r
esult, i
f the r
ider s
lips backwards his
h
ips become l
odged between the back pommels. A s
limmer r
ider
j
ust s
lips a l
ittle further back. The f
ront pommels prevent the
r
ider s
omersaulting out of t
he s
addle b
ackwards. A s
light
t
ightening of t
he knees under the f
ront pommels would be all
t
hat was required if the r
ider f
elt that he was c
oming o
ut of
t
he saddle. S
imilar projections can be f
ound on modern rodeo and
s
tock s
addles. T
hey p
revent the r
ider being pulled out of the
s
addle when roping cattle. A Roman c
avalryman must have f
elt
v
ery s
ecure in t
he knowledge that he would not be pulled out of
t
he saddle when his spear struck home.

At t
he end of my f
irst r
ide I encountered t
he p
roblem o
f
d
ismounting - w
ithout s
tirrups one could not d
ismount a
s one
would a b
icycle a
s the pommels were designed to keep one i
n t
he
s
addle. I
t was s
uggested t
hat I swing my l
eft l
eg over the f
ront
pommels a
nd s
lide down the r
ight s
ide i
n the s
itting position
a
nd this worked well.

P
l.III: The s
addle horns hold the r
ider f
irmly in place - e
ven
i
n potentially d
isastrous s
ituations common in combat.

1
2
H
H
H

r
-
1
f
l
.
t
2
4
 I
V

T
he r
econstructed s
addle was presented to t
he Third Roman
M
ilitary E
quipment S
eminar which was h
eld a
t Nottingham
University i
n t
he s
pring of 1985 where, a
lthough i
t provoked
g
reat interest
, i
t a
lso met with c
onsiderable o
pposition
. F
or
s
ome t
ime I had been in contact with Mrs Carol van D
riel-Murray
o
f t
he Albert E
gges v
an G
iffen I
nstitute of P
re- and P
rotohisory
i
n Amsterdam who had been studying the R
oman l
eatherwork f
rom
t
he Netherlands a
nd e
lsewhere f
or s
everal y
ears a
nd s
he
expressed g
reat i
nterest i
n t
he r
econstruction and whilst
c
onvinced o
f i
ts e
ssential accuracy had s
ome reservations about
t
he interpretation o
f the stitching. However
, d
iscussion l
ed t
o
t
he f
ollowing observations:

F
irstly t
he s
eam running f
rom the top of the f
ront pommel
t
o the point of the dart (
Fig.7a, A
,D,E), which i
s V-shaped on
t
he c
ut o
ut l
eather, f
ormed a s
mooth continuous l
ine on the
r
econstruction and t
herefore s
upported t
he s
uggestion (
above)
t
hat t
he l
ower p
art o
f the pommel f
acing was stitched to the
l
eading edge of the s
ide pommel.

S
econdly where t
he l
eather i
s doubled up in s
everal p
laces
(
Fig.2) i
t s
eemed t
o be more than coincidence that two of these
p
laces were j
ust above the darts where the l
eather t
urns over
t
he f
ront and back o
f the t
ree and would t
herefore b
e t
ubject to
g
reater wear.

Thirdly t
he c
hange f
rom n
eat to coarse s
titching '
which
o
ccurs on a
ll known examples of s
addles r
eceives a f
unctional
e
xplanation (
van D
riel-Murray P
ers. c
omm
.) because o
f t
he
t
echnique of f
irst s
ewing an inside and '
invisible' s
eams on the
pommel covers which was turned inside out l
eaving the corners to
be attached by a c
oarser external l
ine of s
titching at the base
(
Fig.1).

Doubts e
xpressed by M
rs v
an D
riel-Murray concerned the
s
titching of the d
art and the s
ide f
laps t
o t
he pommel f
acing
which was f
undamental t
o t
he r
econstruction. D
r Groenman-van
Waateringe considered that the r
equisite p
ieces had had a t
rim
s
titched over them i
.e. a bound hem not a s
eam - c
ertainly there
was n
o evidence f
or the s
ide f
laps turning under and they could
j
ust as e
asily have hung down t
he s
ides a
s i
n t
he p
revious
r
econstruction. T
here was c
ertainly s
culptural e
vidence t
o
s
upport t
his but i
f that were the c
ase i
t would be impossible to
c
alculate t
he s
ize and shape of the tree.

P LIV: T
he horns o
n the s
addle allowed the r
ider a r
emarkable
d
egree of mobility and balance.

1
5
 Unfortunately e
ven r
e-examining t
he V
alkenburg/Vechten
p
ieces s
eemed u
nlikely t
o shed f
urther l
ight f
or the pieces came
f
rom s
everal d
ifferent s
addles and therefore t
he stitching could
n
ever be matched.

B
efore returning to Holland Mrs v
an D
riel-Murray w
ent t
o
Wakefield t
o examine the recent f
inds of Roman l
eatherwork f
rom
C
astleford in Yorkshire. Among these were the pommel f
acing and
part o
f t
he main l
eather f
rom a s
addle but she d
id not r
ealize
at the t
ime that she had in her hands t
he solution to the whole
p
roblem
. Later
, a
s s
he r
evealed t
o t
he Fourth Roman M
ilitary
Equipment S
eminar held at Newcastle University in s
pring 1
986,
s
he was able t
o r
estitch t
he two p
ieces and found that the
s
titching holes matched not only down t
he s
ides but a
lso a
long
t
he bottom proving that the s
ide f
lap was indeed stitched to the
bottom o
f t
he pommel (
Fig.7b). This had been t
he weakest point
o
f my r
econstruction but i
t was now entirely v
indicated.

The Castleford f
ragments which s
uffer f
rom e
xtreme wear and
t
ear, have not yet been published. Their i
nterpretation i
s v
ery
d
ifficult and r
equires a f
ar more detailed account than could be
published here. I
t will be published by M
rs v
an D
riel-Murray a
s
part of the Castleford r
eport. I
t i
s s
ufficient to s
ay here that
her evidence l
ends considerable weight t
o t
he c
ase f
or t
he
l
eading e
dge o
f t
he s
ide f
lap being s
titched t
o the bottom of
t
he pommel f
acing.

Although the s
addle has been t
ried out on a horse s
everal
t
imes i
t s
eemed e
ssential to build a v
aulting horse s
o t
hat i
t
c
ould be tested t
horoughly. A wooden horse 1
4 hands high was
c
onstructed and t
he saddle bolted to i
t. This was t
ried out at
t
he Roman cavalry course held a
t D
urham University i
n April
1
986. D
r David B
reeze volunteered to vault into t
he saddle f
rom
e
ither s
ide as d
escribed by Vegetius. This proved t
o b
e much
e
asier than expected as we had anticipated some r
eticence on the
p
art o
f the men because of the pommels. D
r Breeze performed the
f
eat about a dozen t
imes and f
ound i
t e
asiest w
ith one hand
g
ripping t
he n
earer f
ront pommel and t
he other in the c
entre of
t
he s
addle (
see P
late I
). This was l
ater r
epeated by M
r C
live
C
onstable o
f t
he E
rmine S
treet Guard wearing a s
cale c
uirass
weighing about 1
2kg.

I
mportant t
hough t
hese e
xperiments were, f
ar more
s
ignificant were t
he experiments carried out with a shield and
l
ong s
lashing sword. The shield was a r
econstruction b
ased on
t
he e
lliptical s
hield c
over f
rom Valkenburg. This shield which
was about 1
.3m l
ong and s
omewhat over 6
5cm wide with a weight of

1
6
a
bout 7
kg covered t
he r
ider f
rom shoulder to ankle and acted as
a counter balance t
o the sword (
Plate IV).

The sword was a copy of a s

patha f
ound a
t Rottweil in
s
outhern G
ermany. I
t was j
ust over a metre l
ong and weighed
about 1
-5kg. It was f
irst of all e
stablished that i
t could be
drawn with t
he r
ight hand with the scabbard on the r
ight hip
which many people had doubted. I
t i
mmediately became obvious
that not only would it be impossible to wield a sword of this
s
ize and weight without the saddle pommels, f
or t
he momentum
would pull the r
ider off the horse, but with the pommels it was
possible f
or the r
ider to s
lash out to the r
ight
, with the point
of the sword reaching out almost two metres, and to use the l
eft
f
ront pommel to pull himself back into the saddle with his l
eft
t
high. I
n f
act t
he pommels were performing almost exactly the
s
ame function as stirrups in allowing the rider t
o r
egain his
position i
n the s
addle. This has s
erious implications for our
whole view of the Roman cavalry. The l
ong a
ccepted v
iew t
hat
s
hock tactics were i
mpossible before the introduction of the
s
tirrup will have to be reconsidered.

I would l
ike to thank Mrs Carol van D
riel-Murray f
or the
t
remendous help t
hat she has g
iven me both in the construction
of the saddle and i
n preparing this article. I would a
lso l
ike
t
o thank a
ll those who have encouraged me e
specially Mr Mark
Hassall of the Institute of Archaeology and D
r Brian Dobson and
P
rofessor John Mann of Durham University.

B
IBLIOGRAPHY

C
URI
AE, J
.: A Roman Frontier Post and i
ts P
eople. The Fort of
Newstead i
n the P
arish of Melrose (
Glasgow 1
911) (
for
the Newstead f
inds)

GROENMAN -
VAN WAATERINGE, W
.: Romeins l
ederwerk u
it Valkenburg
Z
.H., Nederlandse Oudheden 2
, (
Groningen 1
967)

K
IMMIG, W
.: '
Ein K
e1tenschild aus Aegypten
', Germania 24, 1
940,
1
06-11 (
for the Fayyum shield)

P
LANCK, D
.: Arae F
laviae I
. Neue Untersuchungen z
ur Geschichte
d
es römischen Rottweil, F
orschungen und B
erichte z
ur
Vor- u
nd Frühgeschichte i
n B
aden-Württemberg 6
,
(
Stuttgart 1
975) (
for t
he Rottweil f
inds)

1
7
 F
IGURE CAPTIONS

Fig.1: The s
addle f
ragments f
rom Valkenburg and Vechten in the
Netherlands, after Dr W
. Groenman-van Waateringe.

a
: The main piece f
rom Valkenburg which i
s s
hown i
n a
r
econstructed form in Fig.2.

b & c
: Fragments of s
imilar pieces from Vechten
.

d
: Pommel f
acings f
rom Valkenburg.

e & f
: Pommel f
acings from Vechten
.

Fig.2: S
implified r
econstruction of the main Valkenburg piece.
The stippled areas are where the l
eather i
s double.
P
. Pommels; X
. Crescent shaped holes; PF1. Type 1 pommel
f
acings (
see Fig.1,e); PF2. Type 2 pommel f
acings (
see
F
ig.1, d).

Fig.3: D
r Groenman-van Waateringe's r
econstruction o
f the
s
addle components.

Fig.4: The rear, L-shaped pommel stiffeners from Rottweil after

P
lanck.

Fig.5: T
he f
ront pommel stiffeners f
rom Rottweil after P
lanck.

Fig.6a: The f
ront of the s
addle t
ree. The l
ight stippling s
hows
the shape of t
he horse at t
he withers. T
he d
ark
s
tippling shows the padding n
ecessary t
o protect t
he
horse.

b
: The back of t
he s
addle t
ree. The l
ight stippling
shows the shape of the horse across the c
entre o
f t
he
back. T
he dark s
tippling s
hows the padding needed to
r
aise t
he saddle above the horse's spine.

Fig.7: T
he suggested method of stitching the pommel f
acing t
o
t
he f
ront pommels of the main Valkenburg l
eather.

Fig.8,a & b
: S
ide and threequarter front v
iew of the Valkenburg
s
addle r
econstructed complete w
ith g
irth s
trap and

1
8
 a
ttachments f
or the crupper and breast plate.

c
, d & e
: T
he s
itting position f
rom the s
ide, back and
t
op.

f
: A f
allen horse shown on the Julii monument f
rom S
t.
R
emi i
n s
outhern F
rance. T
his s
hows a f
our pommeled
s
addle with c
rupper, breast plate and g
irth s
trap a
ll
possibly a
ttached to s
addle f
laps.

g
: A d
etail f
rom t
he t
ombstone o
f Gaius Romanius at
Mainz in G
ermany. I
t shows a l
ozenge-shaped s
addle with
pommels f
itting c
losely t
o the thighs and hips.

F
ig.9,a, b
, c & d
: Front, u
nderneath, back and top v
iews of the
r
econstructed s
addle without g
irth s
trap. The two p
ieces
X
,X are totally hypothetical.

e
: A possible r
econstruction of the g
irth s
trap attached
t
o f
laps which are stitched to the wood of the tree This
would have had t
o b
e attached before t
he l
eather
c
overing was put over t
he tree. The breast plate and
c
rupper attachments a
re a
lso s
hown s
titched t
o t
he
f
laps. This i
s entirely hypothetical.

1
9
0 2 0 c
re,

Fig.1 a

.
...
...
...
...
...
.. .
.
..
-
*
I
. s
, . .... .
..... .
.... .... .
...... ••• •

.
.
..
..
. .
.
..
.. •
•
..
.
..
..
.
.•
.
.
.
..
..
..
..
..
..
.. .
.

2
0
 F
RONT

20c m

F
ig. 2

2
1
Fig. 3

2
2
/
0 210

F
ig.4

2
3
 I

o 1
0 210 c
.rn

Fig. 5

F
ig. 6

b
a

2
4
 •
•. .

• • • - I 'N •

.. .
1 •
• I
.

• .•
• . . •
•I. I
•
'
•
•• •• • .

F
ig. 7

2
5
 f

d
g

Fig .8

c e

2
6
 a

F
ig .9

2
7
P
1.1: T
he cornu under trials a
t the R
oyal M
ilitary College of
M
usic 1 Kneller Hall,

2
8
 ON MAKING A R
OMAN CORNU

P
eter B
arton

I
n 1
984 I w
as approached by the Roman Military R
esearch
S
ociety to make a Roman military cornu; this was to be a r
eal
i
nstrument which would produce an effective and viable sound as
well as r
eproducing an original i
nstrument.

I
nitial r
esearches r
evealed considerable confusion
,
e
specially over n
omenclature, a
s t
o what a cornu was. I
t
t
ranspired that a cornu i
s in f
act a g
eneric t
erm covering a
g
reat v
ariety of musical horns made of a variety of materials -
s
heet i
ron
, brass, cast and sheet bronze, and animal horn. Their
l
ength too varied f
rom less than 100cm up to nearly 4 metres.
R
eference was m
ade in Roman t
imes to the sound of the Tuba
(
tube) a
s '
horribilis sonitus', '
terribilis s
onitus', '
fracti
s
onitus', '
raucitas', '
rudor', '
clangor', and '
gravis'.

Amongst t
he f
amily of Cornua, authorities distinguish -
i
nsofar as there i
s agreement - between the following species:

1
. Lituus and Carnyx: Beginning straight but curving in the bell
s
ection. 3
5cm to 80cm
, probably u
sed by
cavalry. The carnyx usually decorated with
animal head bells. Conical bore.
2
. Tuba v
ero d
irecta: S
traight
, short, of bronze or i
ron
, and
somewhat l
onger than but akin to the short
English hunting horn (
for f
ox hunting),
and varying in l
ength f
rom 1
05cm to 1
80cm
.
Also conical bore.
3
. Cornu/Bucina/Tuba Curva: A group of considerable confusion!
All curved, some helical, some almost full
c
ircle, with a wooden cross-piece, ranging
in l
ength f
rom 1
40cm to nearly 4m
.

The horn required by the Society was t

he military t
ype,
G
roup 3 a
bove, f
ound in P
ompeii and now i
n Naples, but
i
llustrated in the '
Pompeii AD79' cataloguel and described a
s
f
ollows:

'
Bronze horn (
cornu); height 1
.28m width 1
.10m; diameter
1
.20m. Naples Museum
, o
ld inv. 1
277. From Pompeii. The
tube i
s approximately 3
.3m l
ong, bent a
lmost i
nto a
c
ircle and held by a transverse strut (
probably covered
in ivory), which rested on the player's shoulder so that
the bell of t
he horn appeared above his head.'

2
9
3
.

2
.

Fig.1: The P
ompeii cornu (
1), w
ith t
he r
econstructions of
M
ahillon (
2 & 4
) and Alexander (
3).

S
everal copies of the instrument have already been made but
w
ith a variety of i
naccuracies. The f
irst copy was by M
ahillon
o
f B
russels; t
he s
econd by Alexander o
f Mainz 2 and another by
M
ahillon - this t
ime in F
lorence. 3 There i
s one f
urther e
xample
i
n Brussels. 4

A
s a m
ilitary i
nstrument was n
eeded i
t s
eemed t
hat the
P
ompeian example would be the most appropriate. Many o
f t
he oft
quoted Latin references to the sound o
f t
he Tuba would s
uggest a
l
onger r
ather than a s
horter instrument, e
specially '
gravis'
which would hardly be appropriate to t
he short Tuba v
ero d
irecta
o
r to the Lituus or Carnyx.

3
0
 Another important c
onsideration was t
hat the P
ompeian
o
riginal, which was p
layable, was i
n G (
loft) and r
eadily
p
roduced the fundamental and a
ll the harmonies up t
o t
he 1
6th
w
ith e
ase.

I
t was t
herefore d
ecided t
hat a r
econstruction of the
P
ompeian instrument should be attempted, in brass, with a basic
a
nd u
nadorned s
tructure d
ictated by t
he l
imits o
f f
unds
a
vailable.

S
o, f
rom a c
onsideration of the evidence available, o
f t
he
photos o
f t
he modern '
reconstructions' by Mahillon and
A
lexander
, and t
he exhibition catalogue photo o
f t
he P
ompeian
o
riginal, i
t was c
lear a modern r
econstruction of the Pompeian
o
riginal, in brass, would be f
ar c
loser t
o an o
riginal t
han
a
nything e
lse on show at present.

F
rom the p
hoto of the Pompeian original, I e
stimated that
t
he l
engths of t
he three s
ections were roughly in the proportion
1
:3:1, i
.e. Bell s
ection to top T s
ocket of handle 7
26cm
; l
ength
b
etween T handle sockets 1
886cm
; '
mouth-pipe' t
o beginning o
f
r
eceiver 6
97cm
. This made f
or a shorter mouth-pipe s
ection than
t
hat of the Alexander reconstruction (
Fig.1,3) but produced a
f
inished a
rticle more i
n keeping w
ith photos o
f e
xisting
o
riginals (
Fig.1,1 & 5
). The Alexander '
reconstruction
' a
ppears
t
o attempt to maintain the curve of the back-bow into an almost
f
ull c
ircle.

I was a
lso s
upplied w
ith d
imensions o
f t
he M
ahillon
'
reconstruction
' i
n t
he B
russels M
useum
: b
ell-end i
nternal
d
iameter 1
10mm
; t
ubing OD at top T 2
2mm7 a
t bottom T 1
6mm
.
These, being e
asy t
o c
opy
, I t
ook a
s those of the Pompeian
o
riginal, s
o used them
. R
eceiver and mouth piece measurements I
t
ook f
rom plastic casts taken f
rom an exhibit in the Colchester
M
useum
.

THE '
BELL
' SECTION

A comparison of the i
llustration of the P
ompeian o
riginal
(
Fig.1,1) with t
hose of Mahillon
's (
Fig.1,2 & 4
) and A
lexander
's
(
Fig.1,3), i
s e
nough to indicate t
hat these made no a
ttempt t
o
match the original's bell profile a
nd r
im. A
lexander's l
ooks
l
ike a n
arrow bore trombone bell, while Mahillon
's, which does
have a r
einforced r
im of s
orts, i
s s
till a
s s
traight a
s a f
lower
v
ase.

E
xamining t
he photo of the '
original' I was struck by i
ts
s
imilarity at the bell-end, t
o that of a N
igerian Kakaki which I

3
1
had once r
estored. This had a wide f
lat r
im at r
ight angles t
o
t
he bell-end, with a
s much width again i
nside the bell, hammered
9
0° to the r
im. 5 This protective appendage m
ust have b
een

B
ell

R
im
R
im

Fig.2: D
etails of Kakaki bell.

a
n e
arly f
orerunner o
f the bell-frame or Garland. I t
herefore
d
ecided that such a strengthening of the bell-end would be most
appropriate. However
, a
s the r
im brass had to be f
airly thin to
a
llow of i
t being hammered and stretched to l
ie a
long the i
nside
o
f the bell, it was not v
ery strong. S
o I c
ut a
nother r
ing,
s
lightly l
arger in c
ircumference, t
o s
lip over t
he f
inished bell
t
o l
ie back to back with the f
irst r
im.

S
econd r
im, soldered and
hammered over f
irst r
im

Fig.3: D
etails of construction of bell.

B
ELL PROFILE

The f
lare was i
ntended t
o begin at 2
2mm at t
he top T s
ocket
and i
ncrease r
egularly to a d
iameter of 1
10mm a
t the end of the
b
ell. The curve i
ntended can be s
een f
rom t
he i
llustration o
f
t
he P
ompeian o
riginal (
Fig.1,1). I t
reated t
he bell s
ection
r
ather l
ike an outsize, s
elf-adhesive patch f
or a tapered t
ube.

T
rimmed and notched t
o
a
llow c
urving and l
ater
s
eaming

Fig.4: D
etails of construction of bell.

3
2
 ) collar s
ilver
soldered to handle
socket

Tapered t
ube with
c
ollar for strength

Wood cross handle

1
7
/

Fig.5: D
etails of handle socket.

The result left much to be desired, but d

id look convincing. The
two T s
ockets to hold the wooden cross-piece were built up out
of 2 layers of lmm wall tubing, with a f
iller of 0
.5mm
.

BACK-BOW

This, a length of 1
.9m
, was taken in one p
iece f
rom 1
9mm
outside d
iameter 0
.5mm thick tubing, tapered to 1
6mm at one end
and expanded to 2
2mm at the other. Thus the j
oins, potentially
weak points, are inside the T sockets.

'
MOUTH-PIPE'

This l
ooks s
hort (
0.7m), compared with t
hose on other
modern r
econstructions, but a
s a
lready s
tated above, the
original f
rom P
ompeii shows s
imilar proportions. Another point
worthy of consideration i
s that this f
irst s
ection i
s apparently
only supported at one end and i
s therefore extremely vulnerable.
B
ut, on this point M
. Mahillon must have pondered t
his problem
t
oo, s
ince for one of his reproductions (
Fig.1,2), he supplied a
s
upporting p
iece of brass between the receiver and the wooden
c
ross-piece. I have supplied a s
imilar support but r
inging the
r
eceiver j
ust below the mouth-piece.

RECEIVER AND MOUTH-PIECE

Many originals, being of thick metal, have been unearthed

3
3
by archaeologists and B
ehn provides a s
election o
f
possibilities.

The receiver i
s a
lmost cylindrical outside, j
ust t
apering
s
lightly to the detachable mouth-piece.

Mouth t
ube
_
Hemispherical cup
Narrow throat, expanding
t
o l
ong back bore

Fig.6: Mouthpiece.

I f
ound the mouth-piece, with sharp edge and narrow throat
,
made c
entering notes very d
ifficult, and for playing purposes,
s
upplied a cut-down cornet mouth-piece.

Using this l
atter I was a
ble t
o produce a g
ood f
at,
i
ncisive t
one, f
rom t
he f
undamental up through 16 harmonies.
played softly
, the instrument produced a sound not unlike t
he
F
rench Horn i
n F
, but, played Brasse, i
t produced the sort of

-C
i-

C
) o

a
t
z
d
ac3 °
0
(
1
3

n o

Fig.7: The above are the harmonic s

eries which r
epresent t
he
range o
f the r
econstructed c
ornu - t
his r
ange i
s
specific to the instrument and any c
hange i
n i
nternal
shape, o
r volume would produce a d
ifferent range of
sounds.

3
4
Fig.8: T
he completed cornu. Although o
stensibly a s
piral, t
he
c
ornu i
s based on t
hree d
istinct c
urves.

3
5
sound characterised in the Latin quotations mentioned e
arlier.
And, i
t could c
ertainly s
ound '
Grave', i
f t
his a
djective
corresponds to the much valued Roman quality of '
Gravitas'.

D
esigned a
s a s
ignal horn, i
t s
hould possess good
'
carrying' qualities and test were s
ubsequently carried out on
the instrument.

THE TESTS

The reproduction of the cornu had been originally conceived

to test its efficacy in the f
ield - to e
stablish i
ts material
range and potential carrying power.

The cornu reproduced by P

. Barton was subsequently tested
in the f
ield by the Roman Military Research Society. Firstly a
t
the behest of Mr John Eagle at Gresham
's School, Norfolk the
cornu was used in a demonstration by the Society and produced
three perfect and loud notes. Further experiments showed that
the instrument besides the '
terribilis sonitus' was capable of
more subtlety producing a haunting quality when played softly.

A third test was carried out by t

he army at Kneller Hal1, 6

where a bugler, using his own mouth piece played s

everal modern
c
alls. He ended with a '
Trumpet Voluntary' and these, together
with a full demonstration of t
he harmonics were r
ecorded on
cassette and reproduced at the Nottingham conference.

NOTES

1
. WARD-PERKINS & CLARIDGE, 1976, Item 3
03.

2
. BEHN
, 1912, 4
1 and accompanying illustration.

3
. '
111 (
N164) Tuba C
urva, 19 copy by M
ahillon
, Tuba Romana f
rom
Pompeii, l
ength 3
43cm
: Conservatorio d
i Musica Luigi
Cherubini, Palazzo Vecchio Firenze.'

4
. No.466 '
cornu' l
ength 1
40cm (
Musse Royale d
'Art e
t
d
'Histoire, Brussels Catalogue, vol.I) - f
rom its l
ength this
should however be a Bucina, a
lthough i
t i
s described as
follows: (
Branch D - instr. a Imbouchure) 466 Cornu. 1
40cm
,
including mouth piece.

5
. From an e
xample r
estored by t
he author, s
ee also BAINES
,
1980, P
1.111,3 & 5
.

3
6
6
. Royal Military S
chool of Music, Kneller Hall, Twickenham
.
APPENDIX by N
.P. Wickenden

Trumpet mouthpieces, probably for u

se on t
he c
ornu
, a
re
known i
n B
ritain f
rom Colchester, 1 Verulamium
, 2 Lydney P
ark, 3

and Wickford, E
ssex. 4 The l
ast example came f
rom the excavations
by Warwick Rodwell in 1
971 in advance of a housing d
evelopment
on the s
ite o
f a l
ate p
re-Roman I
ron Age
s
ettlement/Romano-British v
illa. M
ilitary presence on
' t
he s
ite i
s
s
trongly s
uggested by a number of bronzes, including part of a
martingale and hinged harness mount; p
re-Roman and C
laudian
c
oins; C
laudian-Neronian brooches; and a l
ength of
'
military-style' ditch. The coin l
ist f
rom watching b
riefs
c
arried out i
n 1
978 p
roduced an a
s, p
robably o
f T
iberius,
c
ounterstamped TIB.IM
, as u
sed on coins a
t t
he R
hine f
rontier
f
ort of Moguntiacum (
Mainz). 5 Post-excavation work on R
odwell's
e
xcavations i
s being u
ndertaken by C
helmsford A
rchaeological
Trust
, and a report will appear in due course.

The W
ickford mouthpiece (
Fig.9,4) i
s o
f c
opper a
lloy
,
i
ncomplete
, with a low moulding around t
he base o
f t
he mouth.
The hole, a
s s
een in the broken end, i
s not central.

l
i
P
;
1,A
l
i
.44
,1
0
,s
ho
•'
q
.
•

3
.

Fig.9: T
rumpet mouthpieces f
rom Colchester, Verulamium
, Lydney
• Park, and Wickford.

3
8
NOTES (
numbers as F
ig.9)

1
. Colchester Museum Report 1
937-44, 2
8-9 and plate 4
.

2
. FRERE, 1
972, F
ig.40,129.

3
. WHEELER & WHEELER
, 1
932, F
ig.16,47.

4
. WICKENDEN forthcoming. Context Cat.3128.

5
. M
. Hammerson in COUCHMAN, 1979, 43-4.

B
IBLIOGRAPHY

BAINES 1
980: A
. B
aines, Brass Instruments: Their History and
D
evelopment, (
London 1980)

B
EHN 1912: F
. B
ehn, '
Die Musik im r
ömischen H
eer', Mainzer
Z
eitschrift 7
, 1912, 3
6ff

COUCHMAN 1
979: C
. Couchman (
ed.), '
Work of Essex County Council
Archaeology S
ection
, 1
978', E
ssex Archaeol Hist 1
1,
1
979, 3
2-77

FRERE 1972: S
.S. Frere, Verulamium Excavations, 1
, Soc Antiq Res
R
ep 2
8, (
Oxford 1972)

WARD-PERKINS & C
LARIDGE 1
976: J
. Ward-Perkins & A
. Claridge,
P
ompeii AD79, (
Bristol 1976)

WHEELER & WHEELER 1

932: R
.E. M. Wheeler & T
.V. Wheeler
,
Excavation of the P
rehistoric, Roman and Post-Roman S
ite
i
n Lydney Park, Gloucestershire, Soc Antiq Res Rep 9
,
(
Oxford 1
932)

W
ICKENDEN f
orthcoming: N
.P. Wickenden
, The P
rehistoric and Roman
S
ettlement at B
eauchamps Farm
, Wickford, E
ssex,
Chelmsford Archaeological Trust R
ep. 8
, (
forthcoming)

3
9
 T
HE ROMAN M
ILITARY T
UNIC

N
. Fuentes

The o
riginal a
im o
f t
his p
aper was to d
iscuss both the
d
esign and t
he colour of the Roman l
egionary tunic in the f
irst
p
art o
f t
he 2
nd c
entury A
.D. However, because of t
he l
ack of
e
vidence f
or colour of tunics in t
hat period, the time span has
b
een g
reatly extended in both d
irections (
forward to c
.A.D.300)
s
o a
s t
o bracket i
t. This i
n t
urn b
rought t
ogether m
aterial
r
elating t
o t
he c
olour of centurions' uniforms, of cloaks, of
n
aval tunics and, t
o a very l
imited e
xtent, of auxiliary tunics,
a
ll of which has been thought worthy of inclusion.

PART 1 - D
ESIGN

THE M
ILITARY TUNIC OF THE REPUBLICAN PERIOD

As good depictions in this period s

how only s
oldiers i
n
a
rmour, i
t i
s not possible to evince the detailed designs of the
t
unics worn. T
he monument of Aemilius P
aullus (
167 B
.C.), 1 the
'
Altar of Domitius Ahenobarbus' (
c.100 B
.C.), 2 the bas-relief
f
rom S
eville (
1st c
entury B
.C.) 3 and the Glanum r
elief (
? l
ate
I
st c
entury B
.C.) 4 a
ll show the bottom e
dge of t
he t
unic a
s
b
eing e
ither j
ust above the knee or at m
id-thigh. I
n the case of
t
he f
irst three e
xamples the s
leeves appear to be m
inimal which
s
upports t
he remark of Gellius t
hat the original Roman tunic was
n
arrow and s
leeveless. 5

C
IVILIAN TUNICS

F
or the l
ate R
epublic and t
he f
irst two c
enturies o
f t
he
Empire t
here a
re many d
epictions i
n v
arious a
rt f
orms of
c
ivilians in tunics, ranging f
rom the poorest t
o t
he I
mperial
f
amily. I
t i
s noticeable that men engaged in physical work, s
uch
a
s f
armworkers a
nd f
ishermen
, a
re o
ften shown a
s having the
r
ight shoulder bared.

Most tunics w
ere s
leeveless, f
or e
xample, on t
he man
offering w
ine t
o a g
uest at a P
ompeian banquet. 6 S
ome tunics
have closed neck openings, somewhat in the manner of the modern
'
T-shirt', 7 while o
thers, i
n order to a
llow the baring of the
r
ight shoulder, appear to:
a
) be '
slit' f
rom shoulder to shoulder with only a short l
ength
of s
titching holding t
he back and f
ront t
ogether
, f
or

4
1
Fig.1 (
left): Vine dresser - note the l
ong s
lit on the shoulder
which allows the arm through so a
s t
o bare t
he r
ight
shoulder, but l
eaves t
he '
sleeve' stitched up (
after
STRONG, 1
923, tay.XLIII).

Fig.2 (
right): D
efaced olive harvester
, f
rom Cordova - note the
l
arge knot behind the neck and t
he folds o
f t
he t
unic
l
eading up to i
t (
after BANDINELLI, 1971, p1.175).

e
xample, a vine dresser f
rom the Torre del P
adiglione (
Fig.1). 8

b
) have the back and f
ront j
oined at the shoulder by a f
ibula or
s
ome o
ther f
orm of a
ttachment, r
ather t
han being s
ewn
, for
example, the f
uller f
rom S
ens. 9

Tunics are u
sually g
irdled at the waist and, to a
llow the
bottom e
dge t
o be g
irt at t
he d
esired height, the s
urplus
material i
s pulled up over the belt and a
llowed to b
louse out.
Quintilian (
late i
st century A
.D.) notes t
hat f
or the person who

4
2
has not t
he r
ight t
o t
he l
ati c
lavi, the edge of his tunic
s
hould come a l
ittle below the knee.IU E
xamples of this f
ashion
a
re numerous, f
or example, the bronze s
tatue of a youth i
n the
C
apitoline Museumll o
r t
he bas-relief of a rabbit s
eller and his
c
ustomer. 1
2

O
ccasionally
, a f
igure i
s shown in an unbelted t
unic s
uch
a
s t
he o
live o
il s
eller in Cherchel Museum
, 1
3 while t
here are
a
lso f
requent d
epictions of civilians who, when engaged in hard
physical work, have hitched t
he bottom edge of their tunics
a
bove their knees; this e
specially applies to f
arm-workers. 1
4

The length of ungirdled tunics varies somewhat on artistic

r
epresentations, but usually comes down to mid-calf. There is a
p
recise m
easurement g
iven by C
ato (
c.160 B
.C.) when he
r
ecommends t
hat i
n a
lternate years f
arm s
laves should be i
ssued
with tunics of a l
ength of 31
2 R
/ oman f
eet (
1.03m
; 3
ft 5
in). 1
5

E
lsewhere i
n l
iterature, the description of Varro (
mid -
ist
c
entury B
.C.) o
f a tunic with c
lavi (
the twin v
ertical s
tripes
o
f purple) clearly indicates that i
t was made f
rom two s
eparate
p
anels o
f material s
ewn together. 1
6 On many s
culptures the s
eam
on the shoulder i
s c
learly shown, 1
7 while the a
ctual s
titching
i
s d
epicted on s
ome o
f t
he i
st and 2
nd century A
.D. painted
c
offin l
ids f
rom Egypt. 1
8

Of particular interest to this p

aper a
re t
he o
ccasional
s
ide o
r back v
iews of tunic-clad workers who are shown with a
knotted bunch of m
aterial at the back of the n
eck o
pening
, f
or
e
xample, t
he o
live harvester f
rom Cordova (
Fig.2) 1
9 and a s
lave
a
ttending magistrates and l
ictors f
rom Waltersdorf, east Austria
(F ig. 3
) .2
0

The most obvious explanation f

or the gathering of t
he back
o
f t
he n
eck opening in t
his f
ashion would be that i
t i
s an easy
m
ethod of c
onsiderably r
educing t
he s
ize o
f a l
arge n
eck
opening. This i
n t
urn s
uggests that s
uch t
unics are of the type,
m
entioned above, which have a s
lit r
unning f
rom shoulder to
s
houlder in order to a
llow the baring of t
he r
ight shoulder.

By a happy c
hance t
he comparatively well preserved r
emains
o
f s
ome e
ighteen c
oloured woollen tunics complete with c
lavi
have been f
ound i
n the C
ave of L
etters (
Bar K
ochba p
eriod -
A
.D.132-5) in t
he Nahal H
ever
, where t
orn apart, t
hey have
a
pparently been u
sed as burial shrouds. 2
1

On the l
oom t
he c
lavi have been woven a
s b
ands o
f weft
t
hread r
unning f
rom one s
elvage t
o another (
i.e. woven
horizontally) within a r
ectangular panel. Two s
uch p
anels were
j
oined t
ogether a
long one s
elvage to f
orm the shoulders of a

4
3
 (

F
ig.3 (
left): P
artly d
efaced s
lave, f
rom Waltersdorf
, E
.
Austria - note the knot behind t
he neck and folds of the
t
unic centering in on i
t (
after ALFÖLDY
, 1
974, p
1.19).

Fig.4 (
right): T
unic-clad s
oldier i
n a religious procession
,
f
rom Trajan
's Column - note the f
olds c
entering o
n t
he
knot which appears to have been d
oubly s
ecured with s
ome
s
ort o
f t
hong
, and the heavy b
lousing over the back of
t
he belt (
after C
ich. 2
73).

t
unic, while '
the s
ection between the bands was l
eft unsewn' t
o
s
erve a
s a n
eck opening; 2
2 t
hus, t
he bottom edge of t
he tunic
was f
ormed of a s
elvage f
rom each panel which obviated t
he n
eed
f
or a s
ewn hem
. However, i
t i
s not c
lear f
rom t
he report a
s t
o
whether t
he s
elvages at the shoulders were always s
ewn up t
o and
i
ncluding the c
lavi, or whether s
ome could be of t
he shoulder t
o
s
houlder s
lit variety. The s
ewn borders o
f no.7 '
show i
t t
o have
b
een c
losed on the s
ides, except at t
he upper parts where holes
were l
eft f
or t
he arms 1.2
3 I
t would s
eem r
easonable t
o infer
t
hat the general methods of weaving a
nd j
oining t
ogether t
he
N
ahal H
ever t
unic anels were s
p imilar t
o, i
f not the s
ame a
s,
t
heir R
oman C
ounterparts. T
he s
hop s
ign o
f Verecundus a
t
P
ompeii, which d
epicts v
arious s
tages o
f m
anufacture o
f
m
aterials, ight hand s
has on the r ide a worker c
oming f
orward
w
ith what a
ppears t
o e a t
b unic panel, or perhaps a c
omplete
t
unic. 2
4

4
4
F
ig.5 (
left): R
ower, presumably a s
oldier
, f
rom Trajan
's Column
- note t
he knot and t
he f
olds again (
Cich. 2
09).

F
ig. e(
right): B
are-shouldered s
oldier c
utting d
own a t
ree,
f
rom Trajan's Column - note t
he l
ack of a s
emblance of a
s
leeve and the apparent d
earth of s
titching on t
he r
ight
hand s
ide of t
he t
unic (
after C
ich. 2
43).

O
f t
he ten Nahal Hever t
unics where i
t i
s possible t
o t
ake
m
easurements of t
heir o
riginal d
imensions, n
ine o
f t
hem a
re
l
onger t
han t
hey are broad; while i
t i
s not possible t
o arrive
a
t the height and build of t
heir owners, s
ome t
unics m
ay have
b
elonged t
o d
hildren. 2
5 L
eaving a
side a p
articularly s
mall
e
xample (
no.17), t
he l
engths of the t
unics measure between 0
.72m
a
nd 1
.12m (
2ft 4
in and 3
ft 8
in), with an average of 0
.93m (
3ft
i
m ). L
ikewise, t
he t
unic widths r
ange f
rom 0
.60m to 1
.00m (
2ft
t
o 3
ft 3
in), with an average of 0
.79m (
2ft 7
in) .26 T
hese f
igures
m
ay be compared with Cato's 31
2 R
/ oman f
eet (
1.03m
; 3
ft 5
in) f
or
t
he l
ength of a s
lave's t
unic and with t
he one n
early complete

4
5
s
ingle-piece woollen adult's t
unic (
with s
hort s
leeves) f
rom
D
ura E
uropos, which i
s c
.0.92m (
3ft) l
ong and c
.0.66m (
2ft 2
in)
wide or, i
ncluding t
he s
leeve l
engths, c
.1.03m (
3ft 41
2i
/ n)
w
ide. 27

T
HE LEGIONARY TUNIC

On T
rajan's
Column t
unic-clad legionaries a
re normally
d
epicted in one of three basic forms of dress: 28
a
) dressed only in a tunic w
ith both s
houlders c
overed but,
where a back o
r s
ide v
iew i
s shown
, with a bunched knot of
material at the r
ear o
f t
he n
eck opening, f
or e
xample,
building r
oads (
Cich. 2
55-6), t
aking part in a procession
(
Fig.4 C
ich. 2
73) and rowing (
Fig.5 - C
ich. 8
2-6 and
2
09-12);
b
) dressed i
n a tunic and c
loak - sometimes the bunched knot of
material still s
hows, f
or example, the two m
usicians i
n a
procesion (
Cich. 2
73);
c
) dressed in a
rmour when t
here i
s no v
isible indication of a
bunched knot at the back of the neck; u
sually t
he l
egionary
i
s d
epicted w
ith a '
scarf' around his n
eck with one l
ength
c
rossing over another under the chin
, unlike the scarves t
ied
in a knot at the throat, which the auxiliaries wear.

Only one s
cene shows soldiers dressed in a t
unic w
ith t
he
r
ight s
houlder b
ared while f
elling t
rees and excavating earth
(
Fig.6 - C
ich. 2
41-4). However, t
he r
ight hand s
ide of the tunic
appears not to have been stitched e
ither at the r
ight s
houlder
o
r a
t t
he r
ight s
ide. As this i
s t
he only s
cene on the Column
d
epicting the s
tate of dress, the apparent vagary may perhaps be
a
ttributed t
o a s
culptural error.

The depiction of a soldier's tunic with a bunched knot o

f
m
aterial behind t
he n
eck opening i
s not confined to T
rajan
's
C
olumn. For example, i
t i
s c
learly shown on the t
riumphal s
cene
on t
he Antonine B
elvedere s
arcophagus (
Fig.7) 2
9 and in the
c
ollection of debt tablets s
cene o
n t
he H
adrianic C
hatsworth
r
elief, which a
lso i
llustrates t
hat t
he tunic i
s s
leeveless
(
Fig.8). 3
0

T
he bunched knot o
f m
aterial b
ehind t
he n
eck opening
appears to have the f
ollowing effects:
a
) the n
eck opening, a
ssuming a shoulder s
lit
, i
s r
educed to
whatever s
ize i
s r
equired;
b
) because the knot draws material towards t
he c
entre o
f t
he
back, the tunic blouses out t
o a considerable extent over the
back of the belt (Fig.4);
c
) the knot also produces across t
he back of the tunic a number
of folds which c
entre onto i
t (
Fig.3, 4 and 7
);

4
6
Fig.7 (
left): S
oldier c
arrying a p
latform i
n a t
riumphal
procession
, f
rom t
he B
elvedere s
arcophagus - note the
apparent d
ouble thonging around the knot, the f
olds of
t
he t
unic c
entering on the knot and the blousing over
t
he belt (
after STRONG, 1923, f
ig.179).

Fig.8 (
right): S
oldier carrying a box of t
ablets, f
rom t
he
C
hatsworth r
elief - n
ote t
he knot, t
he c
learly
s
leeveless t
unic, the '
V'-shaped f
old under the chin and
t
he strap passing under the r
ight a
rm (
after S
TRONG
,
1
923, fig.125).

d
) a
s t
he knot p
ulls in the material at the back of the s
lit,
t
he spare material in f
ront d
rops f
orward i
n c
haracteristic
'
V'-shaped f
olds u
nder t
he chin (
Fig.8);
e
) the l
ength o
f t
he s
ide of the tunic, which f
alls f
rom the
s
houlder t
o make a '
sleeve', i
s a
djustable by t
he amount of
m
aterial t
aken i
nto t
he knot, f
or example many rowers have the
c
omplete arm bared (
Cich. 8
2-6 and 2
09-12).

I
t has a
lready been suggested that Roman tunics were o
f a
s
imilar d
esign t
o those f
ound at the Nahal Hever. For military
t
unics at l
east t
his contention i
s s
trengthened by t
he known
s
ystem of c
ompulsory purchase f
or t
he Roman Army of tunics and
other c
lothing f
rom both t
owns and s
mall v
illages in Egypt. 3
1 I
t
would s
eem most l
ikely that the system was prevalent e
lsewhere,
i
ncluding Judaea, and one would therefore expect the designs to

4
7
be basically the s
ame.

Two of the references to the compulsory purchase of t

unics
i
n Egypt, i
n A
.D.128 and A
.D.138
, a
re o
rders r
elating
specifically t
o t
he wool weavers of t
he v
illages c
oncerned. 3
2

This s
uggests t
hat the tunic of the ordinary soldier was made of
wool.

The u
se of a s
elvage to form the bottom edge of a tunic may
e
xplain why on s
ome s
culpture a stitch l
ine i
s shown on the
v
ertical edges of a paenula but not at t
he '
hem
' of t
he t
unic,
f
or example, the Camomile Street soldier
. 3
3

The d
epictions o
f t
he m
ilitary t
unic i
n the f
irst two
c
enturies A
.D. continue the e
arlier practice o
f s
howing t
he
f
ront e
dge o
f the tunic a
s coming to j
ust above the knee. This
practice i
s c
onfirmed in l
iterature by Q
uintilian who notes that
when a tunic's edge comes above the knee
, i
t i
s t
he dress o
f a
c
enturion. 3
4 T
he i
mportance t
o a s
oldier o
f t
his d
ress
d
istinction i
s i
llustrated by one of the punishments i
nstituted
by Augustus f
or d
ereliction of duty by c
enturions whereby the
offenders were to stand a
ll day in f
ront o
f t
he praetorium i
n
beltless tunics (
tunicati d
iscincti). 3
5

On a number o
f monuments s
uch a
s t
he Chatsworth r
elief
(
Fig.8) i
t i
s of additional interest t
o n
ote t
he t
hin s
trap
c
rossing over the l
eft shoulder and passing under the r
ight arm
.
I
t appears to be in the same position a
s a modern c
avalry pouch
belt, but i
s much narrower. The most practical a
pplication f
or
t
his s
trap s
eems to be to prevent the b
lousing of the material
on the r
ight hand s
ide of the t
unic f
rom f
alling a
cross t
he
sword g
rip
, which could otherwise make i
t d
ifficult to draw the
weapon.

One f
inal point not yet covered i
s whether t
he l
egionaries
of the early 2
nd century A
.D. had c
lavi woven into their t
unics.
This point i
s c
onsidered in P
art 2
.

A RECONSTRUCTION OF A M
ILITARY TUNIC

As a
n a
id to t
he understanding of t
he design of the t
unic,
two s
uccessive simple r
econstructions were m
ade up f
rom b
lanket
material. T
he d
imensions of the f
irst t
unic (
exhibited at the
C
onference) were 1
.15m (
3ft 9
in) square
, b
ased o
n v
isual and
practical appreciations. I
n o
rder t
o f
all within the m
aximum
measurements of t
he Nahal Hever t
unics, t
hose o
f t
he s
econd
r
econstruction were r
educed t
o a l
ength of lm (
3ft 3
in) and a
width of 0
.90m (
3ft), with s
lits at the n
eck of 0
.50m (
lft 8
in)
and at the arms of 0
.30m (
lft) (
P1.1 and 2
).

4
8
 I
n p
assing i
t s
hould be noted t
hat the f
olds of the s
econd
r
econstruction
, which was made of a thicker material, imitate to
a l
esser d
egree t
hose s
een on so many s
culptures. I
ndeed, t
he
s
o-called '
undress u
niform
' of t
unic and c
loak must indicate
t
hat the f
ormer was made of a comparatively l
ight material.

I
t was f
ound t
hat when the back of t
he n
eck opening i
s
bunched up
, t
he knot pushes t
he material into a thin cone, but
t
his when f
olded down and tied a
round w
ith a l
eather t
hong,
c
losely r
esembles t
he depictions. L
ikewise, the f
olds c
entering
on t
he knot, and t
he heavy blousing at the back of the tunic are
r
eproduced well (
compare P
1.3 with F
ig.4). Wilson has s
uggested
t
hat the knot was s
ecured by a f
ibula but a thong not only s
eems
more practical but a
lso follows the s
culpture better. 3
6

When f
ollowing the Chatsworth and other r
eliefs by wearing
a '
pouch belt' strap (
Fig.8), i
t c
an be s
een to gather up much
of t
he b
lousing o
n t
he r
ight hand s
ide, thus a
llowing easy
a
ccess to t
he sword (
P1.4 and 5
). When the t
unic i
s u
nknotted
and the r
ight arm i
s passed through the opening, there i
s plenty
o
f room f
or swinging a pick or whatever (
P1.6).

I
n c
onsidering t
he wearing o
f armour over a tunic, the
f
irst reconstruction
, when unknotted and t
he r
olls o
f s
pare
material pulled f
orward around the n
eck, a
llowed the two l
engths
o
f roll to be crossed over in the manner of a s
carf worn under a
l
orica s
egmentata. T
his r
aised d
oubts a
s t
o whether there
a
ctually was a s
eparate s
carf. H
owever, n
ot only d
oes t
he
s
econd, s
maller
, r
econstruction not a
llow f
or this crossover of
m
aterial but also t
he ends of s
carves appear to be d
epicted on
two o
f t
he praetorians on t
he Cancelleria r
elief; 3
7 a s
carf
would thus be of t
he order of 1
.20m (
c.4ft) l
ong. A s
carf would
prevent t
ie n
eck opening b
.
.N -
2
oming e
xcessively d
irty and any
c
hafing of the n
eck by body a
rmour; i
n d
iffering c
olours i
t
m
ight even provide a d
istinction between d
ifferent l
egions or
c
ohorts.

How t
he s
lit o
f a t
unic was f
astened when armour was worn
,
must r
emain s
omething of a mystery. The answer may s
imply be a
p
air of f
ibulae (
P1.7) - this could e
xplain the r
ather u
nusual
t
op s
houlder p
late o
f t
he l
orica s
egmentata which creates a
hollow beneath i
t w
hich could house t
he f
ibulae; this s
uggestion
m
ight a
lso go some way towards accounting f
or the l
arge n
umber
of f
ibulae f
ound on m
ilitary s
ites.

4
9
CONCLUSIONS

The evidence c
learly i
ndicates t
hat the l
egionary of the
e
arly 2
nd century A
.D. a
nd of t
he p
receding and s
ucceeding
periods wore a s
leeveless tunic with a w
ide neck opening capable
of a
llowing an arm to pass through so a
s to bare the shoulder;
t
he opening was reducible by knotting a bunch of material behind
t
he n
eck. The g
arment was probably woollen
, and a
t i
ts l
ower
e
dge and neck opening there was a s
elvage rather than a stitched
hem
. A l
ength of c
.lm (
3ft 3
in) and a width of c
.0.90m (
3ft)
appear to represent the order of t
he m
agnitude of t
he R
oman
military tunic of the early 2nd c
entury A
.D.

5
0
 PART 2 - COLOUR

A CATALOGUE OF THE EVIDENCE

Although an a
ttempt has been made to note all the evidence
f
or colour r
elating t
o m
ilitary c
lothing (
leaving a
side
g
enerals), t
here will doubtless be some items which have been
omitted. The evidence i
s arranged in c
hronological o
rder with
individual interpretations.

a
) Historical f
resco

(
3rd century B
.C. - a tomb on the Esquiline) 3
8

Four r
egisters of f
igures are depicted with some of the
c
haracters being named; two of t
he r
egisters s
how f
ighting
taking place.

I
nterpretation: T
he s
cenes appear t
o represent an historical
event with t
he R
omans in white t
unics and t
heir enemies
(
?Samnites) wearing only short white kilts.

b
) Historical f
resco

(
late i
st century B
.C./early i
st century A
.D. - the tomb of the
S
tatilii) 3
9

The f
resco includes a battle between s
oldiers i
n white
tunics, who are winning, and other men who are dressed only in
short white kilts.

I
nterpretation: The victorious soldiers are Romans.

c
) The Barberini N
ilotic mosaic

(
?c.30 B
.C. - Palestrina)

D
ates for this mosaic range from the time of Sulla to t
he
3
rd c
entury A
.D. 41 but to the writer the most convincing date
offered i
s the v
isit to Egypt by Octavian after t
he Battle of
Actium when t
here was a particular abundant f
looding by the
N
ile7 42 some support for this date comes from the s
ize of t
he
tesserae 43 and f
rom t
he presence of t
he r
ectangular s
cuta
c
arried by two of t
he f
igures. 44

The scene at t
he bottom of the mosaic i
n an e
ye-catching

5
1
position shows a number of f
igures with shields, s
pears, helmets
and body armour approaching t
he f
ront of a c
lassical t
emple;
n
earby to the r
ight i
s a war galley. '
Octavian
' i
s b
lowing a
horn t
o s
ummon t
he priestess and i
mmediately behind him
, in the
manner of a bodyguard, i
s a s
oldier i
n a bronze h
elmet,
(
?)chainmail a
nd an o
ffwhite t
unic. N
ext stands a person of
a
uthority i
n a v
ery p
ale b
lue t
unic and moulded c
uirass
a
ccompanied by a f
igure, possibly bearded, dressed apparently in
a red s
leeveless knotted tunic and, unlike any other male person
in t
his s
cene, he i
s not wearing any body armour; by the f
eet of
these two f
igures who f
ace one another
, i
s a dark blue shield
bearing a dolphin design.

Of t
he r
emaining s
ix soldiers, t
he c
olour of the tunics o
f
only f
our a
re v
isible - in each case t
hey are white
, including
the two men w
ith r
ed painted r
ectangular s
cuta bearing t
he
emblem o
f the s
corpion. The l
eading s
oldier of t
hese s
ix, whose
t
unic i
s not v
isible, wears a r
ed c
rest on a white-coloured
helmet; t
he other f
ive soldiers have white horsehair plumes on
their bronze helmets.

I
nterpretation: B
ecause of the nearby g
alley and the shield with
dolphins on i
t, the '
officer' in a v
ery p
ale b
lue t
unic n
ear
'
Octavian
' may b
e c
onsidered t
o b
e Agrippa (
or s
ome other
admiral) while the unarmed (
?)bearded a
ccompanying f
igure i
s
c
learly not a soldier, but with the '
Agrippa' connection he may
be a n
aval personnel. T
he r
emaining s
oldiers a
re p
robably
praetorians (
with t
he s
corpion e
mblem o
n t
he s
cuta) o
r
l
egionaries, but the l
eading f
igure with a red c
rest may b
e an
officer
, p
erhaps a c
enturion. H
is c
rest
, unlike the f
lowing
horsehair plumes of the o
ther f
ive s
oldiers, a
ppears t
o b
e
s
ymmetrical and t
ransverse. I
f the white-coloured helmet can be
taken to r
epresent a s
ilver plated one, t
hen t
hese two f
eatures
r
ecall t
he c
umm-NL b
y i
i t
hat c
enturions wore i
ron helmets
with c
rests which were both s
ilvered and t
ransverse, s
o a
s to
a
id recognition. 4
5

d
) '
Judgement of S
olomon' f
resco

(
earlier i
st c
entury A
.D. - Pompeii) 46

T
his i
s a court s
cene which, a
rguably, a
ppears t
o e
cho
c
ontemporary p
ractice and d
ress. B
ehind the t
hree j
udges on a
podium (
?Solomon plus two advisers) a
re a number o
f s
hadowy
f
igures o
f attendant soldiers; in f
ront of t
he podium are three
other s
oldiers who are rendered in more detail.

T
he soldier about to c
leave the b
aby in half i
s w
earing a
white t
unic a
s i
s his c
ompanion i
n t
he background; both are

5
2
wearing bronze cuirasses and helmets. The third f
igure stands in
a pose of authority c
lose to the podium and i
s dressed in a r
ed
tunic and a r
ed c
loak while his c
uirass and helmet appear to
have been s
ilvered
, unlike the other t
wo s
oldiers. A
ll t
hree
s
oldiers have red horsehair plumes.

I
nterpretation: W
ith V
egetius' r
emarks i
n m
ind (
above) the
f
igure in r
ed with s
ilvered armour may be r
egarded a
s s
ome s
ort
of officer
, perhaps a c
enturion. The other two soldiers in f
ront
of t
he podium m
ay be c
onsidered t
o be l
egionaries, or even
praetorians.

e
) A wine s
hop s
ign

(
earlier i
st c
entury A
.D. - Pompeii) 47

M
ine host offers a j
ug of water t
o a f
igure c
arrying a
spear and wearing a y
ellow-brown paenula which f
alls down to
c
over his arms and t
unic; he i
s a
lso wearing a l
ight g
reen
s
carf.

I
nterpretation: T
he c
loaked f
igure i
s an off-duty soldier in
undress uniform
.

f
) The entry of V
itellius i
nto R
ome

(
A.D.69 - T
acitus) 48

The eagles of the V

itellian a
rmy were p
receded by t
he
praefecti c
astrorum
, t
he t
ribunes and t
he s
enior c
enturions
(
primi c
enturionum) dressed in c
andida v
este, while t
he o
ther
c
enturions marched with t
heir c
enturies, their arms and medals
g
leaming.

I
nterpretation: This special mention by Tacitus o
f t
he s
enior
officers o
f the l
egions being dressed in shining white probably
indicates t
hat their normal u
niform was a d
ifferent c
olour,
perhaps r
ed i
f t
he interpretation of the evidence of c
) and d
)
above i
s c
orrect. On the other hand, the r
eference may mean that
t
heir c
lothing had been specially whitened f
or t
he o
ccasion
,
a
lthough this s
uggestion s
eems l
ess l
ikely. The g
leaming arms of
t
he j
unior c
enturions a
gain r
ecalls Vegetius' m
ention o
f
s
ilvered crests, and the s
ilver colour of t
he cuirass and helmet
of the Pompeii '
centurion
' (
above).

5
3
g
) P
apyrus r
eceipt f
or t
unics and c
loaks

(
A.D.128 - Socnupaei Nesus, Arsinoite nome) 49

T
he v
illage weavers had delivered n
ineteen tunics for '
the
g
uards', and f
ive white c
loaks '
for the needs of the soldiers
s
erving in Judaea' to the collectors of public c
lothing.

I
nterpretation: S
ee 1
) below.

h
) Antonine Wall d
istance s
lab

(
c.A
.D.142 - Bridgeness) 5°

T
he s
culptured s
cene on the r
ight shows a m
an i
n a t
oga
pouring a l
ibation on an altar. Behind him and to his l
eft are a
v
exillarius, a man i
n a paenula and s
carf, and a third f
igure
who has been defaced; on this l
ast f
igure there a
re t
races o
f
r
ed paint on the cloak.

I
nterpretation: In the l
ight of the evidence already r
eviewed, a
s
oldier i
n a r
ed c
loak m
ight b
e c
onstrued a
s a possible
c
enturion
, but on the other hand the r
ed paint may more l
ikely
r
epresent an o
utline on a yellow-brown cloak
, a
s i
s the case
with many depictions of c
lothes of t
his c
olour i
n N
orth-West
E
urope •
51

U Church parade of C
ohors XX P
almyrenorum

(
earlier 3
rd century A
.D. - Dura Europos) 5
2

The c
entre o
f t
his f
resco i
s occupied by t
he v
exillarius
wearing a dark yellow-brown c
loak and t
he unit's n
amed t
ribune
who i
s pouring a l
ibation u
pon an a
ltar; the l
atter wears a
white cloak with purple f
ringes. To the r
ight i
s a double row of
e
ight f
igures of some distinction
, s
even of whom a
re wearing
l
ight y
ellow-brown c
loaks; the e
ighth has a white c
loak. Behind
t
hese f
igures but in an upper r
egister are some f
ourteen o
ther
m
en with c
loaks of a darker hue, which appear t
o be hairy. All
t
he f
igures in t
he s
cene a
re b
areheaded, u
narmed and wearing
white t
unics with l
ong s
leeves (
and with some purple decorative
s
tripes).

I
nterpretation: The f
resco i
s f
airly s
elf e
xplanatory - t
he
e
ight f
igures i
n t
he l
ower r
egister may be interpreted a
s t
he
c
enturions and d
ecurions o
f t
his p
art-mounted u
nit. T
heir
apparent f
iner c
loaks and t
heir portrait f
aces contrast with
t
hose of their soldiers behind them
.

5
4
j
) S
oldier and g
oddess f
resco

(
earlier 3
rd century A
.D. - Dura Europos) 5
3

On t
he s
ame wall a
s the '
church parade' i
s a
nother f
resco
w
ith a
n a
pparently m
ilitary f
igure with one hand on his sword
f
ace-to-face with a '
goddess'. T
he f
ormer who i
s presumably
d
ressed i
n a white tunic (
the text does not g
ive the colour),
w
ears a r
ed cloak.

I
nterpretation: The soldier i
s probably a
n o
fficer, o
n t
he
c
olour of his cloak perhaps a centurion.

k
) '
Chapel' f
resco

(
c.A
.D.200-38 - C
astellum D
immidi) 5
4

The f
ew b
attered surviving f
ragments appear to depict two
s
oldiers, one of whom wears a helmet, and a third f
igure who, it
has been s
uggested, i
s pouring a l
ibation on an a
ltar
, but t
his
i
s f
ar f
rom c
ertain. T
his l
ast f
igure i
s dressed in a white
t
unic with l
ong s
leeves and a blue-grey (
'gris-bleu') c
loak.
T
here i
s a purple edging to the n
eck of his tunic and he wears a
r
ed baldric.

I
nterpretation: T
he t
hird f
igure i
s probably the garrison
's
c
ommander
, e
ither a tribune or a c
enturion. The presence o
f a
sword a
nd of a helmeted s
oldier must s
urely indicate t
hat a
l
ibation i
s not t
aking place.

1
) P
apyrus r
eceipt f
or a tunic and a c
loak

(
A.D.285 - Arsinoite nome) 5
5

This i
s a r
eceipt f
rom t
he '
controllers of tunics and white
c
loaks' t
o the l
eaders of a v
illage f
or t
he delivery of a t
unic
and a c
loak.

I
nterpretation: B
oth t
he mention (
g) above) of white c
loaks in
s
imilar c
ircumstances b
ut s
ome 1
50 y
ears e
arlier and t
his
r
eference s
eem t
o go against a
ll t
he p
ictorial evidence which,
i
ncluding Luxor, P
iazza Armerina and B
one (
below), i
ndicates
t
hat m
ilitary c
loaks i
n g
eneral s
hould be y
ellow-brown in
c
olour. At f
irst
, t
he Greek words pallion l
eukon, a
ppear t
o
l
eave no room f
or manoeuvre, but the wording of the title of the
c
ollecting officials s
uggests t
hat '
white c
loaks' (
not j
ust

5
5
 '
cloaks') could be a technical term
, p
erhaps m
eaning c
loaks o
f
undyed wool which c
ould be of varied l
ight c
olours. With the
white tunics shown at Dura, D
immidi and e
lsewhere
, i
t would s
eem
l
ikely that the tunics in t
he two receipts were a
lso white which
makes t
he term '
white c
loaks' even more puzzling if t
he c
olour
i
s meant to be an a
ccurate description
.

m
) Egyptian t
emple f
rescos

(
A.D.284-305 - Luxor) 5
6

The f
rescos, which were badly damaged when f
ound, d
epict a
number of scenes of soldiers wearing the distinctive l
ate p
atch
d
ecoration o
n their tunics. One wall has painted on i
t a
t l
east
s
ix horses and f
ive soldiers who a
ll wear white t
unics e
xcept
f
or o
ne man who i
s d
ressed in a r
ed tunic. The soldiers are
armed with spears and s
hields but there i
s no c
ertain s
ign o
f
c
loaks; t
he s
cene i
s obviously not a '
church parade'. On the
adjoining wall to the r
ight
, which b
orders o
n an a
pse with
d
epictions o
f emperors, a
re p
ainted two r
egisters o
f four
s
oldiers each, standing in straight l
ines and f
acing f
orwards;
t
hey do not a
ppear t
o be a
rmed, b
ut wear white t
unics and
yellow-brown cloaks.

A third s
cene depicts t
he l
ower parts o
f f
our a
pparently
unarmed men i
n white o
r off-white t
unics a
nd y
ellow o
r
y
ellow-brown c
loaks; o
ne f
igure holds a s
taff with a
mushroom-shaped end and may be an officer. The f
ourth s
urviving
f
resco shows a commanding f
igure advancing, dressed i
n a d
ark
g
rey o
r b
lack t
unic and a yellow-brown cloak with a thin red
l
ine r
unning close to and parallel to t
he *
lower edge; behind him
are two other f
igures.

I
nterpretation: In the horses s
cene the o
ne f
igure i
n a r
ed
t
unic i
s to be r
emarked on and presumably i
s an officer
, perhaps
a decurion
. The other three scenes are of unarmed soldiers whose
s
tances r
ecall the parade s
cene f
rom D
ura. The white tunics and
y
ellow-brown (
or yellow) c
loaks are now f
amiliar company.

n
) The g
reat hunt mosaic

(
c. A
.D.300 - P
iazza Armerina) 5
7

To f
ollow in g
eneral t
he e
xposition o
f C
arandini, t
he
v
isual c
entre of t
he mosaic r
epresents I
taly which i
s c
onnected
on the l
eft to Carthage and on the r
ight t
o A
lexandria b
y two
g
alleys, e
ach w
ith a gangplank l
et down f
rom t
he bow on I
taly
and another gangplank l
et down f
rom the s
tern in the r
espective

5
6
North African ports; to the f
ar r
ight i
s a third boat berthed in
I
ndia. T
he hinterland o
f t
he ports i
s c
overed with s
cenes of
a
nimals being hunted and c
aptured, while t
he g
angplanks a
re
c
rowded with animals being taken on their way to I
taly.

With well over 7

0 human f
igures depicted on this very l
ong
mosaic, i
t i
s not possible to g
ive a detailed description of the
s
cenes in t
he space available. For ease o
f d
iscussion v
arious
a
reas of the mosaic are treated s
eparately.

To t
he r
ight o
f the African gangplank of the middle ship
t
here are 2
5 f
igures on f
oot, of whom two a
re obviously l
ocal
c
arters. 5
8 For t
he twenty r
emaining f
igures where i
t has been
possible to ascertain the colour of the tunics, they a
re white
or off-white (
with the usual l
ate decorative patches).
E
ffectively a
ll of these twenty have a r
ed, o
r mostly r
ed,
c
ingulum
, while s
even sport a r
ed baldric and s
even others carry
s
hields, one o
f which has a running boar, the emblem of the
l
egion XX Valeria Victrix, painted on i
t; f
ive wear yellow-brown
c
loaks. There are a
lso three horsemen
, two of whom wear white or
o
ff-white t
unics, while t
he c
olour o
f t
he t
hird i
s not
a
scertainable.

I
nterpretation: C
arandini i
s t
o be f
ollowed i
n t
he
i
dentification of these men in white a
s soldiers who were o
ften
u
sed f
or c
atching animals f
or the games. 5
9

On t
he l
eft hand ship two f
igures in l
ight blue tunics are
a
ttending to the r
igging
, while another f
igure i
n a r
ed tunic i
s
helping to ease an antelope on board. I
n t
he bows of the m
iddle
s
hip a f
igure in a r
ed tunic i
s e
ither a
ttending to the r
igging
o
r adjusting a l
ine attached to t
he gangplank; in the stern two
f
igures, one in a dark blue tunic and t
he other in a white one,
a
re helping to haul on board an e
lephant.

I
nterpretation: The two f
igures in l
ight blue must b
e r
egarded
a
s s
ailors while t
he f
igure in dark blue might a
lso be r
egarded
a
s a s
ailor with his darker tunic perhaps indicating a s
ign o
f
r
anking. S
tarr n
otes t
hat e
ach warship was c
onsidered to be a
c
entury with both a centurion and a t
rierarchus (
captain) and
p
resumes t
hat t
he f
ormer s
hould have r
ank over the l
atter. 6°

W
ith the earlier evidence in mind the f
igure i
n r
ed o
n board
e
ach v
essel m
ay be s
een a
s the ship's c
enturion and the f
igure
i
n dark blue as t
he t
rierarchus.

On t
he African gangplank of the l
eft hand s
hip t
here a
re
two f
igures i
n l
ight b
lue t
unics, one i
n white and one in
y
ellow
, while on t
he middle ship
's African gangplank t
here a
re
two l
ight blue tunics and t
hree white ones.

5
7
I
nterpretation: Again
, the men in l
ight blue tunics may be s
een
a
s s
ailors and t
hose in white a
s soldiers, working t
ogether t
o
l
oad t
he animals on board. T
he m
an in the y
ellowy t
unic i
s
probably a port worker - there a
re t
hree o
thers on t
he two
I
talian g
angplanks. I
t i
s r
emarkable t
hat a
ll t
he f
igures
d
epicted in l
ight blue tunics are e
ither on board a ship o
r on a
g
angplank.

I
taly
, or c
ould i
t be S
icily
, l
ies i
n f
ront of t
he w
ide
f
light of s
teps l
eading f
rom the corridor into t
he basilica of
t
he v
illa. I
mmediately to the r
ight of t
he c
entre point and
s
tanding a
bove t
he spot where t
he two I
talian g
angplanks
c
onverge i
s a f
igure dressed in a l
ong v
ery pale blue t
unic, a
r
ed c
ingulum
, a l
ight blue c
loak a
nd a P
annonian hat
, and
c
arrying a staff with a mushroom-shaped end, l
ooks d
irectly a
t
t
he spectator. Another f
igure s
imilarly d
ressed but with a c
loak
o
f yellow-brown and a v
ery l
ight yellow tunic, stands behind
t
his man and to his l
eft
, g
lancing sideways at his f
ace, w
hile
on his r
ight t
here appears t
o be t
he remains of a s
imilar
d
iffident f
igure, probably wearing a r
ed c
loak or tunic.

I
nterpretation: B
ecause t
he man in the l
ight blue c
loak i
s i
n
t
he e
ffective v
isual centre point of t
he mosaic, he may well be
the owner of the v
illa. The colour of his tunic matches t
hat o
f
'
Agrippa' i
n t
he P
alestrina mosaic and the l
ight blue of his
c
loak e
choes the colour of the s
ailors a
ttending the r
igging. He
i
s obviously a person of substance and may well be t
he p
refect
o
f t
he M
isene f
leet. His two attending f
igures could be an army
officer and
, perhaps, a '
ship's c
enturion
'.

B
ecause the l
eft hand s
ide of the mosaic and '
Italy
' have
b
een so badly damaged, l
ittle of these areas have been published
i
n c
olour which makes i
t d
ifficult to comment on t
hem in d
etail.
I
n t
hese a
reas, including the I
talian g
angplanks, there are at
l
east s
ix. F
igures in yellow tunics, acting a
s porters, c
arters
and animal a
ttenders, while two f
igures in r
ed t
unics are also
s
hown a
s porters. A third f
igure in a r
ed t
unic i
s being b
eaten
by a man in a white tunic, r
ed c
ingulum
, and yellow-brown c
loak
and carrying a s
taff with a mushroom-shaped end.

I
nterpretation: T
he m
en i
n y
ellow t
unics m
ay b
e s
een a
s
c
ivilians; the yellow of t
he tunics i
s r
eminiscent of s
ix of the
N
ahal H
ever o
nes published a
s c
oloured p
lates. 6
1 T
he t
hree
f
igures i
n r
ed t
unics pose problems of i
nterpretation
, a
lthough
one m
ight be c
onstrued as a c
enturion being beaten by a s
enior
officer f
or dereliction of duty
, their presence must t
hrow s
ome
d
oubt o
n t
he '
ship's c
enturion
' interpretation. I
t may be that
t
he shade of r
ed i
s a d
eciding f
actor.

5
8
o
) A wild animal hunt mosaic

(
end 3
rd c
entury A
.D. - Bone, Algeria) 6
2

A l
ine of men i
nvisible behind their r
ed shields f
orm p
art
o
f a trap into which animals are being herded. One of t
hese men
who has been knocked down by a l
eopard, i
s wearing a white tunic
a
s are two other f
igures on foot and two on horseback, a
ll f
our
c
arrying a brace o
f spears e
ach and wearing cloaks of various
s
hades of brown; two a
lso wear a r
ed c
ingulum.

I
nterpretation: As with t
he P
iazza Armerina mosaic soldiers a
re
being employed a
s beaters, wearing the by now f
amiliar uniform
of white tunics.

p
) Mosaic of soldiers f
ighting

(
?early 4th century A
.D. - R
ielves, Spain) 6
3

The mosaic d
epicts i
n t
he c
entral panel two p
airs o
f
s
oldiers w
ith o
val shields, a
ll f
our being identically d
ressed
i
n short s
leeved white tunics, yellow tops (
?scale armour) and
helmets. One pair i
s f
ighting and the other i
s shaking hands.

I
nterpretation: B
ecause a
ll f
our f
igures l
ook a
like and wear
white tunics, the s
cene may celebrate the peaceful s
ettlement of
a c
ivil war between the two R
oman a
rmies. T
he s
tyle o
f t
he
armour and t
unics l
ooks t
o be of a much earlier date
, and i
s
c
ertainly not g
ladiatorial.

q
) C
andidati duplares and s
implares

(
unknown date - Vegetius) 6
4

At the end of a l
ong l
ist o
f principales (
'officers') o
f
t
he l
egion a
re the c
andidati d
uplares and c
andidati s
implares.
T
he principales a
re p
rotected by p
rivileges, whereas t
he
r
emaining s
oldiers a
re c
alled munifices because they have to
perform munera (
services).

I
nterpretation: The d
uplares and s
implares obviously hold l
owly
r
anks (
?immunes) and a
s t
hey are excused f
atigues, i
t would s
eem
l
ikely t
hat their t
unics stayed cleaner t
han t
he munifices. The
t
erm c
andidati could t
hen be s
een a
s a s
lang word, '
the l
ily
white boys', being eventually incorporated into official u
se a
s
was t
he word papilio (
butterfly) f
or a tent. 6
5 Alternatively
, a
c
ase m
ight be made f
or the munifices wearing non-White c
lothing
f
or part of the t
ime at l
east when doing f
atigues.

5
9
 Naval uniforms

(
date unknown - Vegetius) 6
6

Vegetius mentions that scout ships of t

he British f
leet
were painted in the c
olour, venetus which he l
ikened to the
waves, and that their soldiers and sailors wore clothes o
f t
he
s
ame colour.

I
nterpretation: The colour, venetus, which was also applied to
the blue f
action
, c
an perhaps be envisaged a
s a dark
g
reeny-blue. The special mention of this colour suggests that it
was not that in normal usage, but it still might j
ust be related
to the blue tunics at P
iazza Armerina.

GENERAL DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

L
egionary tunics

Without doubt the evidence c

learly indicates t
hat the
l
egionaries of the early 2
nd c
entury A
.D. s
hould have been
d
ressed in white tunics, although the shade i
s more l
ikely to
have been an off-white rather than a g
leaming white, probably
based on undyed wool colours. I
t i
s not however clear whether
s
oldiers' tunics would have had clavi. There i
s no s
ign of these
on soldiers prior to the l
ate 3rd century, but thereafter c
lavi,
or variants on them
, are generally to be s
een. This could imply
that t
he earlier l
egionaries d
id in f
act have c
lavi on their
tunics.

The only possible clue comes f

rom the Z
ilten g
ladiatorial
mosaic (
2nd century A
.D.) where a t
ubicen and two cornicines are
playing. All t
hree are dressed in white tunics g
irt above the
knees, with c
lavi, and yellow-brown paenulae and could e
asily
pass a
s s
oldiers; a yellow painted s
cutum has been placed
indicatively against a herm j
ust a l
ittle to t
he l
eft o
f t
he
tubicen. I
n t
he l
ight of t
he activities at modern f
etes and
shows, these t
hree f
igures m
ight perhaps be i
nterpreted a
s
musicians of t
he l
egion I
II Augusta helping out at a l
ocal
amphitheatre by s
upporting t
he l
ady o
rganist who i
s a
lso
shown; 6
7 it might seem unlikely that an amphitheatre could f
ind
f
ull time employment for musicians. The l
ack of c
lavi on t
he
f
igures at P
alestrina and Pompeii may simply be the removal of
minor detail by the artists. The question of c
lavi on tunics of
i
st and 2
nd c
entury soldiers must however l
ie on the table as
unproven.

6
0
C
loaks

With the exception of the two Egyptian papyri r

eferring t
o
white c
loaks, t
he y
ellow-brown v
ariety a
ppears t
o be a
ubiquitous garment f
or the ordinary soldier and even on occasion
f
or officers. Wild has n
oted t
hat where c
olour s
urvives o
n
d
epictions o
f c
ivilian c
oats, s
carves and capes in north-west
E
urope, t
hey '
are p
ainted without e
xception yellow o
r
y
ellowish-orange'. He s
uggests that the colours would be t
rue to
l
ife i
f t
hey r
epresented shades of undyed woo1. 6
8 This could be
a
llowed to retain most of i
ts natural oils in o
rder to make such
a g
arment warm and f
airly waterproof.

C
enturions' uniforms

T
he i
dentification of the possible c
enturions at Palestrina
and Pompeii by their s
ilvered helmets and touches of r
ed brings
out t
wo points. A r
ed t
unic, c
loak and crest would help to
d
istinguish a centurion f
rom his m
en both i
n b
attle and i
n
d
ay-to-day a
ctivities. S
econdly, o
f t
he f
ive '
crowd' scenes
examined, three (
Palestrina
, Pompeii and Luxor) a
ll have one man
in r
ed among the many white tuniced f
igures. The l
ack of one o
r
more r
ed t
unics a
t t
he Dura church parade may only imply that
f
or r
eligious ceremonies, when n
either arms nor armour are worn
,
and f
or special events (
e.g. t
he V
itellian e
ntry i
nto R
ome)
c
enturions (
and o
ther o
fficers) put a
side their s
pecial r
ed
coloured uniforms i
n order t
o a
ssume t
he white t
unic of a
c
itizen
.

At P
iazza Armerina, l
eaving a
side t
he two '
ship's
c
enturions', there does not appear to be a f
igure i
n r
ed who
could be t
hought t
o b
e a centurion
, but perhaps by t
hat date
c
enturions dressed d
ifferently. I
t i
s an attractive p
roposition
t
o envisage c
enturions ( s well)
and probably decurions a in r
ed
uniforms but the evidence i
s f
ragile; ee also ship s c
s enturions
under '
Naval tunics' below.

Naval t
unics

B
efore considering the uniforms of naval personnel, i
t i
s
u
seful t
o r
ecall U
lpian
's d
ictum
, '
in the f
leet a
ll rowers and
s
ailors are soldiers'. 6
9 I
t has a
lready b
een s
uggested t
hat
l
ight blue tunics s
ignify s
ailors, dark blue ones naval officers
(
perhaps t
he t
rierarchus) and a r
ed one the ship
's centurion who
might a
lso hold t
he s
enior c
ommand, while Vegetius mentions
v
enetus coloured c
lothes f
or ships' c
rews.

6
1
 This s
uggestion f
inds s
upport f
rom another m
osaic f
rom
P
iazza Armerina
, which d
epicts c
herubs f
ishing f
rom f
our
m
iniature galleys. There are three cherubs in e
ach ship
, but i
n
t
he case of one of them only the head s
urvives. Apart f
rom three
c
herubs e
ither naked or in l
oin c
loths, there i
s one in a l
ight
blue tunic in e
ach ship (
in one instance, an oarsman). Three o
f
t
he g
alleys have a c
herub in a red t
unic a
s a c
entral f
igure
(
?in command) while the f
inal cherub wears a d
ark blue t
unic. 7°

I
f, a
s proposed above, the owner of the v
illa was prefect of t
he
f
leet, then i
t i
s plausible to s
ee the cherubs being depicted in
t
he correctly coloured t
unics in t
his d
roll mosaic.

The c
oncept o
f a ship's c
enturion wearing a r
ed tunic not
only would mirror the possible uniform of an army c
enturion
, but
a
lso would explain the presence of the unarmed f
igure in a r
ed
t
unic n
ext to '
Agrippa' in the Pälestrina mosaic; if '
Octavian
'
c
ould have a bodyguard or attendant, t
hen so could '
Agrippa', a
c
enturion f
rom his f
leet.

I
n passing i
t i
s of i
nterest t
o r
ecall that Augustus
awarded Agrippa a v
exillum c
oloured b
äe'ruleus a
fter a n
aval
a
ction off S
icily./ 1 C
aeruleus, which was s
ometimes used to
d
escribe the (
?Mediterranean) s
ea, i
s perhaps best t
ranslated a
s
a m
id-blue.

The r
emarkable, but perhaps i
n tetrospect n
ot s
urprising,
f
act i
s t
hat a
ll the evidence r
elating to the various shades of
t
he colour blue in a g
eneral military context r
efers only t
o the
n
avy
, rather than to the army. I
t i
s entertaining t
o s
peculate
a
s t
o when t
he troops of the two Adiutrix l
egions changed the
colour of t
heir tunics, perhaps w
hen each u
nit b
ecame a i
usta
l
egio, and whether a
ny c
olour t
race Of their naval past was
r
etained in their n
ew uniforms, perhaps a blue n
eck s
carf.

Auxiliary t
unics

The appearance of the Cohort XX P

almyrenorum (
as well a
s
t
he soldiers f
rom D
immidi and Luxor) in white tunics m
ight be
held t
o indicate that auxiliaries in t
he f
irst t
wo c
enturies
A
.D. a
lso wore that colour. Some support f
or s
uch a contention
c
omes f
rom Arrian (
c.131-7) when he states that c
avalry t
roopers
on special parades wore t
unics of s
carlet
, hyacinth o
r another
bright c
olour w
ith b
lond/yellow l
ong f
lowing plumes. 7
2 T
his
s
tatement c
ould be s
een a
s implying that t
he t
roopers wore white
t
unics on normal occasions.

However, i
t may be argued t
hat before t
he c
onferring o
f
c
itizenship o
n a
ll f
ree inhabitants of the Empire i
n A
.D.212,
and probably even earlier
, there would have been a c
all f
or

6
2
d
istinguishing marks b
etween t
roops of the l
egions and the f
ew
c
itizen cohorts, and the g
reat bulk of non-citizen a
uxiliaries;
t
his might have been achieved by not a
llowing the l
atter to wear
white t
unics. I
ndeed, i
f the principle of raising new cohorts
was s
imply t
o enlist a suitable number of l
ocal warriors, o
ften
with t
heir own weapons, and add some officers, then one might
e
xpect l
ocal traditional colours appearing. For example, S
trabo
n
otes t
hat i
n f
our named t
ribes of northern Spain '
all the men
d
ress in blackl 7
3 which c
ould m
ean
, f
or i
nstance, t
hat t
he
v
arious Asturian c
ohorts and a
lae wore black tunics.

The g
eneral l
ack of evidence f
orbids an attempt to make any
worthwhile conclusion
, but the f
uture may be more yielding.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I should l
ike to express my g
ratitude to Alan Micklethwaite
f
or t
he l
ine drawings, John Eagle for the photographs and P
eter
Johnson f
or advice on the Palestrina mosaic. I should a
lso l
ike
t
o a
cknowledge t
he debt owed to Lilian Wilson f
or the ground
work on t
he s
ubject in the chapter on t
unics in her The C
lothing
of the Ancient R
omans.

NOTES

1
. KAHLER
, 1965, Taf.6, 1
4, 1
8 & 1
9.

2
. BANDINELLI, 1
970, p1.53.

3
. P
IDAL, 1
982, f
ig.76.

4
. RUSSELL ROBINSON
, 1
975, p1.200.

5
. G
ellius, Noct. Act., V
I,xii,3.

6
. GRIMAL
, 1
963, p1.44.

7
. GRIMAL
, 1
963, p
1.43.

8
. S
TRONG
, 1
923, t
ay.XLITI.

9
. GRIMAL, 1
963, p
1.90.

1
0. Quintilian
, I
nst. Orat., XI,138.

1
1. WILSON
, 1
938, pl.XLII.

6
3
1
2. GRIMAL, 1963, p1.82.

1
3. GRIMAL
, 1963, p1.86.

1
4. WHITE
, 1970, p1.1, 2
, 19, 2
6, 2
7, 2
8, etc.

1
5. Cato, Agri. C
ult., 5
9.

1
6. Varro
, Ling. Lat., I
X,79,47.

1
7. WILSON
, 1938, 5
7.

1
8. PARLASCA
, 1
969-80, e
.g.2, tay.205, f
ig.1 & 2 (
Antonine). the
l
atter which comes f
rom Hawara and very c
learly s
hows t
he
stitching on t
he s
houlder, i
s o
n d
isplay in the British
Museum
, Egyptian Galleries, Room 6
2 (
NG 2
912); s
houlder
stitching continues into the 4th c
entury.

1
9. BANDINELLI, 1
971, p1.175.

2
0. ALFÖLDY
, 1
974, p1.19.

2
1. YADIN
, 1963, 2
04-19.

2
2. YADIN
, 1963, 2
04.

2
3. YADIN
, 1963, 2
13.

2
4. MAIURI, 1953, 1
47.

2
5. YADIN
, 1963, 2
05.

2
6. YADIN
, 1963, 2
12-9.

2
7. PFISTER & BELLINGER
, 1945, 1
4, 1
7-9.

2
8. CICHORIUS, 1
896 & 1
900 - in this article the s
cenes have
been identified by t
heir cast numbers.

2
9. STRONG
, 1923, f
ig.179.

3
0. STRONG
, 1
923, f
ig.125.

3
1. JONES
, 1974, 3
55-7.

3
2. JONES
, 1974, 3
55.

3
3. B
ISHOP, 1983, p1.4 & f
ig.l.

3
4. Quintilian
, I
nst. Orat., XI,138.

6
4
3
5. Suetonius, Augustus, XXIV
,2.

3
6. WILSON
, 1938, 6
5.

3
7. BANDINELLI, 1
970, p1.236.

3
8. BANDINELLI, 1
970, 1
15 & p1.117.

3
9. BANDINELLI, 1
970, 1
18-9 & p1.121.

4
0. The description of the military scene has been drawn from a
s
ite postcard (
E. R
ichter, Roma), which appears to be the
best s
ource f
or c
olour r
eproduction. A much l
arger
photograph of t
he s
cene occurs in BECATTI, 1968, f
ig.259,
but the quality of the colour is v
ery poor. A much more
recent r
eproduction but small and again with poor colour,
appears in BOWMAN, 1986, f
ig.45 & 7
1; t
he whole mosaic
appears in f
ig.l.

4
1. WHITEHOUSE, 1976, 4
.

4
2. BONNEAU, 1964
, 9
3-4.

4
3. The size of the tesserae indicates an early date which could
be compatible with the Augustan era - pers. comm
. f
rom Peter
Johnson.

4
4. The incidence of depictions of the curved rectangular s
cutum
suggest that it f
irst appeared in the l
ater i
st century B
.C.

4
5. Vegetius, Milit., 1
1,13 & 1
6; the early 1
7th century Dal
Pozzo detailed pen and ink drawing of this scene depicts the
red crest a
s being apparently t
ransverse, s
haped in a
half-circle and of a quite different design to the other
crests - WHITEHOUSE, 1976, f
ig.13c.

4
6. VANAGS, 1983, 1
16; a detail of the scene, which shows t
he
soldier about t
o cleave the baby, appears in MAIURI, 1953,
1
10.

4
7. GUSMAN, 1900, 2
20 & pl.III.

4
8. Tacitus, Hist., 1
1,89.

4
9. JOHNSON et a
l., 1915, 2
36-7.

5
0. CLARKE et al., 1980, 1
5.

5
1. WILD, 1968, 2
19.

6
5
5
2. CUMONT
, 1
926, pl.L.

5
3. CUMONT
, 1
926, 1
16-7 & pl.LIII.

5
4. P
ICARD
, 1
947, 1
59-72.

5
5. CRAWFORD
, 1
955, 3
9-40.

5
6. WILKINSON
, 1
859, f
.51-62; MONNERET D
E V
ILLARD
, 1
953,
pl.XXX-XXXII (
B & W
); the l
eft hand half of the s
cene with
t
he horses, including the f
igure in r
ed, (
f.51) a
ppears i
n
c
olour i
n BANDINELLI, 1
971, p
1.266, while the whole s
cene
t
ogether with t
he one with two registers of soldiers (
f.51 &
5
2) occur in BOWMAN
, 1
986, f
ig.34.

5
7. CARANDINI e
t a
l., 1982, 9
4-103, I
11.1, f
ig.12-8
, 1
15, 1
18,
1
21, 1
22, 1
25 & 1
29, and pl.XXIII; GENTILI & EDWARDS, 1957,
2
10, 2
20-1, 2
23 & 2
26-7. These colour plates cover t
he great
majority of the s
cenes in the centre and r
ight hand s
ide o
f
t
he mosaic; there are however problems of colour shades not
only b
etween o
ne and t
he other, b
ut a
lso with o
ther
r
eproductions.

5
8. CAR A
NDINI e
t a
l., 1982, 1
02.

5
9. CARANDINI e
t a
l., 1982, 1
01-2 & 9
4-5.

6
0. STARR
, 1941, 5
5-61.

6
1. YADIN
, 1
963, p1.64-6.

6
2. HADAS e
t a
l., 1
966, 46-7 - the plate i
s reversed.

6
3. BLAZQUEZ, 1
982, 7
3 & l
am.50.

6
4. Vegetius, M
ilit., 1
1,7.

6
5. MACMULLEN
, 1
963, 1
67.

6
6. Vegetius, M
ilit., IV
,37.

6
7. WOOD & WHEELER
, 1
966, p1.18.

6
8. WILD, 1
968, 2
19.

6
9. Ulpian
, D
ig., 3
7,13.

7
0. CARANDINI e
t a
l., 1
982, pl.XXIII.

6
6
7
1. Suetonius, Augustus, XXV
,3.

7
2. Arrian
, Tact., 3
5,3.

7
3. Strabo
, Geog., 3
,3,7.

ADDENDUM

While this a
rticle was in press, the writer came across a
g
ood t
ranslation f
rom t
he Greek of t
he papyrus of A
.D.138
(
B.G.U. 1
564), which i
s the only one of the sources l
isted by
Jones not t
ranslated in the actual references.

The papyrus, in referring to t

he compulsory purchase of
g
arments f
rom t
he 8
3 weavers of the village of Philadelphia
,
s
pecifies that the items, including a tunic for the soldiers in
C
appadocia
, were t
o be made of '
fine, soft, pure white wool
without d
iscolouration, well and tightly woven
, well s
elvaged,
g
ood l
ooking, w
ith no imperfections'. The tunic was to be 3
c
ubits (
1.326m; 4ft 4
in) long and 3 cubits, 4 f
ingers (
1.40m;
4ft 7
in) wide, and its weight 3
.75 minae (
1.6kg; 3
.61bs) (
LEWIS,
1
985, 1
74-5).

Leaving a
:
Side the colour and t
he c
lavi, the g
eneral
specification might well have been used to describe the tunics
f
rom Nahal Hever. While the general argument over white tunics
i
s strengthened, the lack of reference to c
lavi s
eems to support
the pictorial e
vidence that s
oldiers i
n t
he i
st and 2
nd
c
enturies A
. D. d
id not have them on their tunics. The specified
weight of the t
unic at 1
.6kg/3.21bs compares with t
he
1
.25kg/2.751bs of the s
econd r
econstruction. The tunic's
d
imensions are hard to reconcile with those of Cato and at t
he
Nahal H
ever u
nless e
ither it was destined for a very tall and
broad chested soldier or soldiers normally had tunics which when
ungirt, r
eached t
heir ankles, a
s was t
he c
ase with some
c
ivilians (
e.g. GRIMAL, 1963, p1.86 and 9
2).

B
IBLIOGRAPHY

ALFÖLDY 1974: G
. Alföldy, Noricum
, (
London 1974)

BANDINELLI 1
970: R
.B. B
andinelli, Rome, the C
entre of P
ower:
Roman Art to A
.D.200, (
London 1970)

BANDINELLI 1971: R
.B. Bandinelli, Rome, the Late Empire: Roman
Art A
. D.200-400, (
London 1971)

BECATTI 1
968: G
. B
ecatti, The Art of Ancient Greece and Rome,

6
7
 (
London 1968)

B
ISHOP 1
983: M
.C. B
ishop, '
The Camomile S
treet s
oldier
r
econsidered', Transactions of the London and M
iddlesex
Archaeological Society, 3
4, 1983, 3
1-48

BLAZQUEZ 1
982: J
.M. B
lazquez, Mosaicos Romanos d
e l
a R
eal
Academia de l
a Historia, C
iudad R
eal, Toledo, Madrid y
Cuenca (
Corpus de Mosaicos de E
spana, Fasc.V), (
Madrid 1982)

BONNEAU 1964: D
. Bonneau, La Crue du Nil, (
Paris 1964).

BOWMAN 1986: A
.K. Bowman
, Egypt After the P
haraohs, (
London
1986)

CARANDINI e
t al. 1
982: A
. Carandini, A
. R
icci & M
. de Vos,
Filosofiana, The Villa of P
iazza Armerina, (
Palermo 1982)

C
ICHORIUS 1
896 & 1
900: C
. C
ichorius, D
ie R
eliefs der
Traianssäule, (
Berlin 1
896 & 1900)

CRAWFORD 1955: D
.S. Crawford (
ed.), P
apyri M
ichaelidae,
(
Aberdeen 1955)

CUMONT 1926: F
. Cumont, Fouilles de Doura-Europos (
1922-1923),
(
Paris 1926)

GENTILI & EDWARDS 1957: G

. V. Gentili & D
. Edwards, '
Roman l
ife
in 1
,600-year-old c
olor pictures', National Geographic
Magazine, CXI:2, 1957, 2
11-29

GRIMAL 1963: P
. Grimal, The C
ivilisation of Rome, (
London 1963)

GUSMAN 1
900: P
. Gusman
, Pompeii: The C
ity, i
ts LIfe and Art,
(
London 1900)

HADAS et a
l. 1966: M
. Hadas and the Editors of T
IME-LIFE Books,
Imperial Rome, (
Amsterdam 1966)

JOHNSON e
t al. 1915: J
. de M
. Johnson
, V
. Martin and A
.S. Hunt,
(
eds.), Catalogue of the Greek P
apyri in t
he John Rylands
Library, Manchester, I
I, (
Manchester 1915)

JONES 1974: A
.H. M. Jones, The Roman E
conomy, (
Oxford 1
974)

CLARKE et al. 1
980: D
.V. Clarke, D
.J. Breeze & G
. Mackay, The
Romans in S
cotland, (
Edinburgh 1980)

KAHLER 1965: H
. Kähler, D
er Fries vom R
eiterdenkmal des Aemilius
Paullus in D
elphi, (
Berlin 1965)

6
8
LEWIS 1
985: N
. L
ewis, L
ife in Egypt under Roman R
ule, (
Oxford
1985)

MACMULLEN 1
963: R
. MacMullen
, S
oldier and C
ivilian in the Later
Roman Empire, (
Cambridge, Mass. 1
963)

MAIURI 1
953: A
. Maiuri, The Great Centuries of P
ainting: Roman
P
ainting, (
Lausanne 1953)

MONNERET DE VILLARD 1
953: U
. Monneret de Villard, '
The Temple of
t
he Imperial Cult at Luxor', Archaeologia, XCV
, 1
953, 85-105

PARLASCA 1
969-80: K
. Parlasca, R
itratti d
i Mummie (
Repertorio
d
'Arte dell'Egitto greco-romano, s
er.B, 1-3), (
Rome 1969-80)

P
FISTER & BELLINGER 1
945: R
. P
fister & L
. B
ellinger, The
E
xcavations at D
ura E
uropos: F
inal R
eport IV
, P
art I
I, The
Textiles (
New Haven 1
945)

P
ICARD 1
947: G
.C. P
icard, Castellum D
immidi, (
Algiers & Paris
1
947)

P
IDAL 1982: R
. M. P
idal, H
istoria de E
spana - part I
I - E
spana
Romana, vol.II (
218 a
. de J
.C. - 4
14 de J
.C.), (
Madrid 1982)

R
USSELL ROBINSON 1
975: H
. Russell R
obinson
, The Armour of
I
mperial Rome, (
London 1975)

S
TARR 1
941: C
.G. Starr, The Roman Imperial Navy: 3
1 B
.C.
A
. D.324, (
Ithaca 1941)

S
TRONG 1
923: E
. S
trong, La S
cultura Romana da Augusto a
Constantino, (
Florence 1923)

VANAGS 1
983: P
. Vanags, The Glory that was Pompeii, (
New York
1
983)

WHITE 1
970: K
. D. White, Roman Farming, (
London 1970)

WHITEHOUSE 1
976: H
. Whitehouse, The D
al Pozzo Copies of the
P
alestrina Mosaic, BAR Suppl. Ser. No.12, (
Oxford 1976)

WILD 1968: J
.P. Wild, '
Clothing in the North-West p
rovinces of
t
he Roman Empire', Bonner Jahrbücher, 168, 1968, 166-240

W
ILKINSON 1
859: G
. Wilkinson, Large S
ketchbook No.22, (
Section
A
) in the Bodleian Library, Western Asiatic Department - no
definitive r
eference has as yet been allocated because the
collection has been recently transferred from the Griffith

6
9
 I
nstitute of the Ashmolean Museum
.

W
ILSON 1
938: L
.M. Wilson
, The C
lothing of the Ancient Romans,
(
Baltimore 1
938)

WOOD & WHEELER 1

966: R
. Wood & M
. Wheeler
, R
oman Africa i
n
Colour, (
London 1966)

YADIN 1
963: Y
. Yadin, The F
inds f
rom t
he B
ar Kokhba P
eriod in
the C
ave of t
he Letters, (
Jerusalem 1
963)

7
0
P
LATES

P
1.1: T
he s
econd r
econstruction of a t
unic when unbelted - note
where t
he s
ides and bottom edge come on t
he f
igure.

P
1.2: R
ear v
iew of the belted tunic - note t
he f
olds c
entering
o
n t
he knot and t
he heavy blousing.

P
1.3: S
ide v
iew of the belted tunic - note t
he f
olds c
entering
on t
he knot and t
he heavy blousing.

P
1.4: F
ront v
iew of the belted tunic - note t
he heavy blousing
u
nder the arms which impedes a
ccess t
o t
he hilt o
f t
he
s
word and t
he '
V'-shaped f
old under the chin
.

P1.5: A s
tance in the manner of the Chatsworth r
elief (
Fig.8) -
n
ote the u
se of the transverse l
eather strap to gather in
t
he spare material u
nder t
he r
ight a
rm p
it, t
he
s
leeveless l
ook and the pronounced '
V'-shaped f
old u
nder
t
he chin
.

P1.6: Two (
modern) f
ibulae s
ecure the two panels of the tunic
c
lose t
o t
he n
eck and under where t
he t
op p
late o
f a
l
orica s
egmentata would come.

P
ls.7 & 8
: T
he unknotted tunic with a bared shoulder (
compare
w
ith Figs.1 and 6
).

7
1
 •
P
.
4

e
-
-
2
r
e
le

”
4
g
2
4

"
4
'
•
s
-
I
0
4
 N
•

7
5
 DURA - E
UROPOS AND T
HE I
NTRODUCTION OF T
HE "
MONGOLIAN RELEASE"

S
imon James

Of the various ways of drawing a bowstring and releasing an

a
rrow
, t
here a
re two which seem to have been standard in the
Mediterranean world and t
he M
iddle E
ast i
n c
lassical and
medieval times. The f
irst of t
hese i
s t
he s
o-called
Mediterranean release in which the f
irst two or more f
ingers of
t
he r
ight hand rest on the bowstring, with the nock of the arrow
between t
he f
ore- and m
iddle f
inger. 1 The shaft rests on the
l
eft hand on the l
eft s
ide of the bow s
tave. On r
elease, t
he
bowstring i
s thrown to the l
eft, against the l
eft arm
, which i
s
c
ommonly protected by a bracer. Variants of t
his m
ethod of
r
elease a
re thought t
o have been universal in the classical
world and in the P
arthian and Sassanian empires, down t
o t
he
period of the Hunnic invasions of Europe if not l
ater. 2

I
t i
s thought t
hat a
t some date in l
ate antiquity a new
t
echnique was introduced by nomadic peoples f
rom C
entral A
sia.
This was the s
o-called Mongolian r
elease, in which only the
t
humb holds the bowstring. 3 The arrow i
s not g
ripped by t
he
f
ingers, but held to t
he string by a s
lightly sprung nock or
s
imply wedged between the thumb and a knot on the string itself.
Unlike the Mediterranean release, the s
haft s
its against t
he
r
ight s
ide of the bowstave, and on release the string tends to
be thrown outwards f
rom t
he l
eft arm
, making a bracer
unnecessary. However, t
he g
reat s
train p
laced on the thumb
r
equired the wearing of a r
ing to spread the l
oad over the ball
of the thumb to prevent cutting and ensure a smooth release. 4

The date and place of invention of the Mongolian release i

s
u
nknown, but j
ade r
ings i
dentified as thumbrings imply i
ts use
i
n China in Han times, i
.e. contemporary with the P
arthian and
e
arly Roman empires. 5 I
t i
s more l
ikely to have been invented by
C
entral A
sian n
omads t
o whom s
kill at archery was of great
s
ocial, military and practical importance. 6

Jon Coulston's excellent and very thorough r

eview o
f t
he
available evidence found nothing to indicate that the Mongolian
r
elease was known in I
ran or the West before t
he l
ater f
ourth
c
entury. 7 However, i
ncompletely published evidence f
rom
D
ura-Europos in Syria indicates that i
t was employed i
n t
he
M
iddle East, by Rome, S
assanian Persia or both, by the mid third
c
entury AD.

Dura was a g
arrison c
ity of the Roman empire besieged and
d
estroyed by the S
assanians in the mid 2
50s AD. 8 The c
ity was

7
7
n
ever r
eoccupied, s
o t
here a
re no l
ater phases overlying the
M
iddle Roman deposits. The j
oint Yale-French Academy e
xcavations
b
etween 1
928 and 1
937 r
ecovered l
arge quantities o
f
e
xceptionally well preserved arms, i
ncluding archery e
quipment,
d
eposited during the s
iege.

D
uring the course of t
he e
xcavations a b
roken r
ing o
f
p
olished bone, c
ertainly an archer's t
humbring
, was r
ecovered 9
(
Figs.1 and 2
). Unfortunately, no exact provenance was r
ecorded.
At the t
ime, it was described a
s "
certainly P
arthian", 1° b
ut n
o
r
eason was g
iven s
o i
t m
ay reasonably be s
uggested that the
t
humbring could have been a c
asual s
urface f
ind, a
n object
d
ropped on the s
ite by s
ome hunter in l
ater t
imes. 1
1 T
he s
imple
r
ing and d
ot d
ecoration o
f t
he object i
tself i
s hardly
d
iagnostic, but i
ts s
tate o
f preservation i
s s
ignificant.
M
aterial which had not been deeply buried on t
he s
ite was i
n
v
ery poor condition due to t
he penetration of the s
urface l
ayers
by t
he w
inter r
ains which f
acilitated chemical and biological
d
egradation
. The r
ing i
s therefore l
ikely to have been d
eeply
buried, which in turn s
uggests t
hat i
t does belong to t
he s
iege
p
eriod. But clearly
, this i
s hardly conclusive.

The crucial evidence comes f

rom t
he f
ragments o
f a
rrow
s
hafts f
ound at the s
ite (
Figs.3 and 4
). Some come f
rom contexts
s
ealed during the f
ighting
, s
o their dating i
s beyond doubt. The
b
est e
xample i
s a shaftment with i
ts f
letdhing intact
, t
he only
one f
rom the Roman empire. 1
2 The main point of interest i
s t
he
positioning of t
he f
letdhing. Arrows d
esigned to be shot u
sing
t
he Mediterranean r
elease must have a s
pace between the tail end
of the vanes and the nock to a
ccomrodate the f
ingers holding the
a
rrow to t
he bowstring
, or the f
letching will b
e c
rushed. T
he
D
ura a
rrow has no s
uch gap; the vanes e
xtend r
ight back t
o the
e
dge of the nock. I therefore s
uggest t
hat this arrow c
an only
have been shot with the Mongolian r
elease, which requires no g
ap
a
s t
he f
ingers do not g
rip the arrow. 1
3 S
everal other l
ess well
p
reserved shaftments bear t
races of their f
letching. 1
4 A
lthough
t
he v
anes have f
allen a
part, t
he base of each f
eather still
a
dheres to the r
eed shaft so it may plainly be s
een that in each
c
ase they e
xtended t
o t
he e
dge o
f t
he n
ock. No s
urviving
s
haftment f
rom Dura has the tell-tale g
ap, but t
he s
ample i
s so
small that this cannot be s
een a
s proof t
hat a
ll arrows were of

Fig.1: The Dura t

humbring, Yale no. 1
929.475A (
photo; author).

Fig.2: The Dura thumbring.

Fig.3: D
etails of shaftments from Tower 19. Yale no. 1
933.445A
(bottom
) and 1933.445C, showing the vanes reaching the
e
dge of the nock.

7
8
 0 2
0 mm

7
9
 0 1
90mm

F
ig.4: S
haftments f
rom T
ower 1
9 (
left t
o r
ight
, 1
933.445A
, B
,
and C
), and f
rom "
L7-W", t
he wall i
n the v
icinity o
f t
he
t
ower (
right).

8
0
t
he attested design.

The Mongolian r
elease, then
, was employed at the s
iege of
D
ura. I
t i
s r
ather more difficult to decide who was using it.
Three of the shaftments were found inside tower 1
9, where the
f
amous s
cutum and horse armours l
ay. 1
5 This would s
eem to
s
uggest that they belonged t
o the defenders, a
s t
he tower
c
ollapsed and s
ealed i
ts contents before the Persians overran
the c
ity. 1
6 However, i
n t
he absence of adequately d
etailed
r
ecords and plans, the possibility that they were shot into the
t
ower by the attackers cannot be ruled out.

To c
onclude, t
he D
ura evidence d
emonstrates that the
Mongolian release was known on the borders between the Roman and
S
assanian empires by t
he mid-third century AD, over a century
e
arlier than has hitherto been believed. How widespread was i
ts
u
se at t
he time i
s a question which remains unanswered. 1
7 The
absence of contemporary depictions may suggest that i
t took a
l
ong time to become common in the Middle East. Alternatively
, it
c
ould be a salutary warning of the dangers of using depictional
evidence f
or such f
ine technical details of military history.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would l
ike to thank Yale University Art Gallery, and in
particular Ms. S
usan Matheson, f
or permission to publish the
Dura thumbring and arrows.

FOOTNOTES

1
. RAUSING
, 1967, 2
8; COULSTON
, 1985, 2
78.

2
. COULSTON
, 1985, 2
77-8.

3
. MORSE, 1
885; COULSTON, 1
985, 2
75-8.

4
. MORSE, 1
885, 1
6; LUSCHAN
, 1891, 6
70; COULSTON
, 1
985, 2
76.

5
. POPE-HENNESSY, 1
923, 7
4-6 and plate 5
0; RAWSON & AYERS,
1
975, 6
3 no.171.

6
. COULSTON, 1985, 2
77.

7
. COULSTON, 1985, 2
76-8.

8
. The best i
ntroduction to
D
ura is HOPKINS 1981 which also
contains a f
ull b
ibliography. For the excavations, s
ee
CUMONT 1
926; t eps and the s
he Dura R eries of F
inal R
eports

8
1
 which remains incomplete. For the m
ost recent discussion o
f
t
he date of the s
iege, s
ee JAMES 1
985.

9
. Yale U
niversity Art G
allery i
nventory no.1929.475A
. Dura
f
ield number
, if any
, i
s l
ost. T
he object was b
riefly
mentioned i
n D
ura R
ep. I
I, 7
3-4. I
ts s
urviving l
ength i
s
3
9 =4 width of aperture c
.24mm
, and height l
lmm
.

1
0. D
ura R
ep. I
I, 7
4.

1
1. COULSTON
, 1
985, 2
76.

1
2. Yale no.1933.445A
, published in D
ura R
ep. V
I, 453, no
.1 and
plate XXIV
, top l
eft.

1
3. This was s
uggested i
n D
ura R
ep. V
I, 4
53, a r
eference
overlooked by Coulston
, and by myself until this p
aper was
a
lready in draft.

1
4. Yale nos.1933.445B; 1933.445C; 1982.28.34.

1
5. Yale n
os.1933.445A t
o C
. T
he p
rovenance of 1
982.28.34
appears to be "
L7-W", which i
s the c
ity wall in the v
icinity
of tower 19.

1
6. Tower 1
9 collapsed when the P
ersian attackers f
ired t
he mine
t
hey had dug beneath i
t, with the intention of bringing down
the tower and adjacent wall to create a breach which c
ould
be c
arried by a
ssault. The collapse t
herefore occurred while
the defenders were still in control.

1
7. COULSTON
, 1
985, 2
76-8.

ABBREVIATION

D
ura R
ep.: P
.V.C. B
aur, M
.I. R
ostovtzeff e
t a
l., e
ds. T
he
E
xcavations at D
ura-Europos. P
reliminary R
eports o
f the
F
irst to N
inth S
easons, 1
928-1936, (
New Haven 1929-1952), 8
vols. in 1
0 parts.

8
2
B
IBLIOGRAPHY

COULSTON 1
985: J
.C. Coulston
, '
Roman archery equipment', in e
d.
M
.C. B
ishop, The P
roduction and D
istribution of Roman
Military Equipment, BAR International Series, no.275 (
Oxford
1985) 2
20-348

CUMONT 1926: F
. Cumont, Fouilles de Doura-Europos 1
922-3, (
Paris
1
926)

HOPKINS 1981: C
. Hopkins, The D
iscovery of Dura-Europos (
New
Haven and London 1981)

JAMES 1
985: S
.T. James, '
Dura-Europos and the chronology of
Syria in the 2
50s AD', Chiron, XV
, 1985, 1
11-24

LUSCHAN 1
891: H
. von Lusdhan
, '
Bogenspannen
', Verhandlung der
B
erliner Anthropologischen Gesellschaft, S
itzung von 1
8 Juli
1
891, 6
70

MORSE 1
885: E
.S. Morse, '
Ancient and modern methods of
arrow-release', Bulletin of the E
ssex I
nstitute, XVII, 1
885,
3
-56

P
OPE-HENNESSY 1
923: U
. P
ope-Hennessy, Early Chinese Jades
(
London 1923)

RAWSON & AYERS 1

975: J
. Rawson & J
. Ayers, Chinese Jade
Throughout the Ages (
London 1975)

RAUSING 1
967: G
. Rausing, The Bow; Some Notes on i
ts Origin and
D
evelopment (
Lund 1967)

8
3
P
ROFESSOR R
OBERT N
EWSTEAD AND F
INDS O
F ROMAN M
ILITARY M
ETALWORK
F
ROM C
HESTER

G
. L
loyd-Morgan

Although some R
oman f
inds had been d
iscovered and published
f
rom the s
eventeenth c
entury on
, t
hese t
ended to be the l
arge
unmistakable items s
uch as a
ltars or architectural f
ragments, i
t
was not until the l
ater part of the n
ineteenth century that more
a
ttention was g
iven t
o the s
maller, often l
ess well preserved
f
ragments of metalwork. In 1
886 W
. Thompson Watkin published his
s
urvey Roman Cheshire, e
xhaustively collating all t
he evidence
f
or t
he c
ounty, i
ncluding e
arly m
anuscript a
ccounts and
antiquarian collections. Apart f
rom the coin l
ists, the f
inds of
brooches and o
ther m
etalwork r
ecorded f
rom C
hester i
s
p
athetically small (
Watkin p
.202-208), t
hough i
t provides a
u
seful a
ccount o
f s
ome o
f t
he i
tems which have s
ince gone
a
stray. 1
886 was a m
ilestone in another respect a
s i
t marked the
opening of t
he G
rosvenor M
useum
, which was t
o house the
c
ollections t
he C
hester A
rchaeology S
ociety has a
ccumulated
s
ince its f
oundation in 1
849, and the arrival of Robert Newstead
who was appointed a
s Curator of the collections of t
he C
hester
S
ociety f
or Natural S
cience. I
t was n
ot l
ong before he was
i
nvolved with the d
isplay and conservation of the archaeological
m
aterial, housed in the s
ame building
, and with the r
eporting of
e
xcavations and f
inds f
rom t
he r
egion. Amongst his e
arly
a
rchaeological publications, which appear f
rom 1
899 onwards, i
s
a r
ecord of a small angular military bronze buckle f
rom H
unter
S
treet 1
898 (
JCAS 6 part 2
, p
.160 p1.3 f
ig.5, acc.no. 3
0.R.1898)
which c
an be dated to the l
ater s
econd century A
.D. (
Oldenstein
1
976 p
.215-6 Taf.76 no.1010). This has s
ince been paralleled by
f
inds f
rom e
xcavations i
n more r
ecent y
ears, s
uch a
s an
unpublished piece f
rom Abbey Green 1
975-8 s
mall f
ind no.908.

F
rom t
he n
ear s
ingle handed r
eporting o
f f
inds and
s
tructures a
ccidentally u
ncovered by building activity i
n the
c
ity, he e
xtended his archaeological a
ctivity i
nto r
escue and
r
esearch d
igging i
n Chester
, C
heshire
, s
outh Lancashire and
North Wales. Although his f
irst major excavation was t
he R
oman
c
emetery a
t t
he I
nfirmary F
ield
, dug at i
rregular intervals
b
etween May 1
912 and 1
916, i
t i
s his excavations in the D
eanery
F
ield
, t
he north e
astern c
orner o
f t
he f
ortress, b
etween
November 1
922 and 1
938 which has been of g
reatest s
ignificance
t
o our understanding of Roman Chester (
P1.1). Unlike many of his
c
ontemporaries, N
ewstead was m
eticulous i
n r
etrieving every
s
crap of evidence w
ithin the l
imits o
f his r
esources and t
he
a
rchaeological t
echniques o
f his t
ime. H
is retrieval of the
i
ronwork hoard and o
ther f
inds f
rom the r
edevelopment s
ite on

8
5
P P
rof. Robert N
ewstead e
xcavating in the Deanery F
ield,
C
hester, April 1
935 (
photo. by H
.S. Woodward, Chester).

8
6
H
unter S
treet in 1
914 i
s typical. I
t included the f
irst f
ind of
i
ron s
cale armour f
rom B
ritain
, which he r
ecognised and
d
iscussed i
n his published a
ccount (
Pl.II.A
; JCAS 2
7 part 2 1
928
p
.73-4 pl. 1
11.8, I
V).

The i
mportance he placed on the small f
inds c
an be g
auged
by the occasional b
itter comments added to the e
nd o
f s
ome o
f
his reports. I
n 1
899 referring to f
inds f
rom Bridge S
treet
, some
o
f which had been a
cquired f
or t
he Archaeology S
ociety
's
c
ollections, he notes that '
The r
est were s
old f
or f
abulous
p
rices; a
nd I am t
old t
hat s
ome o
f them were purchased by
American v
isitors' (
JCAS 6
, 1
899, p
.398); i
n 1
914 e
xcavations
were undertaken on t
he s
ite of the Co-Op S
tores, Foregate S
treet
- '
There was e
ither a remarkable s
carcity of s
mall f
inds or a
l
eakage through t
he hands o
f t
he workmen
' (
JCAS 2
7, 1
928,
p
.102).

The r
ichness o
f t
he f
inds he d
id r
etrieve on his own
e
xcavations, or by paying workmen on building s
ites, has been of
c
onsiderable value, not only a
s a s
ource of comparative material
f
or f
inds f
rom excavations during recent years, but a
lso a
s a
r
ecord of what was d
iscovered on s
ites now totally obliterated.
H
is e
ssays at conservation e
specially of the i
ronwork, m
ay i
n
s
ome instances a
ppear primitive, b
ut t
hey have in the main
proved to be effective. Effective enough so that in s
ome c
ases,
s
uch a
s t
he f
ragments of l
orica s
egmentata f
rom Kings Buildings
1
921, a c
orrect i
dentification c
ould be made when i
t was
r
ediscovered (
JCAS 2
7 p
art 2
, 1
928, p
.91 no.3-8 P
l.IX). Belt
p
laques and f
ittings (
Pl.II.B), buckles a
nd d
ecorative s
tuds
(
Pl.III.A) and pendants whole or incomplete (
Pl.III.B) r
eceived
t
he same weight of a
ttention a
s the c
oins, pottery o
r worked
bone. He was j
ust a
s p
articular whether he was publishing
i
nscriptions, or t
he s
crawled g
raffiti o
n a '
luggage l
abel'
(
Pl.IV.A; LAAA 1
8, 1
931, p
.140 no.127 P
l.L).

His work was r

ecognised both in Chester when in 1
936 he was
g
ranted t
he f
reedom o
f t
he c
ity
, and internationally when he
p
rovided e
xhibits f
or the B
ritish contribution to t
he Augustan
E
xhibition o
f t
he R
oman Empire, which opened in R
ome in 1
937,
i
llustrating t
he R
oman o
ccupation of C
hester w
ith p
lans,
p
hotographs and c
asts o
f l
ocal f
inds (
JCAS 3
1 part 2
, 1
936,
p
.125). Although he only published t
hirty e
ight a
rticles and
pamphlets on archaeological s
ubjects, in contrast to the hundred
and f
orty o
r s
o on natural history, t
hey contain a wealth of
f
actual i
nformation about t
he f
inds, e
specially the m
ilitary
a
spects of the occupation of Chester
, which was r
ecognised by
h
is c
ontemporaries. A
s P
rofessor D
roop
, a colleague on some of
h
is l
ater e
xcavations noted in the obituary '
He was untiring i
n
r
ecording t
races o
f R
oman o
ccupation
, a
s chance or building
operations brought t
hem to l
ight
, and t
he s
mall s
ums he was

8
7
 g
l
t

8
8
c
onstantly e
xpending t
o s
ave potsherds a
nd other f
inds f
rom
oblivion must have t
otalled a l
arge amount over the y
ears; and
he was not a wealthy man... There was l
ittle that I could t
each
N
ewstead about s
cientific d
igging, but most of what I know o
f
R
oman work in Britain I l
earnt f
rom him
, the result of his years
o
f patient work a
nd observation
' (
JCAS 3
6 p
art 2
, 1
948,
p
.180-1).

B
IBLIOGRAPHY

I
: A S
elect B
ibliography f
rom the Archaeological R
eports of
R
obert N
ewstead (
11 S
ept. 1
859 - 1
8 F
eb. 1
947)

'
Notes on s
ome R
oman R
emains f
ound i
n t
he C
ity a
nd i
ts
environments' JCAS 6 (
1899) p
.156-162

'
Discovery of Roman R
emains in Bridge Street 1899' JCAS 6 (
1899)
p
.395-399

'
A Descriptive account of Roman and other objects r
ecovered f
rom
various s
ites in C
hester and D
istrict 1
898-1901' JCAS 8
(
1901) p
.81-106

'
The Roman C
emetery i
n t
he I
nfirmary F
ield
, Chester' LAAA 6
(
1914) p
.121-167

'
The Roman Cemetery in the I
nfirmary F
ield
, C
hester
, P
art i
i'
LAAA 8 (
1921) p
.49-60

'
Report on t
he Excavations on the s
ite of the Roman camp at the
D
eanery F
ield
, Chester' LAAA 1
1 (
1924) p
.59-86

'
Report on the Excavations on the s
ite of the Roman Fortress a
t
t
he D
eanery F
ield
, Chester (
no.2) . LAAA 1
5 (
1928) p
.3-32

'
Records o
f Archaeological F
inds a
t Chester' JCAS 2
7 P
art 2
(
1928) p
.59-162

w
ith J
.P. D
roop '
Excavations i
n the D
eanery F
ield
, Chester 1
928.
P
art 1
: The Excavations' LAAA 1
8 (
1931) p
.6-18

w
ith J
.P. D
roop '
Excavations in the D
eanery F
ield
, Chester 1
928.
P
art 2
: The F
inds' LAAA 1
8 (
1931) p
.113-156

I
ron Scale armour f
rom Hunter S
treet
, Chester 1
914
I
I.B: I
ron hob nails, c
opper a
lloy belt p
laques a
nd
f
ittings, D
eanery F
ield
, 1
928.
(
photos. R
. Newstead). Scale 1
:1

8
9
PI.III.A: Copper alloy buckles, two with enamel inlay, and
pelta-shaped plaques, Deanery Field, 1928.

fl.III.B: Copper alloy, lead, and iron pendants, Deanery Field,

1928.
{photos. R. Newstead). Scale 1:1
90
w
ith J
.P. Droop '
The R
oman Amphitheatre a
t Chester' JCAS 2
9
(
1932) p
.5-40

w
ith J
.P. D
roop '
The south e
ast corner of the Roman Fortress,
Chester' JCAS 2
9 (
1932) p
.41-49

w
ith J
.P. D
roop '
The R
oman F
ortress a
t Chester
: A N
ewly
d
iscovered T
urret a
nd Rampart B
uilding
' LAAA 2
2 (
1935)
p
.19-30

w
ith J
.P. D
roop '
Excavations in t
he D
eanery F
ield and Abbey
Green 1
935' LAAA 2
3 (
1936) p
.3-50

'
Records of Archaeological F
inds i
i - v
' JCAS 3
3 (
1939) p
.5-117

w
ith J
.P. D
roop '
Excavations a
t Chester 1
939. The P
rincess
S
treet C
learance Area' JCAS 3
4 part 1 (
1939) p
.5-47

'
Records of Archaeological F
inds v
i' JCAS 3
6 p
art 2 (
1948)
p
.49-172

T
he Roman O
ccupation of Chester (
Deva) (
Chester 1
948)

JCAS Journal o
f t
he Chester Archaeological Society (
1849 to
present)

LAAA L
iverpool University Annals of Archaeology and Anthropology
(
1908-1948)

I
I: O
ther R
eferences

M
anning
, W
.H., 1985 C
atalogue of t
he Romano-British I
ron Tools,
F
ittings and Weapons i
n t
he B
ritish M
useum (
London)

O
ldenstein
, J
., 1
976 '
Zur Ausrüstung r
ömischer
Auxiliareinheiten
' B
ericht der Römisch-Germanischen
Kommission 5
7 p
.49-284

Watkin, W
. Thompson
, 1
886 R
oman C
heshire: A D
escription o
f R
oman
R
emains in the County o
f C
hester (
Liverpool) r
eprinted in
f
acsimile, Wakefield 1
974

9
1
APPENDIX I
: A CHECK L
IST OF SOME F
INDS O
F R
OMAN ARMOUR FROM
CHESTER

A
lthough most of t
he i
tems l
isted below s
urvive only a
s
s
mall f
ragments, t
his preliminary c
atalogue w
ill g
ive s
ome
i
ndication of the s
ize of the collections of military f
inds f
rom
Chester g
athered over t
he l
ast s
eventy years or more. S
maller
f
ittings, s
uch as the decorative belt plaques or f
astening l
oops
f
or the l
orica s
egmentata, are common
, weapons l
ess s
o, t
hough
a
t l
east s
even decorated s
cabbards have been identified to date.
Unless s
tated to the contrary, a
ll i
tems are in the collections
housed in the Grosvenor Museum
, Chester.

A
: F
inds of l
orica s
egmentata

n
o.381.R.1976 Large f
ragments f
rom Kings B
uildings, Chester 1
921
N
ewstead JCAS 2
7 part 2
, 1
928, p
.91 no.3-8 pl.IX
no.382.R.1976 two f
ragments with parts of hinge i
n s
itu. o
ld
c
ollns.

Unpublished items f
rom recent excavations (
consisting mainly
o
f AE f
ittings with f
ragments of l
orica attached).
S
t. M
artins F
ield 1
964
, s
mall f
ind no. 5
1
C
rook S
treet, 1
973-4, small f
ind no's. 1
96, 4
12, 6
61, 6
65, 7
55,
and an unnumbered i
tem f
rom l
ayer 68.
Abbey Green 1
975-8
, s
mall f
inds n
o's. 1
426, 1
919, 2
568
, and
perhaps no's. 1
677 and 1
802?
Hunter Street S
chool, 1979 small f
ind no
's 5
07, 1
036.
Hunters Walk, 1980 s
mall f
ind no's 5
33, 5
45.

B
: F
inds of s
cale armour

(
i) Bronze f
or s
ewing on t
o l
inen backing in rows.
n
o.377.R.1976 two examples f
rom the Deanery F
ield 1
928.
D
roop and N
ewstead LAAA 1
8 (
1931) p
.135-6 no.8
p
l.XLVII

(
ii) Bronze - l
inked together on a
ll s
ides
no.377.R.1976 one example D
eanery F
ield 1
928
D
roop and N
ewstead LAAA 1
8 (
1931) p
.135-6 no.8
p
l.XLVII
n
o.Go 1
9 two f
ragments f
rom Goss S
treet 1
948, not included in
t
he excavation r
eport.

Unpublished i
tems f
rom recent excavations
N
ewgate/Pepper S
treet 1
963-4 small f
ind no. 1
42 = no.376.R
.1976
,
a
t l
east s
ix f
ragments
F
rodsham S
treet 1966 s
mall f
ind no. 64b f
our l
umps

9
2
Goss S
treet
, 1
973 s
mall f
ind no
's 1
287, 1
816, 1
834.
C
rook Street, 1
973-4 small f
ind no
's 8
41, a
nd f
ragments f
rom
c
ontext n
o's I 2
9; and I F 5
2.
Abbey Green
, 1975-8 s
mall f
ind no
's 6
25, 1
992

(
iii) I
ron - l
orica squamata
Hunter S
treet 1
914 (
Pl.II.A) n
ow i
n t
he B
ritish M
useum
n
o.1928.8-9.4; 1
928.7-9.5 and 1
928.7-9.6.
N
ewstead JCAS 2
7 part 2
, 1
928, p
.73-4 p
l.IV a
nd I
II
n
o.8
M
anning 1
985 p
.146 no.T1-3, P
1.71.
D
eanery F
ield 1
922-3, Newstead LAAA 1
1, 1
924
, p
.77 pl.III i
.
Goss S
treet 1
973, s
mall f
ind no. 2
594, unpublished

C
: F
inds o
f c
hainmail

(
i) Bronze
n
o.375. R.1976, old c
ollns. c
a. 1
4 l
inks.
Unpublished i
tems f
rom recent excavations
F
rodsham S
treet 1
966
, s
mall f
ind no. 1
58
O
ld M
arket Hall 1
967-9 Phase I
II s
mall f
ind no's. 6
14, 869
L
ower B
ridge S
treet, 1
974 small f
ind no
's 2
49, 2
50 (
mixed i
ron
a
nd copper a
lloy)

(
ii) I
ron
D
eanery F
ield
, 1923, now in the British Museum no.1928.7-9
.8
Newstead LAAA 1
1, 1
924
, p
.77-8
, p
1.111 no.3
M
anning 1
985 p
.146 no.T3a P
l.XVIII.
Another f
ragment f
rom the s
ame s
ite and i
llustrated by N
ewstead
1
924 op.cit. P
l.III n
o.2 i
s d
escribed a
s i
ron with a row of
b
rass l
inks. I
t c
annot now be l
ocated.
no.602.R.1977 Deanery F
ield 1
924-6 r
ing of i
ron ?
from chain mail
Newstead LAAA 1
5 (
1928) p
.20 no.10 pl.VIII
n
o.254.R.1977, Deanery F
ield 1
928
D
roop & N
ewstead LAAA 1
8 (
1931) p
.136 no.84 pl.XLVIII

9
3
P1.1V.A
.: L
ead '
luggage l
abel' "
> T
ITIANI", D
eanery F
ield
, 1928.
rV.B: c
opper a
lloy '
Luggage l
abel' "
LEG XX/ IULI CA/NDIDI",
D
eanery F
ield
, 1
922-3
IV.C: I
ron Caltrop
, D
eanery F
ield
, 1
928.
(
photos R
. Newstead). Scale 1
:1

9
4
P
l.V.Aa C
hester P
ageant 9 0: Agricola with s
oldiers o
f t
he
2
0th. L
egion.

V
.3: C
hester P
ageant 9 0: '
Soldiers playing dice'

9
5
APPENDIX I
I: A ROMAN EPISODE IN THE CHESTER PAGEANT OF 1910

I
n the autumn of 1
909 i
t was d
ecided to mark the three
hundredth anniversary of the Pageant performed on the Roodee on
S
t. G
eorge's Day 1
610 u
nder the title '
Chester's Triumph in
honour of her Prince'. Various committees were s
et up t
o cover
a
ll a
spects of the pageant (
Robert Newstead was on the l
ecture
committee), which was held, to t
he s
atisfaction of a
ll
concerned, in Eaton P
ark on t
he 1
8th to 2
3rd July inclusive
1
910. After the I
ntroduction
, e
ight e
pisodes f
rom C
hester's
history were enacted. The cast l
ist i
s taken f
rom the Official
S
ouvenir Programme which was on s
ale b
efore and during the
performances; the description of the action in the Roman episode
i
s taken f
rom the revised account published later in the Journal
of the Chester Archaeological Society vol.17 (
1910) p
.107-119.
The i
llustrations are r
eproduced f
rom a s
et of o
riginal
photographs now in the collection o
f the Grosvenor Museum
,
Chester (
Pl. V. A
, B
).

Episode 1
: Agricola returns to Deva after defeating the
Ordovices A
. D.78

Felix, a Roman Soldier Mr. A

. Hodge
P
iso, a Roman Soldier Mr. J
.G. Frater
Carantus, a Briton Mr. S
. Dring
D
euccas, a Briton Mr. L
. Bebbington
Cn. Julius Agricola, Governor of
the Province of Britain R
ev. J
.R. Fuller
B
rica, a British Maiden Miss M
. Keall
C
unobarrus, Brica's Father Mr. George Cochrane
C
. Aufidius Rufus, a Centurion Mr. Thomas G
. McQuire
D
ecius, a Roman Soldier Mr. E
.T. Carpenter
Valerius, a Roman Soldier Mr. E
.P. I
rving
The M
ilitary Tribune Mr. P
ercy Smith
Ledicca, Brica's Mother Mrs. Mason
L
ictors, Trumpeters, Legionaries of the XX Valeria Victrix, and
the I
I Adjutrix P
ia Fidelis, Standard Bearers with the Eagle and
the Wild Boar, the Badge of the Legions. British Men
, Women and
Children, and Sutlers.

'
Although Chester
, anciently "
Dev e, was an important garrison
t
own during the Roman occupation of Britain
, and a
lthough t
he
C
ity possesses a r
ich store of remains of that period, no record
has c
ome down to us of any s
cene that l
ends itself to adequate
spectacular display. By making the episode one of a g
eneral
c
haracter, applicable to any town in these I
slands at that time,
a s
cene possessing much dramatic force has been constructed.

'
We are introduced to Julius Agricola, the great statesman and

9
6
warrior, whose administration of this c
ountry f
orms t
he most
b
rilliant epoch of the Roman occupation. He was a m
an profoundly
s
killed i
n t
he a
rts of peace and war. He s
trove to conciliate
t
he native tribes by a
cts of kindness, and introduced among them
m
any of the advantages of c
ivilisation.

'
Agricola came to D
eva at the c
lose of a s
uccessful campaign i
n
Wales. I
n t
he s
cene before u
s, he i
s engaged in business with
h
is officers. A Briton steals up behind him
, and Agricola t
urns
only j
ust in time to s
ave himself f
rom assassination. The native
i
s s
eized by the angry soldiers, and we g
ather that the motive
o
f the man
's action i
s t
o a
venge his b
ride, who has been
f
lagrantly i
nsulted by a c
enturion. The c
enturion i
s under
a
rrest
, but the Briton mistrusts the honesty of R
oman j
ustice,
where t
he l
ife o
r a
t l
east t
he l
iberty of so important an
o
fficer i
s at stake, and only a native has been wronged.

'
Agricola, however, has the c
lemency to f
orgive the a
ssault upon
himself, and further v
indicates the honour of his r
ace by having
t
he centurion brought to immediate trial, and after c
onviction
,
s
ending him t
o death within the hour.'

9
7
 T
HE WELLINGBOROUGH A
ND N
IJMEGEN MARCHES

D
. Atkinson and L
. Morgan

D
uring 1984 organised walking events by the Waendal Walkers
C
lub at Wellingborough, Northants and the Dutch K
.N.B.L.O. at
N
ijmegen were entered by the society to carry out basic f
ield
t
rials of Roman m
ilitary equipment under strict s
crutiny and
appropriate f
ield conditions. D
istances of 5
2 miles in two d
ays
and 1
00 miles i
n f
our days r
espectively were covered. The
purpose was to wear R
oman military equipment and march in it for
a g
iven l
ength of t
ime over distances that would bear comparison
with t
he daily march routine of the l
egions as specified in the
a
ccount of Vegetius, 1 and f
inally to assess the effects on both
the reconstructions and the wearers.

The entrants commenced training during November of 1

983 and
progressively increased the t
empo and length of the march until
t
hey were c
apable of covering the average official Northampton
marathon route at an average speed of 4mph. Once t
his i
nitial
objective was attained the equipment was worn. F
inally, four
persons 2 representing a i
st century l
egionary in f
ull f
ighting
equipment, a l
ight a
uxiliary o
f the same period and two 4th
c
entury infantrymen took part in the marches. 3

EQUIPMENT

Armour

Owing to the d
ifficulties encountered in obtaining suitable
s
heet iron the helmets, lorica and the blades of weapons were
constructed from mild steel. We are nevertheless r
easonably sure
that this material would possess a tensile strength generally
s
imilar to the i
ron originals. Their manufacture which must have
i
nvolved r
epeated hammering and reheating cycles in
c
harcoal-fuelled f
orges would thereby have ensured a reasonably
high carbon content in the f
inished product.

The Boots (
caligae)

The caligae u
sed were a standard pattern s
tudded boot a
s
f
ound on numerous s
ites throughout Europe. The patterns for the
uppers were taken f
rom archaeological reports f
rom Valkenburg,
London and various f
orts a
long Hadrian's Wall. The stud pattern
u
sed came f
rom Valkenburg Z
.H. Holland. 4 The open work upper i
s
made f
rom a s
ingle p
iece of cowhide with three or four sole

9
9
pieces sewn on and over 130 metal studs f
itted i
nto t
he f
lat
bottom, with no raised heel.

I
nitially s
ocks were n
ot worn i
nside t
he c
aligae but
persistent blistering soon f
orced their i
ntroduction. W
e were
n
ot unduly p
erturbed by t
his development a
s we a
ccept t
hat the
Romans, whether military o
r c
ivilian would be c
onditioned t
o
walk f
or f
ar g
reater d
istances than their modern counterparts.
F
urthermore, socks or at l
east their equivalent f
oot c
overings
a
re mentioned a
s having been s
ent to a soldier s
erving in the
F
irst Tungrian Cohort at Vindolanda in t
he period A
.D.95-105. 5

Whether socks were worn for the s

ame r
eason a
s o
urselves,
o
r s
imply f
or warmth cannot be a
ssumed f
or c
ertain but t
he f
act
r
emains that an a
ssessment of the durability of t
he boots a
nd
not o
ur f
eet was t
he object of the e
xercise. A
s a r
esult of
t
aking this decision we f
inally managed t
o cover a d
istance i
n
excess o
f 4
00 m
iles d
uring both t
he t
raining and t
he marches
while wearing t
he r
econstructed e
quipment. W
e b
elieve,
t
herefore, t
hat t
his i
s s
ufficient j
ustification i
n i
tself f
or
t
he wearing of socks.

The boots were restudded immediately prior to the f

our d
ay
N
ijmegen marches and the pattern of the s
tuds was made in modern
hobnails. A
lthough we c
annot be positive a
s to t
he d
ifferences
of durability between o
ur modern hobnails a
nd t
he R
oman
o
riginals, we f
eel if anything, that modern studs would be of a
better quality.

By c
alculating the rate of wear of t
he studs, a
gainst t
he
d
istance c
overed, we c
oncluded t
hat t
he l
egionary could march
f
or 1
2 days on a metalled surface before a
ll o
f h
is o
riginal
s
tuds would be worn down. By contrast
, t
he l
ight a
uxiliary was
s
urprisingly harder on h
is boots which would have l
ed t
o
c
omplete r
estudding and r
eplacement of t
he originals after only
8 daysl This unexpected result c
an only b
e explained by t
he f
act
t
hat the two persons i
nvolved i
n t
he e
xperiment m
arched i
n
d
ifferent ways. T
he l
egionary, in s
pite of his heavier l
oading
p
laced his heel down f
irst whilst the auxiliary s
eems t
o have
d
ragged his toes on occasions which c
aused some part worn s
tuds
t
o be pulled out. On s
oft g
round or unmetalled roads t
he s
tuds
would naturally have l
asted l
onger.

W
e m
ust a
cknowledge that the s
cope of this e
xperiment was
r
ather narrow a
s c
omparative results f
rom only two p
airs o
f
boots c
an hardly b
e c
onsidered c
onclusive. For a
ll t
hat
, i
t
g
ives an average rate of wear of only t
en d
ays r
oad m
arching
before t
he s
ole begins to s
ustain damage. I
t must be qualified
h
ere that the wear takes p
lace initially on the h
eel, t
oe and
s
ole o
f t
he f
oot to a g
reater extent t
han the i
nstep and that

1
00
t
hese higher points require v
irtually daily r
eplacement. T
he t
en
d
ay average period i
s therefore the t
ime f
or which t
he l
ast
o
riginal s
tud would l
ast. This i
s not a l
ong t
ime, particularly
t
aking i
nto a
ccount t
he f
act t
hat f
or R
oman s
oldiers, t
he
r
eplacement o
f e
quipment i
nvolved s
toppages of pay. This high
w
ear a
lso highlights the l
egionaries' g
rievance over paying f
or
s
tuds p
articularly i
n t
he P
annonian mutiny of A
.D.14 and two
o
ther r
eferences made to calacarium endorse t
he c
laims m
ade by
t
he mutineers in P
annonia:

T
acitus 6, mentions a
n a
llowance c
alled CLAVARIUM
, o
r '
nail
m
oney', which was c
laimed by t
he F
lavian f
orces m
arching on
R
ome. T
he motivation f
or the c
laim was that the l
ong march had
c
aused unreasonable wear in mens' boots which c
ould only b
e
r
eplaced a
gainst s
toppages of pay. The f
act that the a
llowance
had a name s
eems sufficient evidence f
or i
ts existence.

S
econdly, s
imilar a
llowances, possibly t
he same a
s t
he
a
bove, are mentioned by S
uetonius. 7 When the C
lassiarii, who had
t
o m
arch r
egularly f
rom O
stia or P
uteoli to R
ome, c
laimed '
boot
m
oney
', Vespasian
, with his c
ustomary dry humour, i
s s
aid t
o
have r
equired t
hem t
o make the j
ourney barefoot. According to
S
uetonius they s
till d
id so in his day.

T
HE MARCHES

E
ffects on the Wearers

I
n temperatures of 7
0°F o
r above, a
ll f
our marchers t
ended
t
o sweat profusely in their woolen c
lothing but with one n
otable
e
xception g
iven b
elow
, t
he i
nconvenience, once a
ccepted a
s
i
nevitable became t
olerable. The c
lothing however d
id t
end t
o
r
etain dampness o
vernight a
nd a c
ertain i
nitial d
egree of
d
iscomfort was e
xperienced on t
he f
ollowing m
orning. T
he
l
egionary who was obliged to undergo the additional i
mposition
of having the upper part of his body encased in a s
teel lorica
which permitted very little air to circulate, s
uffered from
bouts of nausea and d
izzyness after t
hree t
o f
our hours o
n t
he
m
arch. W
eight l
oss was e
xcessive and during one particular 2
6
m
ile march on a v
ery hot day s
even pounds were s
hed! O
n t
his
o
ccasion a
lso, t
emporary b
lindness a
nd d
isorientation were
e
xperienced over a period of approximately 3
0 s
econds. M
edical
a
dvice was s
ought and we were informed t
hat a f
ar l
arger i
ntake
o
f l
iquid would be required t
o counter d
ehydration and t
hat t
he
d
isorientation
, v
ision f
ailure a
nd n
ausea were d
irectly
a
ttributable t
o s
alt d
eficiency. O
nce t
hese m
atters were
a
ttended t
o, no f
urther s
ymptoms r
ecurred. I
t i
s interesting to
r
elate this s
ituation to the i
ssue o
f s
alt (
salaria) t
o t
he
R
oman soldiers. I
t would s
eem probable that they understood that

1
01
i
t was an e
ssential requirement f
or maintaining a f
ast marching
r
ate quite apart f
rom its u
ses i
n f
lavouring a
nd preserving
m
eat. We must a
lso assume that e
ach man e
ither carried with him
,
o
r had i
mmediately available, l
arge amounts of water. A
lthough
t
he stomach should n
ever be overloaded at t
he b
eginning o
f a
l
ong march, s
mall amounts n
eed t
o b
e t
aken a
t f
requent
i
ntervals. I
n our case, a f
air approximation was half a p
int per
hour which means that half a g
allon o
f water p
er p
erson was
c
onsumed d
uring the course of a d
ay's march. Urination o
ccurred
s
eldom if at a
ll.

E
ffects on the Equipment

Although the c
aligae came out rather well, t
he i
nitially
h
ighly polished m
etal o
f t
he l
orica and helmets deteriorated
v
isibly under the repeated drenching in p
erspiration
. W
e s
oon
l
earned t
hat a l
iberal application of g
rease would protect i
t
f
rom the worst effects of the corrosion
. Unfortunately this l
ed
t
o t
he s
omewhat u
ncomfortable s
ituation where arms, f
aces and
l
egs soon became c
oated i
n t
urn a
nd u
ltimately i
t b
ecame
c
ustomary t
o exude an unpleasant odour compounded of grease and
s
weat which d
id nothing to endear u
s to t
he other m
archers. At
t
he e
nd o
f t
he day
, everything we ate and drank was s
imilarly
t
ainted. I
f we l
earned nothing e
lse f
rom this, we c
an a
t l
east
b
e c
ertain that Roman t
ravellers who encountered a m
ilitary unit
on t
he march would have passed t
o windward!

At a
n e
arly s
tage in the t
raining
, i
t was noticeable t
hat
c
ertain l
oosely attached i
tems o
f e
quipment e
ither r
attled,
c
lanked o
r d
eveloped i
rritating p
ropensities o
f one kind or
a
nother. Whilst this can be endured over s
hort d
istances, a 2
5
m
ile march i
s q
uite another m
atter. W
e f
eel s
ure that the
i
llustrations of Marius' Mule, f
or s
o l
ong a f
eature o
f t
he
history books, requires s
ome r
evision a
s r
egards the d
isposal of
his e
quipment. F
ree hanging i
tems s
uch a
s t
he patera
, f
or
i
nstance, which i
s u
sually depicted a
s being s
uspended by t
he
handle f
rom t
he e
nd o
f a c
arrying pole, would, we a
re quite
c
ertain
, be more f
irmly s
ecured. Q
uite apart f
rom t
he a
dverse
e
ffects on t
he d
isposition of the s
oldier. The banging of the
h
elmet during our initial attempts to s
uspend i
t f
rom the r
ight
s
houlder, i
n t
he manner portrayed on Trajan's C
olumn
, c
aused a
m
etal hinge p
in of 0
.931n d
iameter on one of the c
heekplates t
o
f
racture, t
herefore t
he d
urability o
f t
he equipment must be
t
aken into a
ccount, a
s well a
s t
he c
arrying position
.

Both t
he l
egionary and auxiliary swords t
ended t
o swing i
n
a
gainst t
he h
ip a
nd t
high and to shift position constantly a
s
t
he march progressed. I
n order t
o c
ounteract t
his u
npleasant
e
ffect a
nd prevent the n
eed f
or constant r
eadjustment
, t
he belt

1
02
was passed over both b
aldric straps whereas f
ormerly o
nly t
he
r
ear s
trap had been s
ecured in this manner. T
he pommel, s
ituated
h
igh up under the r
ight arm pit
, t
ended to c
hafe the bicep and
a
t f
irst this caused minor blistering. I
n the c
ourse of t
ime the
a
ffected areas became c
alloused and hardened a
nd t
herefore n
o
f
urther modifications t
o t
he position o
f t
he s
word were
c
onsidered necessary.

The s
uspension of the helmet on t
he m
arch r
equired s
ome
i
nvestigation. H
anging i
t f
rom t
he s
houlder plates proved
d
ifficult and u
ltimately c
aused damage to the c
heekpiece h
inge.
M
oreover i
t was v
ery d
ifficult to unfasten with any degree of
u
rgency a
s would be required if a s
udden a
ttack d
eveloped whilst
o
n the march. Hanging the helmet by i
ts t
hong a
round t
he n
eck
was i
nitially c
omfortable, but after half an hour or s
o became
p
ainful despite the protection of the s
carf. The solution quite
s
imply involved hanging it across the chest by passing the thong
t
hrough the horizontal chest s
trap on the l
orica. This operation
c
ould e
asily b
e c
arried out whilst at r
est o
r on the march and
t
he helmet could be deployed with the s
ame f
acility.

The c
arrying of t
he s
cutum a
lso proved d
ifficult. A
p
ossible s
olution has only now come under s
erious consideration
.
T
hough we have no information r
elevant to the arrangement o
f a
c
arrying s
trap or harness, we f
eel s
ure o
ne must have b
een
e
mployed. We therefore decided t
o improvise a r
easonably l
ogical
s
topgap e
xpedient which u
tilized t
he hand g
rip a
s t
he l
oad
b
earer. The s
cutum which we u
sed was of a s
tandard s
ize. That i
s
t
o s
ay that i
t conformed g
enerally to the d
imensions of the Dura
s
cutum and t
hose of the shield covers f
rom V
indonissa. A l
eather
s
trap was f
astened t
o both ends of the shield handgrip a
nd t
he
l
oop s
o f
ormed p
laced over the r
ight shoulder. I
n this manner
t
he shield was c
arried in a high port position on the l
eft s
ide
where i
t s
everely r
estricted v
ision in that d
irection. A l
ower
p
osition interfered with t
he movement o
f t
he l
egs a
nd we
t
herefore opted f
or the f
irst choice a
s the c
arrying position
.
T
he carrying s
trap was t
ried in s
everal d
ifferent positions:
1
. Locked a
round t
he l
eft s
houlder p
lates. This proved
unsatisfactory. T
he d
ownward pull of the s
hield caused the
s
trap to j
am progressively more t
ightly under t
he plates. I
t
t
hereby proved a
lmost i
mpossible t
o d
isengage the shield
without a
ssistance. D
espite the d
rawback i
n d
eploying t
he
s
hield t
his was t
he l
east painful method attempted and our
s
olution under c
onsideration u
ses this method a
s a s
tarting
point.
2
. The s
trap a
cross t
he upper body and around t
he r
ight s
ide of
t
he n
eck. A d
isaster! A process of s
low s
trangulation t
ook
p
lace.
3
. R
etention o
f t
he c
arrying s
trap by t
he projecting l
orica
plate (
Epaulette) on the r
ight shoulder. This possibility was

1
03
 s
uggested by N
icholas Fuentes and a
ccordingly t
ried over t
he
f
irst 2
5 m
iles a
t N
ijmegen. This method produced an e
ffect
s
imilar to t
hat g
iven in No.2 above. The r
ight s
houlder w
as
c
ompressed a
nd f
orced u
pwards a
nd inwards. Apart f
rom t
he
obvious d
iscomfort, breathing was r
estricted and c
irculation
c
ut o
ff t
o t
he extent that towards t
he f
inal s
tages o
f the
march the r
ight arm and shoulder were c
ompletely n
umb a
nd
u
seless f
or a
ny p
ractical purposes. I
t became e
ssential t
o
halt at more and more f
requent intervals for r
eadjustments t
o
be made. I
t was f
ound l
ater that the i
nternal r
ear l
eathers,
a
lthough m
ade o
f g
ood quality c
alf l
eather about 0
.125in
t
hick, had been r
ipped and the r
ivets and washers a
ttaching
t
hem t
o t
he m
etal plates were pulled f
ree. All this i
n one
d
ay's march of 2
5 miles.

Consequently a modus operandi was d

eveloped, h
ence we
believe t
he weight o
f the shield must be s
uspended vertically
f
rom the l
eft shoulder and are c
urrently e
xperimenting w
ith a
s
imple harness that s
eems to work well, but we are r
eluctant to
c
omment on it until i
t has been t
ried i
n t
he f
ield. O
ur
e
xperience shows that the shield cannot be carried by hand a
lone
over l
ong d
istances, f
urther that the wrong sort of carrying a
id
c
an be a
s p
ainful and e
xhausting a
s n
o a
id at a
ll. A f
urther
r
eport on our progress will be published a
s appropriate.

I
nsofar a
s t
he l
essons l
earnt f
rom t
he f
ourth c
entury
e
quipment a
re concerned, though of l
ess s
ignificance they m
erit
a brief mention
. An a
lmost t
otal l
ack o
f a
rmour w
ith t
he
e
xception of the helmet greatly f
acilitated marching, and except
f
or profuse s
weating c
aused by the woolen tunic and t
rousers,
t
he marches were comparatively enjoyable. T
he l
arge r
ound f
lat
s
hields were c
arried a
cross t
he back by a s
ingle l
oop t
hrough
t
he handgrip passed over t
he r
ight or l
eft shoulder a
ccording to
preference. By t
he s
imple process of bending the e
lbow backwards
a
gainst the projecting s
ide of the shield and hooking the t
humb
i
nto t
he b
elt o
n t
he appropriate s
ide the s
hield was e
asily
s
tabilised and no undue f
atigue was experienced.

I
nitially the helmets and spathae c
aused m
inor problems.
T
he l
atter w
as s
uspended on t
he l
eft s
ide by a baldric over
which a waist belt was passed t
o l
ock i
t i
nto position
, b
ut t
he
c
hape o
f t
he s
cabbard hanging a
lmost v
ertically downwards kept
b
anging against t
he wearer's shins. T
he helmet had e
ither t
o be
worn o
r c
arried by hand. Eventually a
n ingenious s
olution was
a
rrived at whereby t
he helmet thongs were knotted t
ogether a
nd
t
he helmet s
uspended by t
hem over t
he hilt of t
he sword. I
n this
m
anner, t
he weight o
f t
he helmet counterbalanced that o
f t
he
s
word and a
s a r
esult the s
cabbard hung at an approximate a
ngle
o
f 3
0 degrees f
rom the v
ertical, away f
rom and behind t
he l
egs,
t
hereby keeping the offending chapes well out of the way. I
n t
he

1
04
c
ase of the two fourth century infantrymen modern s
uede boots
were u
sed. This c
ompromise was forced upon us due to the fact
t
hat the reconstructed boots could not be broken in in t
ime to
ensure that blisters were kept to an acceptably low l
evel. I
n
point of fact, we believe that the boots which were worn bore a
f
airly c
lose resemblance of those of the actual period. However
no tests could be carried out on these particular items as t
hey
would be i
rrelevant.

NOTES

1
. Vegetius Epitoma r
ei militaris.

2
. Members taking p
art were David Atkinson
, Steve Rogers, Mark
Morgan and Len Morgan. Backup party was S
tephany Atkinson
,
E
lizabeth Morgan and John Eagle.

3
. List of equipment:

Legionary i
st c
entury A
.D. l
b kg

Helmet (
cassis) I
mperial Gallic '
H' 4
.4 2
.0
Body armour (
Lorica Segmentata) Corbridge '
B' 1
8.959 8
.6
M
ilitary belt (
cingulum militare) Cast plates 2
.64 1
.2
Dagger and scabbard (
Pugio et vagina) 1
.54 0
.7
Fulham/Mainz pattern sword and s
cabbard
(
Gladius et vagina) 3
.52 1
.6
Boots (
Caligae) 3
.3 1
.5
Shield (
Scutum) Dura Europos s
ize 1
5.18 6
.9
Javelin (
Pilum) Hod Hill pattern.
Without l
ead loading 2
.42 1
.1
C
lothing and shield cover of canvas 3
.0 1
.3

Total 5
4.959 2
4.9

Auxiliary i
st century A
. D. l
b kg

Helmet (
cassis) Coolus '
C' 3
.52 1
.6
M
ilitary belt (
cingulum militare) Cast plates 1
.10 0
.5
Pompeii sword s
cabbard (
Gladius et vagina) 2
.86 1
.3
Shield (
Clipeus) Oval type 7
.49 3
.4
Boots (
Caligae) 3
.3 1
.5
D
agger and scabbard (
Pugio et vagina) 1
.54 0
.7
C
lothing 1
.5 0
.7

Total 2
1.31 9
.7
No body armour was worn by the Auxiliary

4th century l
imitaneus (
Frontier soldier) lb kg

1
05
 Helmet (
cassis) I
ntercisa pattern 2
.21 1
.0
Sword, s
cabbard and baldric (
Spatha,
vagina et balteus) 5
.72 2
.6
M
ilitary belt. 4
th century pattern 0
.40 0
.2
S
hield
, based on Dura Europos round/oval
pattern 1
1.0 5
.0
C
lothing (
approx.) 2
.2 1
.0

Total 2
1.52 8
.8
No body armour was worn by the Limitaneus.

4
. GROENMAN-VAN WAATERINGE, 1967.

5
. BOWMAN & THOMAS
, 1
983, No.15.

6
. Tacitus Histories 1
11,50.

7
. Suetonius Vespasian 8
,3.

B
IBLIOGRAPHY

BOWMAN & THOMAS 1

983: A
.K. Bowman & J
. Thomas, Vindolanda: the
Latin Writing Tablets, Britannia Monograph S
eries No.4,
(
London 1983)

GROENMAN-VAN WAATERINGE 1
967: W
. Groenman-van Waateringe,
Romeins l
ederwerk u
it Valkenburg Z
.H., Nederlandse Oudheden
2
, (
Groningen 1
967)

P
ls.I & I
I The N
ijmegen march - these photographs show the
method of s
uspension of helmet and other equipment
on t
he march - this i
s to be c
ontrasted w
ith t
he
method i
llustrated on Trajan's Column

1
07
APPENDIX: THE ROMAN M
ILITARY RESEARCH SOCIETY

I
n 1
983 a small group of people came t
ogether t
o f
orm a
s
ociety f
or practical experimentation w
ith the arms, armour and
e
quipment of the R
oman army. The R
.M.R
.S. was f
ormed i
n t
he
r
ealisation t
hat m
any g
aps in our knowledge could be u
sefully
a
ddressed by practical experimentation
.

The l
ast three years have been s
pent i
n r
econstructing
i
tems o
f R
oman a
rmour a
nd weapons, i
n l
ecturing at home and
abroad and in carrying out s
imple basic t
ests, t
hese o
ften i
n
c
onjunction w
ith marching have a
llowed u
s to g
ain an i
nsight
i
nto t
he d
urability
, awkwardness a
nd practicability o
f
r
econstructions.

Our k
it n
ow encompasses f
igures f
rom the l
ate R
epublican
a
rmy through to f
ourth c
entury soldiers o
f the R
oman army. T
hese
a
re the s
ubject of our l
ectures at home and abroad which have
been t
ailored to s
uit a
ll l
evels of interest.

T
he s
ociety i
s in t
he main based i
n Northampton and i
t i
s
here t
hat we have had our greatest s
uccess to date w
ith s
chool
v
isits. W
e c
an a
dd a u
seful v
isual a
id for t
eachers when the
c
hildren are l
earning about Roman B
ritain a
nd o
ur s
pecialised
knowledge a
dds a u
seful t
eaching tool to the l
ocal education
r
epertoire.

We are a society whose policy, a

ims and enthusiasm c
an be
endorsed by our c
lose a
ssociation w
ith t
he Upper N
ene
Archaeological S
ociety a
nd D
r. H
ubrecht o
f t
he K
am M
useum
N
ijmegen. We have c
ooperated and worked with the Guildhall
M
useum in Northampton and in our l
atest major v
enture i
n 1
986,
we r
eturned t
o H
olland a
nd G
ermany f
or another l
ecture tour
which coincided with f
estivals of the Emperor Trajan
's b
irthday.

We do not intend in the above s

tatement about o
ur p
olicy,
a
ims a
nd e
xperiments to m
islead anyone i
nto thinking we are the
only g
roup o
r s
ociety i
nvolved i
n t
his l
ine o
f p
ractical
r
esearch. T
he s
ociety f
reely a
cknowledges the existence o
f other
s
ocieties a
nd i
ndividuals both h
ere a
nd a
broad e
ngaged in
s
imilar experiments of a practical nature
, t
his i
s m
erely t
o
i
nform o
f o
ur e
xistence i
n a
n attempt to f
orge constructive
l
inks with l
ike m
inded workers.

1
08
 "
THE E
VOLUTION O
F CERTAIN F
EATURES"

M
.C. B
ishop

"
My c
lassification i
s b
ased on what I r
egard a
s t
he
evolution of c
ertain f
eatures t
hat r
ecur t
hroughout
t
he s
eries." R
OBINSON
, 1
975, 4
6.

F
or b
etter o
r worse, the s
tudy of Roman m
ilitary equipment
i
s inextricably l
inked to typological considerations. Catalogues
o
f a
ssemblages a
re a
lmost i
nvariably drawn i
nto s
ome s
ort o
f
s
cheme of c
lassification
, however r
udimentary
, s
o t
hat questions
a
bout the way in which typologies a
re f
ormed and t
he objectivity
w
ith which t
his i
s done, a
long with t
he way t
he r
esults are
u
sed, are a
s f
undamental to our understanding of t
his particular
a
rea of artefact s
tudies a
s t
hey a
re to any other. T
he purpose
o
f t
his paper i
s t
o probe some of the ways in which typological
s
tudies have influenced our present v
iew of m
ilitary e
quipment
o
f t
he f
irst c
entury A
.D. and t
o a
ssess t
he v
alidity of t
his
a
pproach. I
n d
oing s
o, a
lternative (
in t
he s
ense o
f
s
upplementary
, r
ather t
han r
eplacement) interpretations will be
s
uggested, but i
t w
ill be n
ecessary t
o begin with t
he b
riefest
o
f thumbnail sketches of some of the main i
ssues t
hat have c
ome
t
o be a
ssociated with typology.

T
HEORY

The t
heory o
f typology has r
ecently b
een e
xplored i
n
c
onsiderable d
epth by s
cholars of t
he '
new a
rchaeology' and i
t
i
s to them t
hat w
e m
ust t
urn f
or a r
'
esume o
f t
he basic
p
rinciples i
nvolved.' Most prominent amongst t
hese was D
avid
C
larke, who was l
argely concerned with t
he c
lassification of
t
ypology, f
or both a
rtefacts a
nd s
ocieties. 2 D
istinct f
rom
t
ypology (
the d
ivision into t
ypes) i
s s
eriation
, which s
ees
i
tems a
s c
oming i
nto, and going out of, f
ashion i
n a known way;
a t
ypical pattern i
s t
hat known a
s '
lenticular', which has a
f
ast r
ate of adoption
, a period of maximum u
se, and t
hen a l
ong
d
ecline. 3 T
he d
ifference between typology and s
eriation i
s often
b
lurred, but s
eriation demands good dating evidence t
o m
ake i
t
c
onvincing. 4

Artefacts c
an be d
efined i
n t
erms o
f a n
umber o
f
'
attributes' - perhaps t
he u
se of a c
ertain decorative motif o
r
a particular dimension - and it i s the combination of these that
s
erve t o characterise artefacts. 5 There are also different kinds
o
f attribute: there a
re t
hose a
ssociated with t
he manufacture of
t
he i
tem (
was i
t c
ast o
r wrought?) and t
hose t
hat c
ome f
rom the

1
09
way in which the object was u
sed (
swords have s
harp e
dges,
d
ecoration i
s a
esthetically pleasing). 6 However
, when i
t c
omes
t
o deciding which attributes are t
o be u
sed to f
orm a t
ypology,
t
he problems b
egin; there will inevitably be a l
arge number of
a
ttributes which w
ill be of l
ittle a
ssistance (
all s
words
probably have sharp e
dges), so u
seful a
ttributes must be c
hosen
(
e.g. the shape of the sword blade) and i
t i
s t
hat c
hoice of
'
important' attributes which i
ntroduces a
n e
lement of
s
ubjectivity into t
he process o
f f
orming a t
ypology. 7 Thus
R
obinson
, a
s we s
aw i
n t
he quotation at t
he beginning, was
basing his typology on what he regarded a
s "
the e
volution o
f
c
ertain f
eatures" common to a
ll helmets; t
his of c
ourse begs the
q
uestion o
f whether a R
oman would have s
een s
uch f
eatures a
s
b
eing of importance. 8

C
larke s
aw t
hat the best the a
rchaeologist c
ould d
o was
m
inimise t
hat s
ubjective c
omponent, b
ut i
t i
s i
mpossible to
c
ompletely eradicate i
t. 9 The question o
f whether s
uch a t
hing
a
s a '
natural' typology c
an exist has been widely d
ebated 1 ° but,
i
n the end, t
his m
ay not be the most productive approach and
eventually we shall have to c
onsider w
hy what we r
egard a
s
t
ypologies originated in t
he f
irst instance.

There i
s one f
orm of typology that a
pproaches our objective
i
deal and that i
s one which we c
an c
all t
he f
unctional typology,
which d
epends upon practical attributes n
ot r
elated to the whim
of the m
anufacturer. S
uch t
ypologies a
re t
ypified by v
on
G
roller's c
lassification of l
orica s
quamata s
cales f
rom
C
arnuntum
. 1
1 This was f
ounded upon t
he a
rrangement o
f holes
a
long t
he e
dges of these objects, which were in t
urn determined
by the way in which the s
cales were attached to e
ach o
ther. H
e
d
efined n
ine c
ategories 12 and, l
argely because of t
he sheer
v
olume of evidence available to him
, he s
ucceeded i
n pre-empting
any s
ubsequent c
lassifications, s
ince n
early a
ll s
cales
d
iscovered s
ince have adhered to his s
cheme. 1
3 N
evertheless, i
t
s
hould be s
tressed t
hat this i
s purely c
oincidental and that von
G
rolier a
t no stage s
et out to produce a '
universal' typology of
s
cales.

U
lbert's c
lassification of g
ladius t
ypes 14 i
s e
ssentially a
f
unctional typology
, with i
ts d
istinction between t
he Mainz and
P
ompeii t
ypes o
f s
word. I
t i
s a d
ifference which may well be
r
elated t
o t
he f
unction of the r
espective blades, a
lthough t
his
i
s l
argely s
peculation a
t t
he moment. T
he wide r
ange of s
heath
f
orms, on t
he other hand, i
s c
ertainly n
ot f
unctional, a
part
f
rom t
he f
act t
hat t
hey have to be t
he r
ight s
hape f
or t
heir
p
articular blades. 1
5

S
cott's e
xamination of spearheads 16 i
s another e
xample of
t
he f
unctional approach, a
lthough t
his e
xample i
s by no m
eans a
s

1
10
s
traightforward a
s t
he others. I
t i
s c
lear that there were
c
ertain types of shafted weapon (
notably t
he p
ilum
, hasta, a
nd
l
ancea) and t
hat these could be d
istinguished by t
heir blades,
but f
inding a meaningful way of defining blade s
hape and what
e
lements a
re s
ignificant i
n f
orming d
istinctions i
s
p
roblematical. 1
7 D
ensem u
sed numerical t
echniques t
o d
escribe
s
pearhead s
hape a
nd t
hen analysed the r
esults by computer; 1
8

t
his approach was not, however, particularly productive. 1
9

The c
ommonest f
orm of typology i
n t
he past was what we
m
ight t
erm t
he a
esthetic k
ind, b
ased upon a
rt-historical
c
onsiderations of f
orm or decoration
, s
uch a
s the arrangement of
a particular s
et of attributes, or t
he way i
n which a g
iven
a
ttribute c
hanged w
ith t
ime. 2° T
his was t
he kind practised by
R
obinson and i
t must be s
tressed t
hat t
his a
pproach i
s n
ot
i
nherently wrong, but i
ts u
se does r
epay c
loser examination and
we shall l
ook at s
ome relevant examples in the n
ext s
ection
.

B
ehind any attempt at typology
, i
t i
s s
eldom d
ifficult t
o
d
etect t
he influence of a model: t
he idea t
hat an a
ssemblage of
a
rtefacts s
hould s
hare a
ttributes i
n c
ommon c
an mean t
hat
c
ertain b
iases a
re i
mplicit i
n both t
he typology and i
ts
s
ubsequent analysis. On the one hand, we may s
ay t
hat there a
re
only so many ways to f
asten s
cales together on a l
orica s
quamata
s
hirt, o
r t
hat there i
s a f
inite r
ange of spear s
hapes t
hat a
re
u
seful f
or the tasks r
equired of them
, but to e
xpect d
ecorative
a
ttributes to behave in a certain way
, e
specially when spatially
r
emote, i
s t
o presuppose a particular kind of s
ystem producing
t
hem - almost invariably a c
entralised one. 2
1 However, i
f we a
re
p
repared to accept t
hat this i
s a prerequisite to the f
ormation
o
f a typology and a
cknowledge i
t a
s s
uch, then i
t n
eed not be a
p
roblem
.

O
ne f
inal idea r
emains t
o be considered i
n t
his s
ection
,
a
nd t
hat i
s t
he '
mental template'. 2
2 W
ith t
his, we s
uppose t
hat
t
he c
raftsman carries within his head an i
deal of his f
inished
object whilst he i
s working on i
t and that
, human n
ature being
what i
t i
s, that f
inished product i
s an imitation
, b
ut n
ot an
e
xact match, of that i
deal: e
ssentially t
he P
latonic notion of
m
imesis. 2
3 I
f a
ll c
raftsmen are working with the s
ame i
deal i
n
m
ind, t
hen t
heir f
inished products will only v
ary a
ccording to
t
heir particular f
oibles and p
references, both c
onscious a
nd
s
ubconscious; but i
f s
ome are working with the f
inished products
o
f o
thers a
s t
heir i
deal, t
hen they will not only be unable t
o
m
atch i
t exactly when t
hey copy i
t, but will introduce their own
p
ersonal e
lement i
nto i
t; and so on (
Fig.1).

1
11
 MENTAL
T
EMPLATE

ARTEFACT

MENTAL MENTAL
T
EMPLATE T
EMPLATE

ARTEFACT

A f
r

A
ct
,

Fig.1: The mental template and t

he spread of i
deas amongst
military craftsmen

EXAMPLES OF PREVIOUS TYPOLOGIES

At t
his point i
t will be useful to examine a number of
typologies of Roman military equipment, not only f
or what t
hey
c
an t
ell u
s about the artefacts in each case, but a
lso f
or the
i
nformation they contain about t
he way in which they were
c
onstructed.

H
. Russell Robinson's survey of Roman armour 24 contains a
n
umber of typologies of d
ifferent pieces of equipment, f
oremost
amongst which was his l
engthy s
ection on helmets. 2
5 The
t
echnique he used i
s most c
learly demonstrated in the c
ase of
I
mperial-Gallic helmets: he t
ook a number of archaeologically
d
ated pieces and then proceeded to l
inbetween' 2
6 the r
emainder,
and it i
s here that the "
evolution of certain f
eatures" was used
t
o determine the place of any one helmet within the structure of
t
he typology. 2
7 I
n the case of l
obate cuirass hinges 28 t
here are
n
o s
ufficiently f
ine c
hronological f
ixed points available, so
Robinson i
s forced to use traditional art-historical criteria to
i
llustrate a supposed deterioration from e
laborate, f
inely made,
hinges to extremely crude and inelegant e
xamples. 2
9 The d
ating

1
12
evidence f
or these hinges, however, i
s ambiguous to s
ay the
l
east, and s
ince most of the hinges in question belong within a
small span of t
ime, t
he '
typology' c
an quite plausibly be
i
nverted to show a progression f
rom crude hinges t
o t
he more
e
laborate 3
0

That being s
aid, there i
s no d
isputing the f
act that
R
obinson did i
solate genuine t
rends within various kinds of
e
quipment, but i
t i
s t
he interpretation of these trends with
which we are primarily concerned.

A
. Böhme published a typology of pendants f
rom horse
harness t
hat bears c
onsideration. 3
1 Böhme's approach i
s based
a
lmost s
olely upon t
he evolution of shape, f
rom t
he
Iherzblattförmig . o
r b
ird-headed pendants, t
hrough ovoid, to
'
trifid' forms. This s
equence completely i
gnores t
he l
arge
n
umbers of l
unate pendants found in military contexts, as well
a
s many of the l
ess c
ommon types. 3
2 There i
s n
o c
hronological
basis f
or the typology f
or, a
s with l
obate hinges, t
he
a
rchaeological dating information i
s insufficiently well-defined
t
o support i
t. The typology appears t
o present a l
ogical
s
equence of development, but in f
act this i
s an i
llusion.

On the more positive s

ide, Lawson has produced a typology
that does not purport to show a logical progression of any kind,
but merely classifies the range of available types of pendant. 3
3

A s
imilar approach was adopted by Z
adoks-Josephus J
itta and
Witteveen i
n their c
atalogue of l
unate pendants f
rom the
N
etherlands, 3
4 commenting that "
they c
annot be typologically
dated, as t
hey show v
ariation but no definite development". 3
5

Whilst the method used by Robinson i

s, on the f
ace of it, a
r
easonable path t
o pursue, t
here are dangers inherent in the
a
ssumptions that have to be made - such as the i
dea that the
'
development', i
f t
hat i
s what it i
s, i
s genuinely a result of
c
hronological, and not spatial, s
eparation. Again, this d
epends
upon whether we c
hose t
o s
ee a central authority dictating
helmet designs, or a n
atural progression over t
ime and over
space (
in o
ther words, d
ifferent units' helmets will show
c
orrespondingly d
iffering trends, even if taken f
rom a c
ommon
original, a
s we have s
e-e
n in t
he d
iscussion of the mental
t
emplate). Although we may j
ust be able to accept that a central
command was controlling helmet shape (
and decoration?), 3
6 i
t i
s
u
nlikely t
hat t
he shape of l
obate c
uirass hinges should be
d
ictated f
rom on high; there must be another, more l
ogical,
e
xplanation.

Two o
f Robinson's dated Imperial-Gallic helmets came f
rom
t
he Sheepen s
ite at C
olchester 37 and R
obinson f
ollowed the
t
raditional e
xplanation that t
hese entered the archaeological

1
13
record as a d
irect result o
f colonists hurriedly producing
equipment in the f
ace of the Boudican rebellion. 3
8 The f
act that
S
heepen was probably a Roman m
ilitary s
ite 39 and that these
helmet f
ragments need not be associated with the r
ebellion and
m
ight be earlier i
s of l
ittle help e
ither way, but does point up
the difficulties inherent in archaeological dating evidence. 4°

Any attempt at s
eriation o
r the f
ormation of a
c
hronologically-based typology i
s dependent upon the quality o
f
our d
ating evidence. I
n the f
irst century A
.D., as with other
periods of Roman history
, we are subject to a phenomenon that
m
ight u
sefully be termed chronological '
clustering'; this i
s a
r
esult of the way in which Roman military equipment came t
o be
deposited in the archaeological record, a
t the end of a phase of
occupation (
in f
act, at the moment of abandonment 41 )
. The f
irst
c
entury i
s marked by a s
eries of such '
events': the abandonment
of s
ites i
n the Voralpenland (
Bregenz, Kempten
, Salzburg) in
A
.D.40 -
45 42 and movements that f
ollowed the invasion of B
ritain
(
Vindonissa, Mainz), 43 the events o
f the c
ivil war and
s
ubsequent Batavian r
evolt in A
. D.68-71. 44 I
n the c
ase of
V
indonissa, t
he contents of the '
Schutthügel' probably reflect
these changes, as well a
s the f
inal abandonment of that fortress
in A
. D.101. 45 Thus, our c
hronological i
nformation i
s
inconsistent and all f
inds are bound to f
all within one of only
a f
ew categories. Quite s
imply, there i
s l
ittle basis f
or a
c
hronological typology.

One of the prime requirements for d

ecorative typologies to
work i
s t
hat t
here s
hould be some s
ort of empire-wide
development, but t
he mechanisms for this clearly did not exist
in the ancient world. There was no central command in the R
oman
army, other than the emperor himself, 46 and matters of equipment
design and manufacture were c
learly a l
egionary (
or, a
s with
S
allustius Lucullus, 4
7 an army-group) concern, so trends within
equipment are bound t
o be f
ar more parochial t
han i
s
t
raditionally a
ssumed. With these thoughts in mind, i
t i
s now
t
ime to consider some new typologies.

SOME NEW TYPOLOGIES OF MILITARY EQUIPMENT

As has been pointed out, the production of typologies by

a
rchaeologists i
s e
ssentially a s
ubjective task. As C
larke has
pointed out, i
t i
s possible (
indeed desirable) to minimise t
his
s
ubjective element, but true objectivity n
evertheless r
emains
e
lusive. There are, however
, different s
pecies of typology: the
f
unctional typology, where l
ogical explanations are evident f
or
t
he variations embodied within a
rtefacts, or d
ecorative
typologies where such reasons can be suggested might be t
ermed
'
valid' typologies - in other words, a
ssemblages where the

1
14
 5

Fig.2: Types of phalera .f

astening

1
15
process of taxonomy i
s worthwhile because i
t i
s d
efining a
g
enuine phenomenon. '
Invalid' typologies, on t
he other hand,
s
eek to do t
he s
ame, b
ut on s
purious g
rounds; i
f a g
iven
attribute varies at random
, then there i
s l
ittle point in t
rying
t
o d
istinguish a p
attern within i
ts b
ehaviour. The typologies
t
hat are u
sed here a
s e
xamples are not, t
herefore, definitive in
any s
ense of the word, but merely i
llustrative of t
he process.

1
. '
Valid Typologies'

I
n t
his investigation o
f v
alid t
ypologies, i
t w
ill be
u
seful to begin with a s
imple example of t
he f
unctional typology
t
hat i
s independent of any decorative criteria.

a
) P
halera Fastenings
The r
ecent d
etailed publication o
f two hoards of f
irst
c
entury c
avalry e
quipment has c
onsiderably e
xtended o
ur
knowledge o
f t
he workings of Roman horse harness. 48 C
rucial to
t
he f
unctioning of the harness was t
he s
trap j
unction
, which
n
ormally t
ook t
he f
orm of either a r
ing or a phalera. 49 Whilst
t
he f
ront f
aces of t
hese d
iscs c
ould c
ontain a v
ariety o
f
e
laborate d
ecorative s
chemes, the s
uspension system at t
he rear
a
lways had to conform to i
ts f
unctional r
equirements.

Small phalerae might u

se only a s
imple f
lat l
oop t
o hold
them onto t
he l
eather s
trapping (
Fig
.2,1). 5° T
he next l
arger
ones had, in addition
, a hinge at the bottom to which a p
endant
c
ould be a
ttached (
Fig.2,2). 5
1 Even l
arger e
xamples a
lso
i
ncorporated two l
oops a
t the top to which j
unction-loops were
f
astened (
Fig.2,3). 5
2

Another t
ype of phalera does not u
se f
lat l
oops t
o attach
t
hem to straps because t
hese are t
rue s
trap j
unctions. T
hese
u
sually i
ncorporate e
ither t
hree (
Fig
.2,4) or f
our (
Fig.2,5)
l
oops to which j
unction-loops are attached. 5
3

The arrangement of t
hese d
ifferent t
ypes o
f l
oops and
hinges i
s r
elated to t
he role played by t
he phalera within the
harness. That i
s why i
t i
s a f
unctional t
ypology a
nd u
nrelated
t
o any d
ecorative t
ypologies which m
ay also apply t
o one of
t
hese objects.

b
) Belt plates
There are two d
ifferent, b
ut not u
nrelated, t
ypological
d
istinctions t
hat c
an be made in the c
ase of pre-Antonine belt
plates. F
irst, t
here are three broad categories i
nto which a
ll
p
lates s
eem t
o f
it: t
hese c
omprise t
he n
iello-inlaid,
motif-embossed, and roundel-embossed plates (
Fig.3,1-3). T
here
i
s a d
egree of o
verlap amongst these c
lasses which makes i
t

1
16
 1&
"
r
iie
s
5l
i
1 2 3

r
e
r
trr rr-re-r-r -

. el
.
,
0
r o
A
tr
il
,
1
111tAilA1 .
4

4 5 6 7

F
ig.3: B
elt plates (
scale 1
:2)

[
£f
l
atY M ,•
,:f
.Y.t
.Y.T
.Y
i
e *
\

0
.
- (
--
X
b
i
$f Pf
tP W I OHO
Pe
)g 49C 4
. '4.
*.1
01
,*4
•1.
'1: i
'

2 3 4

6 7 8

0 X xxxxxx.o

b
, '
X X XX X

9 1
0 1 1
2

e
nb

Fig.4: '
St.Andrew
's C
ross' belt p
lates (
scale 1
:2)

1
17
d
esirable t
o go f
urther a
nd break d
own e
ach of t
hem i
nto
s
ub-groups.

T
aking j
ust o
ne e
xample f
or t
he purposes of the present
d
iscussion
, the n
iello-inlaid belt plates include a s
eries with
a varying number of '
St. Andrew
's c
ross' motifs (
Fig.3,4-7), and
t
hat w
ithin the s
ub-group with two '
St. Andrew
's c
rosses' there
a
re even more s
ub-types (
Fig.4,1-12). 5
4

c
) P
endants
The l
unula (
Fig.5,1) was one of the e
arliest R
omano-Celtic
p
endant types and was probably connected with the apotropaic
o
rigin o
f horse harness d
ecoration. 5
5 T
his s
uperstitious
f
unction d
efines s
ome o
ther t
ypes o
f pendant, s
uch a
s t
hose
i
ncorporating a prominent phallic motif (
Fig.5,2), 5
6 or t
he
b
ird-headed p
endants with their possible connection with C
eltic
s
ymbolism (
birds being l
inked with C
eltic Mars - F
ig.5,3). 5
7

L
ater pendants i
ncorporated decoration a
ssociated with f
ertility
p
rimarily v
iticulture or the a
corn (
and its v
isual and v
erbal
pun on g
lans - F
ig.5,4). 5
8 This l
atter
, s
ophisticated f
orm
n
evertheless betrays i
ts origin in the humble l
unula when i
t i
s
e
xamined closely (
Fig.6). 5
9

4
3

Fig.5: P
endants (
scale 1
:2)

1
18
 7
2
\

/
7

fr1

F
ig.6: T
he r
elationship between l
unula and t
rifid pendants

1
19
2
. '
Invalid Typologies°

'
Lorica s
egmentata' f
ittings
To be able to f
ollow Robinson i
n d
efining a typological
s
equence amongst c
uirass f
ittings (
in other words, to categorise
t
hem a
s a '
valid typology'), we need to be able to describe the
mechanism whereby t
hey a
chieved t
heir v
arious d
egrees of
s
imilarity t
o e
ach other. T
here i
s l
ittle s
ense in having a
c
entral authority d
ictate s
uch v
ariations i
n s
hape t
o t
he
manufacturers o
f the objects themselves, e
specially in t
he case
of purely decorative items s
uch a
s l
obate hinges. An a
lternative
approach i
s t
o a
scribe variations in shape or crudeness t
o t
he
abilities o
f c
raftsmen c
oncerned. Whatever the r
easons, i
t i
s
c
ertainly possible to i
solate attributes t
hat c
an be u
sed t
o
c
lassify s
ome o
f these objects, at the s
ame time a
s exercising
c
aution with others.

a
) Lobate hinges
I
t would s
eem that the f
orm of the l
obes and the s
houlders
of these objects c
annot be u
sed to c
lassify t
hem
; they had t
o be
c
ut f
rom a double thickness sheet of c
opper a
lloy (
usually an
85 /1 5 brass 6 °
), s
o variations in s
uch attributes may b
e s
olely
d
ue t
o t
he s
kill and e
xperience of t
he craftsman concerned
(
Fig.7,1-9). Likewise, the presence o
r absence of s
tamped r
ings
a
round t
he r
ivet holes does not appear to be very u
seful i
n this
r
espect (
Fig.7,5 & 1
1). 6
1 The t
riangular openings between the
s
houlders o
f t
hese hinges may be significant, but i
t i
s
d
ifficult t
o ay in what way this might be so (
s Fig.7,10-15) .
62
However, there i efinitely a distinction between
s d most hinges
and t
hose f
rom Carnuntum Fig. 7
( ,13-15), particularly in overall
ize and the pointed nature of the l
s obes.

b
) Hinged stran l
itt f
l 1c

Again
, these f
orm a f
airly homogeneous g
roup by and l
arge,
but t
here s
eems t
o be a d
efinite D
anubian s
tyle s
imilar t
o that
hinted at i
n t
he l
obate hinges. F
ittings t
hat a
re l
arger and
f
atter t
han t
hose c
ommonly f
ound in t
he Rhineland and B
ritain
may be one type (
Fig.8,1-4), whilst e
xamples with t
he suggestion
of a l
obate o
rigin may be another (
Fig.8,5-7). T
here m
ay b
e
another u
nusual f
orm f
rom S
trasbourg (
Fig.8,8). Again
,
d
ecorative r
ings and t
he roundness o
r s
quareness o
f t
he more
c
ommon varieties (
Fig.8,9-16) do not appear to be d
iagnostic.

c
) Hinged buckle fittings
Two main types may be d
iscerned here, once again possibly
r
eflecting a d
ifference between Rhineland and D
anube a
rmy-group
e
quipment. T
he more c
ommon r
ectangular f
orms (
Fig.9,1-4), again
f
rom the Rhineland and B
ritain
, d
iffer notably f
rom the D
anubian
e
xamples which have a l
obate p
late a
ttached t
o t
he c
uirass
(
Fig.9,5-8). Other, m
ore m
inor, variations s
uch a
s decorative

1
20
 2 3 4 5

6 7 8 9 1
0

1
2 1
3 1
4 1
5
1

MCb

Fig.7: '
Lorica s
egmentata' l
obate hinges (
scale 1
:2)

2 3 4

5 6 7 8

9 1
0 1 1
2

D@ 1
C C
*0
,

1
3 1
4 1
5 1
6

F
ig.8: '
Lorica s
egmentata' hinged strap f
ittings (
scale 1
:2)

1
21
 0

2 3 4

5 6 7 8

Fig.9: '
Lorica s
egmentata' hinged buckle f
ittings (
scale 1
:2)

r
ings and the rounding of corners are p
robably o
nce a
gain o
f
l
ittle i
mportance.

d
) Cuirass t
ie-hooks
A v
ariety o
f f
orms a
re f
ound, t
he most c
ommon being the
s
traight (
or s
lightly t
apered) p
late w
ith r
ounded s
houlders
(
Fig.10,1-4), b
ut a g
roup f
rom t
he D
anube (
mainly C
arnuntum
a
gain) have a r
emarkable '
waisted' f
orm s
imilar t
o a C
oca-Cola
bottle; t
hey a
lso have v
ery g
ently s
loping s
houlders
(
Fig. 1
0,5-8).

2 3 4

0 r )
C
° 0
5 6 7 8

m
cb

Fig.10: '
Lorica s
egmentata' t
ie hooks (
scale 1
:2)

TYPOLOGICAL STUDIES AND THEIR USES

The embossed belt plates mentioned .

above are one example of
t
he way i
n which t
hese t
ypologies m
ay be o
f u
se t
o u
s.

1
22
E
xamination of a d
istribution map s
hows that they are mainly
f
ound in Upper Germany
, with a f
ew outliers in Britain and Lower
G
ermany (
Fig.11). T
he dating of these particular belt plates i
s
f
airly w
ell known
, g
iven t
heir presence in the S
chutthügel at
V
indonissa (
c.A
.D.45 - a
bandonment o
f l
egio XIII G
emina), 6
3

a
ssociated with the end o
f Phase I
a at Valkenburg (c.A.D.
4
0/1)64, and (less certainly), the abandonment of Rißtissen and
Oberstimm i
n A
.D.69 65 and of the s
outh-western f
orts of Waddon
and Hod H
ill at some point between A
.D.55 and 7
5. 6
6

2-5 2 -5

0 1
00 2
00 3
00 47 0 Km

Fig.11: T
he d
istribution of embossed belt plates

By f
ar t
he most interesting characteristic of these p
lates
i
s t
heir g
eographical spread: most are known f
rom Upper G
ermany
a
nd i
t was a l
egion f
rom that army-group (
II Augusta) t
hat was
i
nvolved i
n t
he s
outh-western c
ampaigns in Britain; moreover
,
Valkenburg has been d
irectly a
ssociated with preparations f
or
t
he i
nvasion of B
ritain (
either because Gaius planned t
o u
se i
t
a
s a s
tarting point
, or more l
ikely
, a
s an intermediate s
tage on
t
he way t
o Boulogne). 6
7 The f
act t
hat t
hese p
lates a
re
apparently f
ound only a
t s
ites with a pre-Boudican f
oundation
d
ate 68 may indicate that they enjoyed a d
egree o
f popularity
w
ith t
he Upper G
erman t
roops s
ome t
ime before t
he invasion of
B
ritain
, but that t
heir popularity was waning by the t
ime of the
c
onquest and they e
ventually d
isappeared.

Amongst the many types of pendant, one of the most s

triking
i
s t
he bird-headed and particularly t
he l
arger s
pecimens. T
hey
a
re v
ery d
istinctive, with their l
ooped '
feathered' heads with
s
tylised b
eaks a
nd e
yes (
Fig.12). Once again
, s
tudying a

1
23
 I
neb

Fig.12: A l
arge '
bird-headed' p
endant f
rom C
irencester (
scale
1
:2)

F
ig.13: The d
istribution of f
igured Thracian c
avalry t
ombstones
and '
bird-headed' pendants in B
ritain

1
24
d
istribution map hints a
t s
ome i
nteresting c
onclusions,
e
specially i
n c
onnection with B
ritain. C
omparison o
f t
he
d
istribution o
f t
he f
ew s
amples known f
rom this province with
t
hat of early tombstones a
ssociated with Thracian units r
eveals
a c
ertain d
egree of coincidence in the pattern (
Fig.13). There
a
re f
ar t
oo f
ew e
xamples of e
ither p
endants o
r t
ombstones t
o
a
llow a
nything c
oncrete, but we might s
ee this a
s a possible
i
ndication of ethnic specificity amongst t
he Thracian a
uxiliary
c
avalry. 6
9

This i
s a
ll v
ery w
ell, and some of t
he s
uppositions put
f
orward here may even be t
rue, but t
here a
re a number o
f
w
arnings t
hat must be r
e-emphasised. F
irst
, t
he s
ize of our
s
ample, even f
or r
elatively c
ommon i
tems l
ike p
endants, i
s
s
eldom l
arge enough t
o f
orm a statistically v
iable s
ample and
a
re thus s
uspect. Next, a
s was admitted e
arlier, t
he present
i
nterpretations a
re, l
ike Robinson
's, dependent upon the model
s
elected f
or u
se t
o i
nterpret t
he f
irst c
entury army's
p
erception and u
se o
f m
ilitary e
quipment. T
hus t
hese a
re
a
lternative s
uggestions and not r
eplacements: t
he objective
i
nterpretation o
f typological data r
emains e
lusive f
or t
he time
b
eing.

F
UTURE WORK

S
pecificity - r
elating certain variants of a g
iven p
iece of
e
quipment t
o certain units - would s
eem t
o be an i
dea t
hat
d
eserves f
urther r
esearch. More r
ealistically
, i
t i
s probably
b
est to t
reat i
t a
s j
ust one possibility to be kept in m
ind a
s
t
he c
orpus of known (
and published) military equipment of this
p
eriod g
rows s
teadily
, a
s i
t must do in t
he f
orseeable f
uture.
I
f i
t c
an be s
hown t
o be a g
enuine phenomenon
, however
, the
possibilities are e
xtremely e
xciting: army-groups, possibly even
p
articular l
egions, c
ould be t
raced f
rom t
heir m
aterial
d
etritus, e
ven when m
ore d
efinite e
vidence, e
specially the
e
pigraphic kind, i
s l
acking. S
uch a t
ool would profoundly affect
o
ur understanding of the army's movements and, hopefully
, of t
he
w
ay in which i
ts c
raftsmen thought. I
t m
ight be possible t
o
i
solate '
masters' working in a particular s
tyle at a particular
t
ime, a
s c
an be done with S
amian ware to a c
ertain extent. 7
0

An interesting development i
n t
he f
ield o
f t
ypological
s
tudies and t
axonomy may b
e p
resented by '
artificial
i
ntelligence'. E
ven t
he most c
ursory e
xamination o
f t
he
s
tructure o
f an '
expert s
ystem
', a program t
hat makes decisions
(
or l
ogical deductions) based upon the information s
upplied t
o
i
t, r
eveals t
hat t
he e
ssential e
lements f
or f
orming a typology
a
re present. 7
1 P
ast types could be f
ed into t
he machine, a
long
w
ith t
he r
ules t
hat d
efine t
he type-groups, and the machine

1
25
would then t
heoretically be able t
o c
lassify n
ew i
tems
automatically. Although d
ata-entry i
s c
lumsy at the moment and
dependent upon the entry of a d
igitised d
escription of an
object, the development of artificial s
ensing devices and shape
recognition are f
undamental t
o c
urrent work i
n artificial
i
ntelligence and are directly relevant to such a proposa1. 7
2

Whilst this i
s unlikely to l
ead to computers performing all
necessary typological analyses without the n
eed f
or human
intervention, i
t may prove t
o be a u
seful a
id f
or t
he
archaeologist to use to draw up rules f
or his own typologies and
t
est t
hem on t
he data, modifying t
hem a
s appropriate. The
ability to define rules in this way can only benefit typological
work on Roman military equipment. 7
3

Even with the a

id of artificial i
ntelligence, i
t will
probably not be possible to achieve the ultimate objectivity.
C
larke said 74 "
the real basis of objectivity i
s to be a
rbitrary
in a narrowly c
onfined and defined manner" and that i
s s
urely
the best we can hope for.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am extremely g
rateful t
o L
indsay Allason-Jones, Jon
Coulston, and my w
ife, Martha Andrews, who a
ll r
ead and
commented upon earlier drafts of this p
aper. A
lthough I have
u
sually a
cted upon their advice, they should in no way be held
responsible for the contents.

NOTES

1
. A thumbnail sketch can be found in GREENE, 1983, 3
2-4 and
1
00-3; t
he process of '
building a typology' i
s outlined in
SMITH, 1976, 2
05-13. S
ee also DORAN & HODSON
, 1975, 1
61-7.

2
. CLARKE, 1
978.

3
. I
bid. 1
51-2. CLARKE l
ikened this to b
irth, m
aturity
, and
death, calling i
t the "
ontogeny of t
he entity" (
ibid. 1
80).

4
. Cf. i
bid. Fig.47.

5
. I
bid. 1
53-4.

6
. Ibid. 1
53.

7
. Ibid. 1
55.

1
26
8
. We may l
egitimately wonder, f
or i
nstance, whether the
evolution of '
eyebrows' on I
mperial-Gallic helmets
(
ROBINSON
, 1
975, 4
6 F
igs.52-61) i
s a real or perceived
phenomenon. Would a Roman c
raftsman have been aware of
this?

9
. CLARKE, 1978, 1
54.

1
0. H
ILL & EVANS, 1
972.

1
1. R
LÖ I
I, 86.

1
2. I
bid. Taf.XV
,I-IX.

1
3. A s
cale f
rom i
st c
entury A
.D. Longthorpe (
FRERE &
ST.JOSEPH, 1974, Fig.27,35) i
s of von Groller's Type V
,
whilst some f
rom early 3
rd century A
.D. Carpow (
WILD
, 1981,
Fig.7) are of Type IV.

1
4. ULBERT, 1969a.

1
5. A classified catalogue of sheaths i
s presented in ETTLINGER
& HARTMANN
, 1
984, 40-3. I am grateful to Prof. W
. H. Manning
f
or bringing this paper to my attention.

1
6. SCOTT, 1980.

1
7. Terms l
ike '
leaf-shaped' are unhelpful, s
ince leaves are
f
ound in an extraordinary variety of shapes. The botanical
metaphor c
an be pursued, however
, and t
erms s
uch a
s
'
pinnate' or '
lanceolate' adopted, but s
ome s
ort of
numerical description s
eems unavoidable - s
ee BARKER
, 1975.

1
8. DENSEM
, 1976.

1
9. ORTON, 1
980, 5
4-62 provides a useful review of the main
r
esults.

2
0. C
f. GREENE, 1
983, Fig.13.

2
1. Consider '
lorica segmentata' l
obate hinges: t
hey a
re a
ll
s
imilar, but f
ew excavated examples (
if any) are identical
- why? The processes governing t
he invention
, r
etention
,
and d
issimulation of even s
uch a s
imple object as this hint
at a d
egree of a complexity about which the archaeologist
can only begin to guess.

2
2. CLARKE, 1978, 1
53 with F
ig.48; cf. ibid. 2
02-3 n
.1 f
or
Chapman's c
omments on the description by Hill & Evans of
this approach a
s '
empiricist'.

1
27
2
3. Republic X
,1.

2
4. ROBINSON
, 1975.

2
5. Ibid. Part 1
, 1
1-144.

2
6. A term used in computer animation t
echniques: presented
with two d
issimilar images, t
he c
omputer proceeds t
o
produce the l
inking s
equence of frames t
hat converts the
f
irst into t
he s
econd, t
hus providing smooth animation
without the necessity to redraw each f
rame manually.

2
7. ROBINSON
, 1975, 46.

2
8. Ibid. Fig.182.

2
9. Ibid. 181-2.

3
0. The wide range of shapes f
rom any one s
ite hints a
t the
difficulties inherent here, and t
he range on the armour
f
rom t
he Corbridge Hoard (
report f
orthcoming) s
erves t
o
underline this impression.

3
1. A
. Böhme in SCHÖNBERGER
, 1978, Abb.73.

3
2. Other types include l
unulae, teardrop
, phallic f
orms and
these c
onstitute a not inconsiderable proportion of
pendants r
ecovered f
rom the archaeological record.

3
3. LAWSON
, 1978,

3
4. ZADOKS-JOSEPHUS JITTA & WITTEVEEN
, 1
977.

3
5. I
bid. 1
76.

3
6. Cf. B
ISHOP, 1985, 1
3 with n
.113.

3
7. ROBINSON
, 1
975, F
igs.84-92.

3
8. HAWKES H
ULL, 1
947, 3
9-40; G
. W
ebster in N
IBLETT, 1985,
1
14.

3
9. F
ITZPATRICK, 1986.

4
0. C
.F.C. Hawkes (
in TODD
, 1985, 1
92-5) has pointed out that
at l
east one phase of t
he military o
ccupation c
ould
post-date the Boudican rebellion.

4
1. B
ISHOP, 1985, 8-9; 1986, 7
21-2.

1
28
4
2. B
regenz: WELLS
, 1
972, 8
0-81; Kempten: ibid. 8
1-3; S
alzburg:
SCHÖNBERGER
, 1
969, 1
51. F
or a u
seful map of t
hese
d
ispositions, s
ee F
ILTZINGER
, 1983, f
rontpapers.

4
3. V
indonissa: SCHÖNBERGER
, 1
969, 1
53; Mainz: l
oc. c
it.

4
4. I
bid. 1
55.

4
5. I
t s
eems t
hat material f
rom the occupation of l
egio X
III
Gemina was deposited in the '
Keltengraben
' (
HARTMANN
, 1
986
,
43) before their s
econd fortress was c
onstructed, whilstt
he S
chutthügel c
ontained material f
rom the l
egiones X
III,
XXI R
apax, and X
I C
laudia, apparently dumped progressively
f
rom e
ast to west (
ibid. 9
4). I
t i
s not clear whether these
deposits a
ccumulated g
radually or in a number of distinct
'
events'.

4
6. CAMPBELL (
1975; 1984) has c
onsidered t
he s
o-called v
iri
militares and s
hown t
hat t
here was a strong e
lement of
amateurism in t
he Roman m
ilitary system
.

4
7. S
uetonius Domit. 1
0,3.

4
8. D
oorwerth: BROUWER
, 1982; Xanten: JENKINS, 1985.

4
9. T
he f
unctions of the various e
lements of horse harness a
re
c
onsidered in B
ISHOP, f
orthcoming.

5
0. BROUWER
, 1982, Taf.1,106b; JENKINS, 1985, F
ig.11.

5
1. BROUWER
, 1982, T
af.3,147b; JENKINS, 1985, F
ig.8.

5
2. BROUWER
, 1
982, Taf.1,138b; JENKINS, 1
985, F
ig.4.

5
3. T
hree r
ings: BROUWER
, 1
982, Taf.2,140b; JENKINS, 1
985,
F
ig.5; f
our r
ings: BROUWER
, 1
982, T
af.2,144b; JENKINS,
1
985, F
ig.6.

5
4. N
eedless t
o s
ay, s
ince s
o f
ew e
xamples of belt plates
s
urvive compared to the presumed original population
, many
s
ub-types are r
epresented by only one plate.

5
5. C
f. B
ISHOP, f
orthcoming.

5
6. JOHNS, 1982, 6
3-4 & 7
3.

5
7. R
OSS, 1
967, 3
42 - the horse and the goose symbolized Celtic
Mars.

1
29
5
8. P
endants such as those from Doorwerth or Xanten have relief
decoration of oakleaf and acorn motifs, but inlaid designs
recalling viticulture.

5
9. The l
unula i
s d
ealt with by ZADOKS-JOSEPHUS J
ITTA
WITTEVEEN
, 1977.

6
0. Orichalcum; the z
inc/copper m
ixture probably v
aried
a
ccording to the method of manufacture of a f
itting.

6
1. Most r
ings appear to be stamped. I
t i
s worth noting that
many objects published with no r
ings in their illustrations
will sometimes r
eveal t
hat s
uch r
ings d
id e
xist upon
examination of the actual item.

6
2. I
t i
s not a temporal f
eature, as R
OBINSON t
hought (
1975,
Fig.182); one of the cuirass e
lements in the Corbridge
Hoard had been r
epaired with s
uch a hinge (
report
f
orthcoming).

6
3. RE '
legio' 1
713.

6
4. GLASBERGEN & GROENMAN-VAN WAATERINGE, 1974, 39.

6
5. Cf. SCHÖNBERGER
, 1969, 155.

6
6. For doubts about the traditional terminal date of Hod Hill,
s
ee TODD
, 1982, 5
3-4.

6
7. B
ut s
ee DE WEERD
, 1977 for a strong case against the direct
involvement of Valkenburg I in the British expedition.

6
8. Which may s
uggest that they only enjoyed a brief spell of
popularity.

6
9. These pendants, or parts of t
hem
, a
re known f
rom
C
irencester (
WACHER & MCWHIRR
, 1982, Fig.36,100), Kingsholm
(
LYSONS, 1
817, P
l.XV
,10), L
ondon (
WEBSTER
, 1
960,
F
ig.6,141), Colchester (
ibid., Fig.4,69), Wroxeter (
ibid.,
Fig.8,256), Aislingen (
ULBERT, 1
959, T
af.21,17), and
Oberstimm (
SCHÖNBERGER
, 1978, Taf.23, B189).

7
0. BULMER
, 1980, 3
8-42.

7
1. C
f. B
ISHOP & THOMAS, 1
984.

7
2. BLAKE, 1985.

7
3. B
ISHOP & THOMAS, 1984, 6
1.

1
30
7
4. C
LARKE, 1
978, 1
54.

1
31
APPENDIX: SOURCES OF ILLUSTRATIONS

F
ig.3: Belt plates

1
. Hod Hill (
BRAILSFORD
, 1962, Fig.4, A112)
2
. Rißtissen (
ULBERT, 1
970, Taf.1,1)
3
. Rheingönheim (
ULBERT, 1969b, Taf.27,3)
4
. Hod Hill (
BRAILSFORD
, 1962, Fig.4, A109)
5
. Hofheim (
RITTERLING, 1
913, Taf.XII,7)
6
. Vindonissa (
FELLMANN
, 1
954, Abb.28, b)
7
. Vindonissa (
UNZ, 1
973, Abb.7,38)

F
ig.4: '
St. Andrew
's cross' belt plates

1
. Colchester Sheepen (
HAWKES & HULL, 1947, Pl.C,39)
2
. Rheingönheim (
ULBERT, 1969b, Taf.27,21)
3
. Hofheim (
RITTERLING, 1
913, Taf.XII,4)
4
. Colchester Sheepen (
HAWKES & HULL, 1947, Pl.CII,17)
5
. Strasbourg (
FORRER
, 1927, Taf.LXXVII,29)
6
. Strasbourg (
FORRER
, 1927, Taf. LXXVII,28)
7
. Mainz (
BEHRENS, 1912, Abb.4,23)
8
. Vindonissa (
FELLMANN
, 1954, Abb.28,c)
9
. Rheingönheim (
ULBERT, 1969b, Taf.27,20)
1
0. Ham Hill (
WEBSTER
, 1960, Fig.5,120)
1
1. Rheingönheim (
ULBERT, 1969b, Taf.27,18)
1
2. Oberstimm (
SCHÖNBERGER
, 1978, Taf.22,B146)

F
ig.5: Pendants

1
. Baden (
UNZ, 1971, Abb.5,44)
2
. Mainz (
BEHRENS, 1918, Abb.10,5)
3
. Besançon (
FEUGERE
, 1
983, F
ig.25,a)
4
. Doorwerth (
BROUWER
, 1982, Taf.3,147)

F
ig.7: '
Lorica s
egmentata' l
obate hinges

1
. The Lunt (
HOBLEY, 1
973, F
ig.23,36)
2
. Rheingönheim (
ULBERT, 1
969b, Taf.33,17)
3
. Rheingönheim (
ULBERT, 1
969b, Taf.33,16)
4
. Longthorpe (
FRERE & ST.JOSEPH, 1
974, F
ig.26,17)
5
. Neuß (
NISSEN et a
l., 1
902, Taf.XXX,81)
6
. Oberstimm (
SCgÖNBERGER
, 1
978, Taf.20,B81)
7
. Oberstimm (
SCHÖNBERGER
, 1978, Taf.20,B78)
8
. Carnuntum (
RLÖ I
I, Taf.XVII,23)
9
. R
ißtissen (
ULBERT, 1970, Taf.4,83)
1
0. R
ißtissen (
ULBERT, 1970, Taf.3,63)
1
1. Hofheim (
RITTERLING, 1
913, Taf.XI,6)
1
2. Hod Hill (
RICHMOND, 1
968, Fig.56,9)
1
3. Carnuntum (
RLÖ I
I, Taf.XIX,57)
1
4. Carnuntum (
RLÖ I
I, Taf.XIX,58)
1
5. Carnuntum (
RLÖ I
I, Taf.XIX,59)

F
ig.8: ILorica segmentata' hinged strap f
ittings

1
. Carnuntum (
RLÖ I
I, Taf.XIX,48)
2
. Carnuntum (
RLÖ I
I, Taf.XVIII,36)
3
. Carnuntum (
RLÖ I
I, Taf.XIX,47)
4
. Carnuntum (
RLÖ I
I, Taf.XIX,58)
5
. Carnuntum (
RLÖ I
I, Taf.XIX,54)
6
. Carnuntum (
RLÖ I
I, Taf.XIX,46)
7
. Carnuntum (
RLÖ I
I, Taf.XIX,49)
8
. Strasbourg (
FORRER, 1927, Taf.LXXVII,25)
9
. London (
WEBSTER
, 1960, Fig.6,162)
1
0. Ham Hill (
WEBSTER
, 1960, Fig.5,126)
1
1. R
ißtissen (
ULBERT, 1
959, Taf.61,9)
1
2. R
ißtissen (
ULBERT, 1970, Taf.3,49)
1
3. Oberstimm (
SCHÖNBERGER
, 1978, Taf.20,B88)
1
4. Oberstimm (
SCHÖNBERGER
, 1978, Taf.20,B89)
1
5. Hod Hill (
RICHMOND, 1968, Fig.56,12)
1
6. Rheingönheim (
ULBERT, 1969b, Taf.33,1)

F
ig.9: ILorica s
egmentata' hinged buckle f
ittings

1
. London (
WEBSTER
, 1960, Fig.6,159)
2
. Rheingönheim (
ULBERT, 1
969b, Taf.33,23)
3
. Chichester (
DOWN & RULE, 1971, Fig.8.15,21)
4
. Vindonissa (
UNZ, 1
973, Abb.9,90)
5
. R
ißtissen (
ULBERT, 1
970, Taf.3,44)
6
. S
isek (
HOFFILLER
, 1912, S
1.11)
7
. Carnuntum (
RLÖ I
I, Taf.XVIII,44)
8
. Carnuntum (
RLÖ I
I, Taf.XVIII,41)

F
ig.10: '
Lorica s
e2mentata' tie hooks

1
. Hod Hill (
RICHMOND
, 1
968, Fig.56,13)
2
. Rheingönheim (
ULBERT, 1969b, Taf.34,51)
3
. R
ißtissen (
ULBERT, 1970, Taf.3,72)
4
. Hod Hill (
RICHMOND, 1968, Fig.56,14)
5
. Carnuntum (
PLO I
I, Taf.XVII,255)
6
. Carnuntum (
PLO I
I, Taf.XVII,258)
7
. Carnuntum (
RLÖ I
I, Taf.XVII,256)
8
. Carnuntum (
RLÖ I
I, Taf.XVII,253)
F
ig.11: The distribution of embossed b
elt plates (
based on
SCHÖNBERGER
, 1978, Abb.76)

F
ig.12: Large '
bird-headed' pendant (
after WACHER & MCWHIRR
,
1
982, Fig.36,100)

B
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1
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H
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Excavations at the Lunt Roman m
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985: I
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978: A
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1
36
 P
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11/2, 1904
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, (
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1
38
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1
39
 R
OMAN M
ILITARY E
QUIPMENT ON THIRD CENTURY TOMBSTONES

J
.C. Coulston

British s
tudents of Roman s
culpture and of the Roman Army
have l
argely ignored third century d
epictions o
f s
oldiers on
t
ombstones. 1 This i
s partly because f
ew spectacular examples of
t
he genre occur in B
ritain and attention has understandably
concentrated on the r
icher f
irst century f
igures. I
n contrast to
these the third century stones almost all depict the deceased in
'
undress', often with the absolute m
inimum o
f m
ilitary
equipment. Very f
ew e
xamples occur in the Rhineland, precisely
t
he region where t
he f
irst century stones are most numerous.
German scholars have been more attentive because of the numerous
t
hird century small-finds f
rom Upper Rhenish and R
aetian f
orts
which may in s
ome c
ategories be functionally explained with
r
eference to the sculpture. The third century s
tones a
re most
numerous i
n the D
anubian r
egion where G
erman and Austrian
s
culptural studies have unavoidably dealt with them
. 2

However, it i
s important to draw attention t
o t
he third
c
entury depictions a
s an Empire-wide phenomenon and to outline
t
he important characteristics of the equipment shown. A study of
t
he distribution and the relation of archaeological small-finds
r
aises many important questions concerning the development of
Roman arms and armour in the third century.

CHARACTERISTICS AND DATING

The f
amiliar f
irst to second century tombstones have one or
more of the f
ollowing depictional e
lements: a s
hort-sleeved
t
unic (
very occasionally with l
ong, t
ight s
leeves, or baggy
t
hree-quarter l
ength s
leeves); one or two plated c
ingula
with'apron'; an infantry paenula or cavalry s
agum; a g
ladius or
c
avalry spatha on the dexter hip; a r
ectangular, hexagonal or
oval s
cutum; hasta(e) f
or a
uxiliaries, pila f
or l
egionaries;
s
ometimes a helmet and a l
orica hamata or squamata. 3

A new f
ormula appears perhaps at the end o
f t
he s
econd
c
entury AD d
epicting a very d
ifferent panoply (
Figs.1-4). The
s
agum is a
lready worn by a
ll t
roops on the Marcus Column in Rome
and completely replaces t
he paenula on t
he t
ombstones. 4 The
t
unic i
s i
nvariably l
ong-sleeved. P
ita do appear 5 but on most
l
egionary s
tones t
hey a
re r
eplaced by hastae o
r s
horter
,
barb-headed weapons (
Fig.1). 6 The shields are of the earlier,
oval type or are broader and proportionally s
quatter ovals
(
Figs.1-3). The most characteristic f
eatures are the belts and

1
41
 P
1.1

P
1.2

1
42
their f
ittings. The s
ingle c
ingulum i
s of varying breadth but
may be very wide and an almost ubiquitous '
ring-buckle' i
s used
t
o f
asten it at the f
ront. A number of methods are indicated for
f
astening, such as s
imply passing the two ends through the r
ing
f
rom behind and a
ttaching them on e
ither s
ide to fungiform
s
tuds. Alternatively the dexter strap-end i
s passed back a
long
the belt t
o the d
exter hip, then allowed to hang down. 7 When
s
plit the two ends o
ften have ivy-leaf t
erminals and the
d
eceased may be s
een on many reliefs idly holding this strap in
his dexter hand (
Fig.4). 8 Sometimes both ends of the belt hang
down f
rom the r
ing and are tucked back up behind the c
ingulum
g
iving a double-crescent e
ffect. 9 By i
tself t
his t
ype o
f
r
ing-buckle i
s sufficient to identify the deceased as a soldier.

The sword, of g
ladius or spatha l
ength, i
s u
sually
s
uspended f
rom a baldric on the s
inister hip. Chapes are
pelta-forml° or, m
ore u
sually, large, f
lat and round (
Figs.2,
4
). 1
1 When not obscured by cloak or baldric the s
cabbard i
s
often attached t
o the belt by a s
lide. 1
2 The baldric i
s very
w
ide, sometimes having applied decorative plates on t
he c
hest
a
rea, a roundel over the scabbard and a large ivy-leaf terminal
on the end hanging down alongside the scabbard (
Fig.4). 1
3 Body
a
rmour a
lmost n
ever appears though an occasional helmet may be
s
een (
Fig.3).

The f
irst datable depiction of this panoply i
s from E
ining,
placed by a consular date in AD211, and shows a
n officer (
T.
F
lavius Felix) s
acrificing on an a
ltar. 1
4 He wears a
l
ong-sleeved tunic, s
agum and r
ing-buckle. For more g
eneral
d
ating of these stones names of deceased soldiers often provide
a t
erminus post quem by including '
M. Aurelius'. R
egimental
names with imperial t
itles (
e.g. '
Severiana A
lexandriana',
'
Philippiana', etc.) g
ive a dating bracket. Some stones, such as
t
he example f
rom Apamea Syriae (
dated to AD231-33) may be d
ated
by supposed historical context. 1
5 Examples s
ecurely dated to the
t
hird c
entury i
nclude reliefs f
rom Albano (
legio I
I P
arthica),
t
he ship relief f
rom Palmyra, the tribune Terentius f
resco f
rom
Dura-Europos and t
he s
eries of Roman soldiers and emperors in
t
he Sassanid v
ictory r
eliefs of S
hapur I a
t B
ishapur and
Naqsh-i-Rustam. 1
6 A t
ombstone f
rom Aquileia has none of the
c
haracteristic f
ittings (
although others f
rom the town do) but
has a prominent c
ross-bow brooch and a '
Pannonian bonnet',
possibly indicative of a T
etrardhic period o
r l
ater d
ate. 1
7

P
1.1 Tombstone o
f an unknown s
oldier f
ound i
n I
stanbul
Archaeological Museum
.

P
1.2 Tombstone o
f Aprilius Spidatus f
rom a n
umerus
D
ivitensium. I
stanbul Archaeological Museum.

1
43
 P
l. 3

P
1.4

1
44
L
ikewise the D
iocletianic Luxor f
rescoes do not perhaps depict
r
ing-buckles, possibly g
iving a general terminus ante quem f
or
t
he '
ring-buckle' panoply. 1
8

A vast majority of the stones with surviving inscriptions

prove to have been s
et up by and/or f
or l
egionarii and
praetoriani. The a
uxiliary exceptions often have ranks above
plain miles a
lthough auxiliary milites do occur at Aquincum
,
I
ntercisa and Brigetio in particular. 1
9 The f
irst and third
s
ites were l
egionary fortresses where auxiliary burial practices
were most l
ikely influenced by l
egionary s
tones and I
ntercisa
was e
xceptional f
or the wealth of the Syrian community and its
s
trong l
egionary connections. 2° Very f
ew e
xamples f
all w
ithin
t
he '
horseman' type of relief, the exceptions being confined to
s
cattered s
ingle occurences, or to equites s
ingulares Augusti in
R
ome. 2
1 The majority of third century stones depict f
ull-figure
or half-figure standing soldiers, sometimes with their families,
though occasionally horses appear in the background or being l
ed
by the deceased o
r his c
ab . C
omparative pay l
evels were
presumably a factor governing the presence of f
igures on s
telai
a
s i
n earlier periods, hence t
he praetorian and l
egionary
predominance.

D
ISTRIBUTION

The sculptural monuments of R

ome are quite u
seless f
or
third c
entury equipment studies. The arches of Severus are very
heavily stylised in the l
arge panels and hopelessly conservative
i
n t
he s
oldier-prisoner pedestal r
eliefs. The C
onstantinian
panels on t
he Arch of Constantine are for the most part the
product of s
arcophagus s
culptors and the style i
s not concerned
with s
mall details o
f belt or s
cabbard f
ittings. This hiatus in
t
he capital puts even greater emphasis on t
he third c
entury
t
ombstone f
igures, e
specially praetorian examples f
rom the c
ity.

Examples of f
irst to second century tombstone reliefs are
c
oncentrated along the Rhine and in Britain with a f
ew Upper and
M
iddle Danubian examples. I
n t
he E
astern P
rovinces t
hey a
re
v
irtually a
bsent w
ith j
ust a f
ew instances in Greece. 2
2 Rather
more occur in the West African provinces though due in p
art t
o
outside vexillationes. 2
3

P
1.3 Tombstone o
f Aurelius Surus f
rom the l
egio I Adiutrix.
I
stanbul Archaeological Museum.

P
1.4 Tombstone of an unknown soldier'found at t
he s
ite o
f
Herakleia Pontica. I
stanbul Archaeological Museum
.

1
45
 The third century r
eliefs f
orm a r
ather d
ifferent
d
istribution pattern. 2
4 Something of a r
enaissance i
n t
he
e
rection of f
igural t
ombstones s
eems to have occurred in the
m
iddle Danubian r
egion in t
he late s
econd to early third c
entury
AD and i
t i
s l
ikely t
hat the actual v
olume o
f s
uch p
ieces
produced there was proportionally g
reater t
han i
n e
arlier
periods. This may be a d
irect f
unction of t
he political,
s
trategic and economic importance of the I
llyrian armies and the
r
enewed practice spread eastwards and westwards f
rom the region
.
There may be of course be a survival e
lement involved, notably
a
t Brigetio and Intercisa where very large bodies of s
culpture
and inscriptions are present. However, t
his need not distort the
o
verall p
icture unduly. T
he spread o
f t
ombstone t
ypes and
d
ecorative motifs f
rom the Danube direct to Rome i
s indisputable
(
for example the use of the '
Danubian R
ider God' type hunt scene
on equites s
ingulares Augusti tombstones) and must be a d
irect
r
esult of the Severan reform of the Imperial Guard units and the
c
onsequent shifts i
n r
ecruitment patterns. Speidel attributed
t
he Danubian revival of f
igured t
ombstones t
o a c
ontinuous
t
radition in t
he Greek East but there are no '
bridging'
e
xamples, geographical or t
emporal, to s
upport this
s
upposition. 2
5

The c
oncentration of t
ombstone o
ccurrences principally
r
eflects the distribution of a particular f
unerary practice. The
v
irtual absence of third century f
igures on the R
hine a
nd the
Lower D
anube do not of course reflect an absence of equipment
types e
specially in the case of the former where much small-find
work has been carried out. 2
6 However, it i
s not t
he absence of
t
ombstone representations which i
s so significant as much a
s the
presence of t
hem in r
egions l
argely devoid of a small-finds
r
ecord comparable with t
he ,
British
, R
henish and D
anubian
provinces. D
ura-Europos apart, e
xtraordinarily f
ew r
elevant
s
mall-finds occur in Greece, Asia M
inor, S
yria
, P
alestine and
North Africa. Third century tombstones in contrast occur in all
t
hese r
egions 27 contributing something t
o contemporary
d
iscussion of equipment uniformity and r
egional currency.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL F
INDS

The equipment depicted on t

he t
hird c
entury stones i
s
well-supported archaeologically and a combination of reliefs and
small-finds has a
llowed r
econstruction of t
he belts and
s
cabbards i
n particular. S
everal c
lasses of i
ron
, bronze and
bone f
inds are associated with t
he c
ingulum and baldric. T
he
r
ing-buckles occur either a
s plain r
ings or as more complex and
d
ecorated adjustable types, notably a
t N
iederbieber, S
aalburg
and I
ntercisa. 2
8 At Intercisa grave-finds i
n s
itu suggested the
f
unction and position on the body. 2
9 Numerous f
ungiform s
tud

1
46
f
inds may include those used on the c
ingulum.

Surviving t
hird century l
eather baldrics f
rom Thorsbjerg
and Vimose (
c.7-8cm wide, 1
18.5cm l
ong) correspond well with
s
culptural d
epictions and the appearance of a bronze '
phalera'
(
Fig.4). The latter appear archaeologically a
s p
lain r
oundels
(
Thorsbjerg, Vimose, Saalburg, Zugmantel etc.), a
s roundels with
i
nset reliefs (
Vimose, S
imris) and a
s c
omplex f
igural and
l
ettered openwork (
Vimose, Carlisle, Zugmantel, H
igh R
ochester
e
tc.). 3° S
imilar openwork r
ectangular plates with hinged
'
tongues' were in the past identified a
s attachments f
or the
r
ibbons hanging f
rom s
tandard cross-bars. The Vimose baldrics
had punched decoration indicating the baldric positioning of
t
hese plates. This and the phalera positioning are c
learly
c
orroborated by the B
ishapur reliefs. 3
1

Bronze s
cabbard-slides were apparently i
n u
se f
rom
approximately the m
id s
econd c
entury AD but only appear in
d
epictions of the third century. I
ron s
lides were u
sed i
n the
third century and bone and i
vory examples o
ccur a
t South
S
hields, London, Mainz, Intercisa, Novae, Khisfine and i
n the
D
anish bog de p
osits. 3
2 The important point demonstrated by the
r
eliefs i
s that the s
lide was worn outermost (
Figs.1, 3
). The
baldric d
id not always pass through the l
ong s
lide opening but
i
s often depicted as overlaying the sword with the phalera over
t
he obscured s
lide area (
Fig.4). Oldenstein has explained this
method of attaching the non-plated end of the baldric d
irectly
a
round the s
cabbard with the end strip tied to an eye projecting
f
rom the back of the phalera. 3
3 Thus the plated end hangs f
reely
a
longside the s
cabbard. C
learly a variety o
f s
cabbard
attachments were employed j
udging from the reliefs.

The l
arge, c
ircular chape s
een on s
o many t
ombstones i
s
well-represented by German f
inds (
Mainz, Köln
, Niederbieber
e
tc.) and examples f
rom Danish Nydam
, Dura-Europos, 3
4 Khisfine
and the Syrian H
auran. 3
5 P
eltaform d
hapes on the tombstone
r
eliefs are attested archaeologically again f
rom the mid s
econd
c
entury AD. Bone box-chapes occur in Britain and Germany but do
not occur on sculpture except perhaps on the B
ishapur r
ock
r
elief s
. 3
6 Ulbert c
lassified third century spathae f
rom Danish
and l
imes sites into a very l
ong, narrow S
traubing/Nydam type
(
length: width proportion 1
5-17:1) and a L
auriacum type
(
8-12:1). 3
7 S
ome of the former are a
lmost a metre l
ong. F
inds
f
rom Künzing, however, together with t
ombstone r
eliefs
d
emonstrate continuity in the use of a s
hort sword a
s l
ater
s
uggested by Vegetius' s
emispatha (
Fig.4). 3
8

These belt a
nd sword f
ittings a
re mostly g
iven general
d
ating brackets by the occupational periods of Upper
R
hine-Raetian l
imes s
ites a
ssociated with known barbarian

147
i
ncursions and abandonments. 3
9 A useful s
ecurely dated f
unerary
d
eposit i
s the Lyon g
rave with coins of AD194, plausibly
a
ssociated with the Battle of Lugdunum i
n AD197. 4° The g
rave
produced a spatha, a bronze scabbard s
lide and a bronze baldric
phalera. Two identical bronze strap-ends may represent the split
ends of a wide c
ingulum.

According to sculptural representations oval s

hields were
i
n u
se by the praetoriani in the f
irst century AD and by some
l
egionarii at l
east f
rom the late f
irst c
entury and probably
t
hroughout t
he imperial period. 41 The oval shields on the third
c
entury stones were another evolutionary s
tage i
n t
he s
cutum
d
evelopment and may be identified with t
he Dura oval examples. 4
2

The g
reat hiatus in t
he s
eries of surviving infantry helmets
between the Niedermörmter bronze l
egionary example, d
ated by
R
obinson t
o the e
arly third century AD
, and the early fourth
c
entury Intercisa helmets 43 is only i
nadequately f
illed by
t
ombstone representations (
Fig.3). T
hese d
epict s
omething
s
imilar to the third century cavalry helmets with a one-piece
c
heek protection l
eaving a '
T' shaped f
ace opening. 44 HOW much
of a projecting neck-flange i
s present c
annot be s
aid with
c
ertainty and s
culptural evidence f
or helmet types i
s anyway
notoriously unreliable.

The Caerleon weapon hoard contained pilum-heads possibly

d
ating t
o t
he third century AD. 45 Few p
ila occur on tombstones
a
lthough Vegetius s
uggests the continued use of heavy t
hrowing
weapons. T
he stelai imply l
egionary abandonment of the p
ilum in
f
avour of s
horter, l
ighter spears which may r
epresent t
he
precursors of Vegetius' Late Roman types. 4
6

The t
hird century representations i
mply certain changes in
m
ilitary equipment, the cultural and t
actical i
mplications of
which are as yet f
ar from clear. Without a fuller archaeological
r
ecord f
or the Danubian region at l
east they threaten to remain
s
o. The S
armatian and Parthian interaction spheres may b
oth be
r
esponsible for the process of change, e
specially where s
cabbard
s
lides are concerned, these being essentially of Central Asiatic
origin. O
n the p
edestal of Trajan's Column s
lides appear on
aco-Sarmatian scabbards and in S
D cene C the s
inister barbarian
horse-holder has one on his scabbard. A gradual influence of
barbarian equipment on Danubian region R
oman usage seems l
ikely,
e
specially in the equestrian sphere (
compare t
he u
se o
f t
he
draco, contus e
tc.). Trousdale suggests that the Parthians used
t
he scabbard s
lide as a result of nomadic contacts or o
f t
heir
A
siatic origins. 47 I
n Palmyrene sculpture the characteristically
R
oman '
four-ring' suspension method i
s depicted until the l
ater
s
econd century AD. Thereafter s
cabbard ‚
slides a
re e
xclusively
s
hown, t
he e
arliest dated example being the B
eth Phaseil g
enii
r
elief of AD191. 48 That t
hese c
hanges were having i
mportant

1
48
e
ffects outside the Roman Empire i
s clearly demonstrated by the
e
xtraordinary f
inds f
rom Free Germany, particularly t
hose f
rom
D
enmark. What this meant in terms of changing barbarian weapons
systems and Roman modifications to combat them i
s a
lso obscure
at present. However, the uniformity o
f t
he s
culptural
r
epresentations and the small-find types a
cross t
he Empire
points t
o a uniformity of equipment which cannot be explained
away solely by t
roop movements.

The point made above that a r

ing-buckle on a f
igure i
s
s
ufficient t
o i
dentify t
he deceased a
s a soldier i
s of some
i
mportance. In the f
irst to second century AD the Roman soldier
was d
istinguishable f
rom '
civilians' when he was in '
undress' by
his hobnailed boots, his paenula and his c
ingulum militare (
and
sword if carried). 49 By the third c
entury he no l
onger wore
c
haracteristically m
ilitary caligae and the sagum had replaced
the paenula. Sagum and tunic s
eem t
o have been e
ssentially
s
imilar t
o '
civilian
' dress and, unless c
olour was used to
d
istinguish soldiers, only the c
ingulum was a d
istinguishing
f
eature. 5° One m
ight go a
s f
ar a
s to s
ay that visually the
c
ingulum militare '
made' the soldier. When S
everus cashiered the
praetorians their belts were confiscated. 5
1 With the Late Roman
Imilitarisation
' of the c
ivil service belts became the badges of
office, t
o be conferred or c
onfiscated with f
avour or
d
isfavour. 5
2

NOTES

1
. This paper i
s a preliminary note to a detailed survey of 3rd
century f
igured military tombstones.

2
. For example, HOFMANN
, 1905; UBL, 1
969.

3
. Many l
st-2nd c
entury t
ombstones d
epict t
he deceased in
'
undress', i
.e. without body armour and helmet. Virtually
a
ll the 3
rd century stones do l
ikewise so cannot be used in
any d
iscussion of a supposed decline in the use of infantry
armour. Robinson
's conclusions were based on an i
ncorrect
observation o
f t
he Arch of Severus in the Forum Romanum,
Rome (
1975, 1
71).

4
. W
ILSON
, 1929.

5
. DURRY, 1938, pl.X.B and CUMONT, 1942, pl.XX.1 for two Rome
examples. Another pilum appears on a relief in the Museo
C
ivico
, Bologna.

Mus. Aquileia, 1
972, nos 348-9, 3
51; S
PEIDEL, 1
976, f
ig.3
(
Istanbul).

1
49
7
. BARK6CZI e
t a
l., 1
954
, f
ig.19, 3
2.A-C; UBL
, 1
969, f
ig.169;
OLDENSTEIN
, 1
976, f
ig.2,8.

8
. HOFMANN
, 1
905, f
ig.51 (
Salona); t
sperandieu, 1
907-66
,
no.5507 (
Straßburg); MENDEL
, 1
914, n
os 8
91-2 (
Heracleia
Pontica); C
.S.I.R., D
eutschland, I
,1, no.31 (
Augsburg).

9
. F
or example, CUMONT
, 1
942, pl.XX.1 (
Rome).

1
0. MENDEL
, 1
914, n
o.36 (
Istanbul); C
.S.I.R., G
reat B
ritain,
1
,2, no.47 (
Bath).

1
1. I
nterestingly none of the British stones depict round chapes
which c
oincidentally do not o
ccur i
n t
he p
rovince's
archaeological record.

1
2. For example, SPEIDEL
, 1
976, f
ig.2-3 (
Istanbul).

1
3. HOFMANN
, 1
905, f
ig.56 (
Aquicum
); MENDEL
, 1
914, no.891
(
Heracleia Pontica); SPEIDEL, 1976
, f
ig.4 (
Perinthus).

1
4. C
.S.I.R
., D
eutschland, I
,1, no.477.

1
5. BALTY
, 1
981, 2
00, f
ig.221.

1
6. TENTORICI, 1
975, f
ig.313; C
OLLEDGE
, 1
976, p1.103; CUMONT
,
1
926, pl.XLIX-L; GHIRSHMAN
, 1962, p1.197, 2
02, 2
04.

1
7. Mus. Aquileia, 1972, no.354.

1
8. MONNERET DE V
ILLARD
, 1
953, p
l.XXX-II;. KALAVREZOU-MAXEINER
,
1
975, pl.I-II, 7
-14.

1
9. For e
xample, HOFMANN
, 1
905, f
ig.58; BARK6CZI, 1
951,
pl.XII.2; BARK6CZI e
t a
l., 1
954, pl.XLI.5.

2
0. F
ITZ, 1972, 1
10-2, 1
65.

2
1. For e
xample, S
PEIDEL
, 1
975, p
1.2 (
Nablus, P
alestine);
SPEIDEL
, 1
978, p
1.1 (
Lambaesis); AMELUNG, 1
903, p
1.28
(
Rome); STUART JONES
, 1
912, p1.82, 8
4 (
Rome).

2
2. KOS, 1
978, p1.1.

2
3. Collected by BENSEDDIK, 1
979
, b
ut o
mitting 3
rd c
entury
examples.

2
4. For a brief summary of occurrences s
ee COULSTON
, 1
983, and
f
or Britain s
ee COULSTON & PHILLIPS, f
orthcoming, no.193. A

1
50
 v
ery u
seful catalogue has now been provided by NOELKE, 1
986.

2
5. SPEIDEL
, 1976, 1
35 c
ites Black Sea s
telai a
s influential but
i
n f
act t
hey had l
ittle o
r n
o e
ffect on t
hose areas
m
ilitarily most c
losely connected, namely the Lower D
anube
and northern Asia M
inor.

2
6. The p
rimary work on the small-finds, heavily r
elied upon in
t
his paper
, i
s OLDENSTEIN
, 1
976.

2
7. I
n addition to t
hose mentioned here and in C
OULSTON
, 1
983:
Mus. Luxor, 1
981, no.296; REINACH
, 1
912 (
Auzia); S
PEIDEL,
1
978, p1.2 (
Tipasa).

2
8. BARK6CZI et a
l., 1954, pl.XXV
.1, 3
; ALFÖLDI et al., 1
957,
— —
456-61; OLDENSTEIN
, 1
976
, 2
18-9.

2
9. BARK6CZI et a
l., 1
954
, 8
7, f
ig.23, 9
7-9
.

3
0. STERNQUIST
, 1
954; OLDENSTEIN
, 1976
, 2
26-34; ALLASON,JONES
,
1
985; i
dem
, 1
986.

3
1. STERNQUIST
, 1
954; OLDENSTEIN
, 1
976, 2
23-6, f
ig.10;
GHIRSHMAN
, 1962, p1.197.

3
2. BARK6CZI et a
l., 1
954
, p
l.XIV
.1-2, XX.3; TROUSDALE, 1975,
2
20-9
, 2
36-7; OLDENSTEIN
, 1
976
, 9
5-109; CHAPMAN
, 1976.

3
3. OLDENSTEIN
, 1976
, 2
28-9, f
ig.11-2.

3
4. HUNDT, 1
953; 1
955; OLDENSTEIN
, 1
976
, 1
16; pers. comm
. Mr S
.
James.

3
5. TROUSDALE, 1975, 1
06-7, p1.18-9; pers. obs. National Museum
,
Damascus.

3
6. GHIRSHMAN, 1962, p1.197.

3
7. ULBERT, 1
974, 2
15-6.

3
8. I
bid., 2
10-11, f
ig.3; Vegetius, 1
1,15.

3
9. OLDENSTEIN
, 1
976
, 5
9-66.

4
0. ULBERT, 1
974, 2
11-15, f
ig.4; OLDENSTEIN
, 1
976
, 88-9
.

4
1. STRONG
, 1
980, p
1.72 (
Cancelleria r
elief); S
ZILAGYI, 1
956,
pl.XXXVI (
Aquincum s
tela).

4
2. ROSTOVTZEFF e
t a
l., 1939, 3
26-69, pl.XLI-II, XLIV-VI.

1
51
4
3. ROBINSON
, 1975, 7
3; THOMAS
, 1971, 13-25.

"
4
4. C
.S.I. R., a
esterreich, I
II, 2
, no.86 (
Enns); S
PEIDEL, 1
976,
f
ig.2 (
Istanbul), 5 (
Brigetio).

45. NASH-WILLIAMS, 1
932, f
ig.20-21.

46. Vegetius, 1
,20.

4
7. TROUSDALE, 1
975, 85-7. For the question of o
utside
influences on Roman equipment and tactical developments s
ee
COULSTON, 1986.

48. COLLEDGE, 1976, p1.44.

4
9. Cf. Petronius, S
atyricon, 8
3.

5
0. The evidence f
or t
unic c
olours i
s d
iffuse and mostly of
dubious value. Reliable depictions of 3
rd c
entury s
oldiers
show white tunics with purple embroidered bands and orbiculi
(
CUMONT
, 1
926, pl.XLIX-L, Dura f
resco; MONNERET DE VILLARD,
1953, pl.XXX-XXXIII, Luxor f
resco; Mus. Luxor, 1981, no.290,
Der-el-Medineh(?) mummy portrait). These are
indistinguishable f
rom '
civilian
' dress depicted in 3
rd-4th
century mosaics and f
rescoes (
BANDINELL1, 1
971, p
1.86-7,
199, 2
07, 2
11, 2
26-7, 2
30, 3
13).

5
1. Cf. Herodian, 1
1,13,10.

5
2. JONES, 1
964, 5
66; L
'ORANGE, 1965, 7
-8; WIDENGREN
, 1968. Cf.
Zosimus, Historia Nova, 1
11,19; V
,46. •

B
IBLIOGRAPHY

ALFÖLDI et a
l. 1957: M
.R. Alföldi, L
. Barköczi, J
. F
itz, K
.S.
Pöczy
, A
. Radnöti, A
. Salamon
, K
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.B.
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I, (
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. Allason-Jones, '
An e
agle mount f
rom
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985,
2
64-6

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. Allason-Jones, '
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agle mount f
rom
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aalburg-Jahrbuch, 42, 1986
, 68-9

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. Amelung, D
ie S
culpturen des Vaticanischen
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Berlin 1903)

1
52
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omane, (
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972)

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. Barköczi, Brigetio, (
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t a
l. 1954: L
. Barköczi, G
. Erdelyi, E
. F
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, F
.
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,
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, '
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', Antiquaries Journal, LVI, 1976, 2
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.A. R. Colledge, The Art of P
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, '
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09-13

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.C. Coulston
, '
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assanid
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. Freeman & D
. Kennedy (
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The Defence of t
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9-75

COULSTON & P
HILLIPS f
orthcoming: J
.C. Coulston and E
.J.
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f
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ur l
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942)

D
URRY 1938: M
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P P

ESPERANDIEU 1
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1907-6 0

1
53
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972: J
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962: R
. Ghirshman
, I
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962)

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Nachträge z
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ömischen
R
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(
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964)

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The imperial
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.S. Kos, '
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egionary f
rom
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8, 1978
, 2
2-5

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omaines et Byzantines, Mus es I
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II,
(
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914)

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The temple of
t
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egionary
f
ortress a
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, I
I', Archaeologia Cambrensis, 8
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986: P
. Noelke, '
Ein neuer Soldatengrabstein aus Köln'
in S
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3.
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983, (
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1986), 2
13-25

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976: J
. O
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, '
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L
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.P. L
' Orange, Art Forms and C
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n the
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1
54
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. R
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eliefs Grecs et
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_ s,
. I
I, (
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.R. Robinson
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(
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l. 1
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. B.
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eventh and Eighth S
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939)

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1.3, 1975, 2
02-31

S
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.P. Speidel, '
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954: B
. Sternquist
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B
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3, 1954
, 5
9-68

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980: D
. Strong, Roman Art, (
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Ancient S
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Oxford 1
912)

S
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. S
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, (
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. Tentorici, Castra Albana, (
Rome 1975)

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971: E
.B. Thomas, Helme, S
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975: W
. Trousdale, The Long Sword and S
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i
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974: G
. U
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.
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5.
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968: G
. W
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1
55
 T
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33-55

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ILSON 1929: L
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i
n Rome, VII, 1929, 169-72

1
56
 A N
OTE ON R
OMAN M
ILITARY E
QUIPMENT F
ROM R
OMANIA

A
lexandra D
iaconescu and C
oriolan Opreanu

We have written this short note aware that the exchange of

i
deas and i
nformation i
s e
ssential when a
ttempting t
o d
iscuss
t
he d
isplay and e
volution o
f R
oman m
ilitary equipment. Any
q
uantitative approach t
o t
he s
ubject i
s bound to b
e d
ifficult.
F
irst because t
he n
umber of artefacts one could excavate on a
s
ite r
epresents in f
act but a small s
ample, and not n
ecessarily
t
he typical one, o
f t
hose which were i
n use at that time.
S
econd, because a f
airly l
arge n
umber o
f f
inds f
rom c
ertain
a
reas are not available to most s
pecialists due to d
ifficulties
i
n e
stablishing contexts or the availability of published f
inal
r
eports. I
nterim r
eports, which a
re more f
requent, g
enerally
a
void small f
inds o
r do not g
ive s
ufficient d
ata .
bout t
he
a
rchaeological c
ontext and t
hus, i
mportant e
lements of dating
a
re missing
.

I
n Romania, in the l
ast 2
0 years, l
arge s
cale e
xcavations
were p
erformed on many Roman f
orts producing mainly s
mall f
inds
c
onsisting of mostly m
ilitary equipment. We hope t
hat i
n t
he
n
ear f
uture, t
his m
aterial, which we e
stimate at around 1
,000
b
ronze objects, will be published. The authors have prepared for
p
rint a f
irst l
ot of 1
50 p
ieces f
rom the auxiliary f
ort at Giläu
(
district of Cluj) a
nd we have strong reasons t
o b
elieve t
hat
s
oon more p
ieces f
rom P
orolissum o
r G
herla a
nd f
rom t
he
l
egionary f
ortress at T
urda (
Potaissa) will be published. S
till
s
ome b
ig private c
ollections f
rom the l
ast c
entury and t
hose of
v
arious museums i
n t
he c
ountry a
re n
ot y
et s
ufficiently
e
xplored.

A c
ategory o
f equipment which calls f
or s
pecial attention
i
s t
he cavalry parade armour. At G
iläu
, i
n t
he f
ort of a
la
S
iliana, i
n 1
978, t
hree p
ieces belonging to horse armour were
f
ound (
Fig.1) 1 which were not included in the c
atalogue o
f J
.
G
arbsdh. 2 The horse armour c
onsists o
f two eye-pieces and a
c
entral plate with t
he image of Mars. They were f
ound i
n t
he
l
ast d
estruction l
ayer which could be dated immediately after
t
he abandonment o
f t
he f
ort, a
round A
.D.271-274. T
he two
e
ye-pieces, which s
eem t
o have b
een r
eadjusted, belong to a
c
ommon type, a
lthough only one analogy f
rom Roman Dacia c
ould be
m
entioned. The f
ragment f
rom Figure 2 was d
iscovered in the fort
a
t I
nläceni (
district of Harghita) which was t
he g
arrison o
f
s
everal regiments, among which two c
ohortes equitatae are known:
c
ohors VIII R
aetorum c
.R. equitata .and c
ohors I
V H
ispanorum
equitata. 3

1
57
 The r
est
, of what we c
onsider t
o be a c
entral plate f
or the
f
ront of the horse, depict t
he God o
f W
ar i
n a
n i
dentical
position a
nd a
ttitude with t
he s
imilar one f
rom Straubing
(
Fig.3). 4 The only d
ifference between these images i
s the way of
o
utlining t
he body. The Mars of G
iläu i
s m
arked with c
ontinuous
i
ncisions, while the one f
rom Straubing with s
en ate points.

Another bronze object p

resenting s
imilarities w
ith
a
rtefacts f
rom other provinces i
s a s
tud (
Fig.4,1) belonging t
o
a s
hield. I
t was f
ound i
n t
he auxiliary f
ort at Giläu i
n an
a
rchaeological context not yet dated. The f
lat d
isc of the s
tud
i
s d
ecorated with an incision depicting the head of a g
enius.
T
he same pattern c
an be i
dentified on a c
ircular b
ronze boss
(
umbo) f
rom M
ainz M
useum (
Fig.4,2). 5 H
. Klumbach found good
analogies f
or this motif on a stud attached to another boss f
rom
M
ainz (
Fig.4,3) 6 and on a helmet f
rom Waal n
ear N
ijmegen
(
Fig.4,4). 7 I
t must be emphasized that the g
enius f
rom G
iläu and
t
he one on t
he boss f
rom Mainz Museum are a
lmost i
dentical, the
only d
ifference i
s that the f
irst one i
s l
ooking t
o the l
eft and
t
he other one, to the r
ight.

I
t i
s not c
lear whether s
uch i
dentical a
rtefacts w
ere
produced i
n t
he same workshop
, or in t
he same area, or whether
t
hey were made by i
tinerant c
raftsmen o
f Syrian o
rigin
, a
s
c
onsidered by K
lumbach, Garbsch and P
etculescu. 8 We think that
t
he hypothesis of specific p
roduction c
entres s
hould n
ot be
abandoned, f
or i
t i
s c
lear that the R
oman s
oldier would b
uy and
i
n t
he end s
ell back his a
Lwour t
o h
is m
ilitary u
nit. 9 The
t
roops were s
upplied by workshops, s
ometimes s
ituated at a
c
onsiderable d
istance, as proved by t
he H
unt P
ridianum
. T
he
e
xistence o
f officers o
f d
ifferent r
anks, s
pecialised i
n
s
upplying the army with weapons a
nd e
quipment, s
upports t
he
a
ssumption t
hat t
he theory o
f i
tinerant c
raftsmen i
s n
ot
entirely convincing.

On the other hand, taking into a

ccount t
he s
mall f
inds,
o
ther problems a
rise. J
. O
ldenstein has proved t
hat the m
inor
objects, l
ike f
ittings and pendants, were l
ocally p
roduced and
t
he s
imilarities o
f f
inds s
hould be e
xplained a
s a matter of
f
ashion
. 1° T
his i
s the c
ase of the strap-teLminals of s
o-called
'
Germanic' o
rigin. T
hey have b
een d
iscussed i
n 1
976 by J
.
O
ldenstein who divides t
hem i
nto t
wo c
ategories. T
he f
irst
c
overs t
he s
trap-terminals ending in a r
ing. Outside the R
oman
Empire, in G
ermania l
ibera, were f
ound only s
trap-terminals o
f
t
his c
ategory. T
he s
econd group has t
he annular e
xtension n
ear
t
he mid-point and s
uch pieces are t
o be f
ound on m
ilitary s
ites
on t
he l
imes. As a matter of f
act s
trap-ends of t
he f
irst g
roup
a
ppear also in the Roman provinces. J
. O
ldenstein considers t
he
presence of these objects a
s an influence of the Germanic t
ribes
on t
he R
oman m
ilitary equipment, against Raddatz who presumes

1
58
 E7,
Aav
A v
ts1
9
.
i
g
eb:
9A ‘
c
i
, a V 3V kr
.
S 7 2Z7 A »

6
, N rt
yV e
h
.‘1 1-
- 3i
e fk ei4 ,
i --

v
gs
7A.7
,
44
,
?' 4 .

J .

qv
'

ilau
fort of G
avalry parade horse
C

1
59
 S
.

(
N
I
r
s
1

e
,l
r
e.
•
r
4

•
;
:
,
4„
p
g
4
•

• •
•••••
•

.
•
•
•••
•_

•
•
•r
"-
it
. .
.
...
4 • ts

j/ L
1•
• .
1. •
•

• •

1
60
t
hat they must have a R
oman o
rigin u
nder P
ontico-Sarmatian
i
nfluence. However the d
istribution of s
trap-ends of both types
i
s f
ar more extensive than Oldenstein knew
, so
, i
t i
s hard t
o
b
elieve that they were of Germanic origin. As f
ar as we know
, at
l
east two p
ieces o
f t
his kind exist in Britain
, f
rom Cramond
(
Edinburgh) and N
ewstead. 1
1 F
rom Romania we have ten
s
trap-terminals of both types and two o
thers f
rom t
he
e
xtra-provincial territory inhabited by D
acian t
ribes. I
n the
Northern part of the Roman territory called Dacia Porolissensis
t
here i
s a strap-terminal ending in a r
ing that belongs t
o the
f
irst g
roup (
Fig. 6
,1). I
t was found at the South gate of the
f
ort at Giläu in a third century context (
the l
evel I
Ib o
f t
he
porta principalis d
extra) .12 Three strap-terminals of the second
g
roup were also found in Dacia Porolissensis at Giläu and Turda.
T
he p
iece f
rom Giläu (
Fig.6,3) was discovered at the West gate
i
n a s
econd century context; 1
0cm above this l
evel, a f
ragment
o
f S
amian ware d
ated A
. D.165-190 was found. 1
3 The other two
(
Fig.6,2; 4
), c
ome f
rom a 1
9th c
entury private c
ollection
c
ontaining objects f
rom the l
egionary f
ortress at Turda, there
i
s no dating evidence for them
. 1
4

I
n the Southern part, called Dacia Inferior, there are f
ive
p
ieces of the second group: two f
rom Drobeta (
Fig. 6
,5; 6
) coming
f
rom f
rom 1
9th century excavations, 1
5 two f
rom t
he auxiliary
f
ort a
t R
acari (
Fig.6,7; 8
) on the so called '
Limes Alutanus' -
on the r
iver Olt, f
or a l
ong time t
he Eastern border o
f t
he
p
rovince 16 - and one from the fort at Säpata de Jos (
Fig.6,9)
which seems to be occupied between A
.D.205-242. 1
7

Another strap-terminal f
rom a military s
ite was f
ound i
n
t
he East part of the country in the fort at Barbo9i (
Fig.6,10)
belonging to the province Moesia Inferior 18 and dated largely in
t
he second and t
he third century A
.D.

B
etween D
acia I
nferior (
Oltenia) a
nd Moesia I
nferior
(
Dobrogea) t
here was a l
owland t
erritory populated by f
ree
D
acian tribes, a region probably controlled by the Romans. Two
s
trap-terminals (
Fig. 6
,11) f
rom the s
econd group have been f
ound
here in the Dacian s
ettlement at Mätäsarul 9 - unfortunately only
one example i
s reproduced by the author who also omitted to g
ive
the relationship between the context and f
inds. This s
ettlement
i
s dated to the second and the third century A
.D.

Germanic presence at the Low Danube in the s

econd and t
he
f
irst half of t
he I
IIrd century A
.D. i
s not s
upported by any
e
vidence. The f
irst Roman emperor who got t
he title o
f Gothicus
i
s C
laudius I
I i
n A
. D.270. Thus, t
he strap-terminals with an
annular extension
, at the mid point or at t
he end, a
re more
l
ikely to be considered typical for Roman military equipment and
t
he f
inds outside t
he Roman Empire to be accepted as a Roman

1
61
i
nfluence. Yet, it i
s not c
ertain t
hat t
he P
ontico-Sarmatian
origin could be denied.

I
f publishing bronze objects f
rom Dacia could change some
previous conclusions, in some other cases the old hypotheses are
s
till valid. For i
nstance, t
he button-and-loop f
asteners
d
iscussed by Wild
, 2° which are f
requent on Romano-British s
ites,
a
re v
ery r
are i
n Dacia. We can mention one example from G
iläu
(
Fig. 5
,1) belonging to Wild's Vc class, which was f
ound i
n a
c
ontext d
ated at t
he end of the s
econd century A
.D. Another
example i
s a l
oop-fastener with enamelled head (
Fig.g,2)
belonging t
o c
lass Vb, f
rom t
he f
ort at Barbo9i in Moesia
I
nferior. 2
1 Although very f
ew in number
, the loop-fasteners f
rom
t
he Low Danube are unlikely to be imports f
rom Britannia a
s s
uch
artefacts could be l
ocally produced u
nder t
he inluence of
f
ashion.

NOTES

1
. D
IACONESCU, 1983.

2
. GARBSCH, 1978.

3
. GUDEA
, 1979, 2
58 P
l.XXIII,7.

4
. KEIM et al., 1951, 26-7, Nr.17, P
1.29.

5
. KLUMBACH
, 1
966, Fig.12,2.

6
. I
bid. Fig.12,2.

7
. I
bid. Fig.11,3.

8
. PETCULESCU, 1980, 392.

9
. BREEZE, 1976, 9
4.

1
0. OLDENSTEIN
, 1976, 69-85.

1
1. RAE & RAE, 1974, 195.

1
2. I
SAC e
t al., 1981, Figs.3 & 8
.

1
3. I
SAC
, 1
982, 7
1-2 Nr.12.

1
4. BAIUSZ, 1
980, 3
82 Nr.575, Pl.III; 3,7
6, Nr.206.

1
5. TUDOR, 1976, 1
28 Nr.45, 48; Pl.IX,6, 9
.

1
62
1
6. TUDOR
, 1
965
, 2
49, F
ig.8,3, 4
.

1
7. CHRISTESCU
, 1
935, F
iq.13,9.

1
8. SANIE, 1
981, 1
81 Nr.27, P
1.53,6.

1
9. B
ICHIR
, 1
984, 5
7 Nr.3, P
l.LI,17.

2
0. W
ILD. 1
970, 1
37-46.

2
1. SANIE, 1
981, 1
81 Nr.26; P
1.47,2.

B
IBLIOGRAPHY

BAIUSZ 1
980: I
. B
aiusz, '
Colec -
5
.ia de antichit ki a l
ui Tegläs
I
stvän
', Acta M
uzuel P
orolissensis IV
, 1980, 3
67-94

B
IRCHIR 1984: G
h. B
irdhir, G
eto-dacii a
m nMuntenia i
n epoca
romana, (
BucareTti 1984)

BREEZE 1
976: D
. B
reeze, '
The ownership of arms in the Roman
army', B
ritannia VII, 1976
, 9
3-5

C
HRISTESCU 1
935: V
. Christescu, '
Le "
castellum" romain d
u
S
äpata-de Jos', D
acia V-VI, 1
935-6, 435-47

D
IACONESCU 1
983: A
. D
iaconescu, in Marisia XIII, 1983

GARBSCH 1
978: J
. Garbsch, Römische P
aradeausrüstungen, (
München
1
978)

GUDEA 1979: N
. G
udea, '
Castrul r
oman d
e l
a I
nläcenil, Acta
Muzuel P
orolissensis I
II, 1
979
, 1
50-273

I
SAC 1982: D
. I
sac, in Potaissa I
II, 1
982

I
SAC e
t a
l. 1
981: D
. I
sac, A
. D
iaconescu, C
. Opreanu, '
Porta
principalis d
extra a c
astrului d
e l
a G
iläu', Acta Musei
Napocensis XVIII, 1
981, 85-97

KLUMBACH 1
966: H
. K
lumbach, '
Drei r
ömische S
chilbuckel aus
Mainz', Jahrbuche RGZM XIII, 1
966, 1
65-89

O
LDENSTEIN 1
976: J
. O
ldenstein
, '
Zur Austrüstung r
ömischer
Auxiliareinheiten
', B
ericht RGK 5
7, 1
976
, 5
1-284

P
ETCULESCU 1
980: L
. P
etculescu, Review of GARBSCH 1978, Dacia
N
.S.XXIV
, 1
980

1
63
RAE 1
974: A
. & V
. Rae, '
The Roman fort a
t Cramond, Edinburgh.
Excavations 1954-1966', Britannia V
, 1
974, 1
63-224

SANIE 1
981: S
. S
anie, C
ivilizatia romana l
a e
st de C
arpati s
i
romanitatea pe territoriul Moldavei - s
ec I
I P
.e.n. - I
II
e
.n., (
Iasi 1981)

TUDOR 1
965: D
. Tudor, '
Castra Daciae I
nferioris Säpaturile l
ui
G
. Tocilescu in castrul roman de la Räcari (
raionul F
ilia9i,
reg. Oltenia)', Apulum V
, 1965, 2
33-57

TUDOR 1976: D
. Tudor, in Drobeta I
I, 1976

W
ILD 1970: J
.P. Wild
, '
Button-and-loop f
asteners i
n t
he R
oman
provinces', Britannia I
, 1970, 1
37-55
 4. 8 C M

r
d

•
G:

(X
17 ,
7
72 0

c
‘
i 0
4

r
z
4
1
65
 P.
\

I
f 3

41
‘
,

•
.
...

7 8

t
o

Fig.6: M
ilitary s
trap ends f
rom 1
. G
ilau; 2
,4. Turda private
collection; 3
.Gilau; 5
,6. D
robeta; 7
,8. R
acari; 9
.
S
äpata de Jos; 1
0. B
arbo9i; 1
1. Mätäsaru

1
66
 E
VIDENCE F
OR T
HE ROMAN A
RMY I
N S
OUTHWARK

M
ichael Hammerson and Harvey S
heldon

A n
umber o
f R
oman f
inds which may be m
ilitary i
n origin
have been f
ound in S
outhwark, t
he s
uburb of Londinium which l
ies
d
irectly opposite to i
t on the south bank o
f t
he T
hames. T
he
s
trategic s
ignificance of S
outhwark was t
hat i
t l
ay at the f
irst
p
lace upriver which c
ould be r
eached by roads f
rom t
he major
e
ntry points on the s
outh coast
, and where the Thames c
ould be
b
ridged.

The d
etailed e
xcavations i
n S
outhwark d
uring t
he l
ast
d
ecade and a half have provided e
vidence o
f two m
ajor r
oads
a
pproaching t
he r
iver b
ank, b
ut neither n
eed have been built
u
ntil c
. AD 5
0. P
ermanent a
ctivity i
n S
outhwark (
and i
ndeed
L
ondinium) may n
ot have begun until that date, t
hough the n
eed
t
o g
uard s
upplies and c
ommunications m
ay b
e e
nvisaged
t
hereafter.

I
t i
s l
ikely t
hat t
he main C
laudian invasion route f
rom
K
ent (
Watling Street) bypassed North S
outhwark, r
eaching t
he
T
hames f
urther upriver, c
lose to where Westminster B
ridge now
s
tands, by a more southerly route. This l
ong held s
upposition i
s
s
upported by the l
ack of evidence f
or early road construction in
S
outhwark.'

S
tudy of the ancient topography a
lso demonstrates t
hat much
o
f t
he l
and n
ear to the Thames between the more obvious c
rossing
p
laces in North Southwark (
London B
ridge)
. a
nd N
orth L
ambeth
(
Westminster B
ridge) was l
ow l
ying
, consisting of inlets and
c
reeks s
urrounded by mud-flats l
ikely to be s
ubmerged a
t high
t
ide. 2

A f
ort m
ay b
e postulated n
ear t
o where the armies of
C
laudius crossed the Thames and this could have r
emained in u
se
t
hroughout m
uch o
f t
he i
nvasion p
eriod i
rrespective of the
s
ubsequent c
onstruction o
f a d
ownriver c
rossing a
t L
ondon
B
ridge. T
here i
s n
o evidence f
or i
t though both Morris (
1982)
a
nd Fuentes (
1985) have advanced s
uggestions f
or i
ts l
ocation.
T
opographic e
vidence would f
avour the l
atter's hypothesis and
s
everal s
ites n
ear to the E
lephant and Castle which might t
hrow
s
ome l
ight on the matter may shortly be examined in t
he context
o
f r
e-development.

Evidence f
or t
he c
onstruction o
f t
he r
oads i
n N
orth
S
outhwark and the topography have been d
iscussed previously. 3 I
t
s
eems probable that t
he road-building and a
ssociated engineering

1
67
work (
land drainage, revetting and bridge building) was c
arried
out by the Roman army. I
t i
s also l
ikely that the military were
involved subsequently in the use of l
and on both banks a
s a base
f
or the transport and distribution of s
upplies. 4

At the t
ime of writing some thirty pieces that might be
c
lassed as items of military equipment have been f
ound. Of
t
hese, s
ome might be pre-Flavian
, though many come f
rom F
lavian
or l
ater contexts.

Excavations have also produced 1

0 r
egular and 1
06 i
rregular
C
laudian coins. These are most common on s
ites in Britain where
t
he army was present during the pre-Flavian period: the earlier
c
opies are of good style and the l
ater ones a
re poor. T
he
c
ommonest S
outhwark types are of an intermediate grade which
were perhaps struck c
. AD 5
0-55.

The proportion of copies (

92%) i
s one of t
he highest i
n
B
ritain. C
omparison of t
he i
st c
entury coin distribution in
Southwark with other s
ites shows that i
t i
s most s
imilar t
o
t
hose f
rom coastal or e
stuarine supply bases of this period such
a
s Richborough, Fishbourne, Fingringhoe and Sea M
ills. 5

A l
ist of Roman military objects d
iscovered in Southwark i
s
g
iven below. The numbers refer to those on the distribution map
(
Fig:/
).

Harness or Belt F
ittings: 1
. Topping's Wharf
2
. Bonded Warehouse, Montague C
lose
3
. 199 B
orough H
igh Street
4
,5,6. Courage Brewery

'
Auxiliary' Cavalry Harness Pendants:
8
. Topping's Wharf
9
. D
istrict Heating Scheme
1
0,11. 1
5-23 S
outhwark Street
1
2. Courage Brewery

Lorica Buckles: 1
3,14. 1
3-14 Arcadia Buildings
1
5. 1
5-23 Southwark Street

C
ingulum bosses: 1
6. 1
-7 S
t Thomas' Street
1
7. 1
5-23 Southwark Street
1
8. Hibernia Wharf

Other decorative bosses and s

tuds c
ommonly d
escribed a
s o
f

Pls.1 & 2
: Auxiliary harness p
endants f
rom 1
5-23 S
outhwark
S
treet.

1
68
 N
J

1
69
P
1.3

S
cale 3
:
1
Fig. 1

1
70
'military' type: 19. 199 Borough High Street
20,21. Courage Brewery

Iron Bolt-heads: 22. 201-11 Borough High Street (see

SLEA C 1978, fig.63,18; the object
is of an uncorruron size and shape
(triangular section) and there is
uncertainty as to w}:lether it is in
fact a weapon-head)
23. 199 Borough High Street

Scabbard M ounts: 24,25. 1-7 St Thomas' Street

'Military'-type Buckles:
26,27. 175-177 Borough High Street

Pair of mounts from a Dolabra Sheath:

28. 15-23 Southwark Street

Small Bronze Phallus with Suspension Loop:

29. 15-23 Southwark Street

Lead Centurial Property-identification tag, inscribed 'C Q

Corneli Verecundi': 30. Courage Brewery

Carnelian Intaglio, depicting an eagle between two standards:

31. 1-7 St Thomas' Street

There is also a record (J. Brit. Archaeol. Assoc. xxiv, 1968,

309) of an iron object found in Stoney Street in 1865. This was
considered to be a gladiator's �rident when discovered, but it
has been suggested that it is part of a military standard.

In addition to the irregular Claudian coins, which may have

been struck by the army or the administration in Britain, a coin
of Nero, stamped with a counter-mark of Vitellius (AD 69) was
found at 15-23 Southwark S�reet. The late Dr c. Kraay informed
us that only four other examples of this counterrnark are known,
and that all the provenanced examples are from Britain. The
counterrnark may therefore have been produced by adherents to the
side of Vitellius serving in Britain.

Apart from coins and objects, attention might also be drawn

to two ranges of buildings r�cently found in Southwark.

Pl.3: Lorica segmentata buckle from Arcadia Buildings (X-ray).

Fig.l: Carnelian gemstone with legionary notif from 1-7 St

Thomas' Street (scale 6:1)

171
 F
irstly, at 1
5-23 S
outhwark Street (
see F
ig. -I
, no.10 for
l
ocation) a l
arge i
st c
entury s
tone c
ourtyard building w
ith
t
imber p
iles beneath t
he stone wall f
oundations may have been
built in AD 7
4 a
ccording t
o d
endrochronological evidence. 6

F
urther e
arly s
tone f
ounded buildings l
ay to the west and the
s
ize and date of the whole c
omplex s
uggests t
hat t
hey were
public rather than private.

Secondly, a d
iscovery i
mplying a later Roman connection
between Southwark and the army came f
rom the north-west of t
he
s
ettlement, at Winchester Palace in 1
984 (
see F
ig.L, no.32 for
l
ocation). There, f
ragments of a l
arge multi-panelled
i
nscription came f
rom a bath suite, probably the western part of
a s
ubstantial stone building.

Most of the surviving f

ragments l
ist names which have been
g
rouped according to Cohorts, and it has been s
uggested 7 that
this was a d
edication by a detachment of l
egionary soldiers.
Most of the dedicatory inscription itself has been l
ost but t
he
c
losest parallel appears to be a dedication to Julia Mamaea at
Lambaesis. The f
requency of the praenomen Aurelius i
ndicates a
d
ate s
hortly after Caracalla's extension of the c
itizenship in
AD 2
13.

I
n conclusion
, we c
an therefore envisage t
he presence of
Roman military personnel in Southwark, during the i
st century,
t
hough not on present evidence before c
. AD 5
0. Any p
resumed
pre-Flavian f
ort connected either with the Claudian campaign or
l
ater phases of the conquest i
s l
ikely t
o be s
ituated on f
irm
g
round t
o the south of the area shown on Fig.U
., though the coin
f
inds support the suggestion that a s
upply base was l
ocated
within Southwark during much of this period.

Later f
inds which might be connected with soldiers, such as
t
he inscription f
rom W
inchester Palace, could derive f
rom the
presence in Southwark of m
ilitary p
ersonnel i
nvolved in t
he
administration of Britain.

More archaeological evidence about the n

ature and
d
evelopment of Roman Southwark i
s still u
rgently b
eing s
ought
and it i
s to be hoped that the extent of military involvement in
the l
ife of t
he s
ettlement w
ill become c
learer a
s work
progresses.

NOTES

1
. SHELDON
, 1978.

2
. GRAHAM, 1978.

1
72
 ®F
ind n
u mber
I
. R
oman R
oad (
known)
„ (pro
jec
ted)
L
and o
ver+
1.0m O
.D.
E
dge o
f C
hanne
ls
0 1
00 2
00
m
.

Fig. 2

1
73
3
. GRAHAM, 1978; SHELDON
, 1978.

4
. HAMMERSON
, 1978; SHELDON
, 1978.

5
. HAMMERSON
, 1
978.

6
. SHELDON & TYERS, 1983.

7
. HASSALL & TOMLIN
, 1985.

B
IBLIOGRAPHY

FUENTES 1985: N
. Fuentes, '
Of c
astles and e
lephants', London
Archaeologist, 5
:4, Autumn 1985

GRAHAM 1
978: A
. Graham
, '
The geology and topography of North
Southwark' in SLAEC 1
978

HAMMERSON 1
978: M
. Hammerson
, '
The coins' in SLAEC 1
978 (
to be
updated in Hammerson f
orthcoming, S
outhwark and Lambeth
Excavations I
)

HASSALL & TOMLIN

: M
.W.C. Hassall & R
.S.O. Tomlin
, '
Roman Britain
in 1984 I
I. I
nscriptions: A
. Monumental' in Britannia XVI,
1
985, 3
17-22

MORRIS 1
982: J
. Morris, Londinium. London in the Roman Empire,
(
London 1982)

S
HELDON 1978: H
.L. Sheldon
, '
The 1
972-4 e
xcavations: t
heir
contribution to Southwark's history' in SLAEC 1
978

S
HELDON & TYERS 1
983: H
.L. Sheldon & I
. Tyers, '
Recent
dendrochronological work in Southwark and its implications',
London Archaeologist, 4
: 1
3, 1983, 3
55-61

SLAEC 1
978: Southwark & Lambeth Archaeological Excavation
Committee, Southwark Excavations 1
972-1974, Joint Pub. No.1,
London & Middlesex Archaeol. Soc . and Surrey Archaeol. Soc.,
1
978

1
74
 THE D
RAWN SWORD

L
. Morgan

This e
xperiment was c
arried out to check the statements
m
ade in 1
981 in '
The Pedite Gladius'l and s
ubsequently discussed
d
uring the 1
983 R
oman M
ilitary Equipment S
eminar held at
S
heffield University. 2 Hazell had suggested that s
uch weapons as
t
he Fulham and Mainz pattern blades, that are in excess of 2
0in
i
n l
ength, were officers' weapons and worn on the l
eft hip and
d
rawn a
cross the body, beinq he f
elt f
ar too l
ong to be removed
f
rom a s
cabbard on the r
ight hip. I
n 1983 it was demonstrated by
t
he author and members of the Ermine Street Guard that a f
ully
r
econstructed Fulham sword presented no d
ifficulty when drawn
f
rom its s
cabbard on the r
ight hip with t
he r
ight hand, e
ven
w
ith the wearer kitted out in a Corbridge B lorica s
egmentata.

Our experiments were expanded to tests with a spatha having

a blade l
ength of 2
512i
/ n. These were carried out while wearing a
econstructed Corbridge B l
r orica s
egmentata and with the s
patha
s
uspended on t
he r
ight hip with t
he pommel under the right
a
rmpit. The grip with the r
ight hand was managed with ease, the
s
word withdrawn w
ith at l
east an inch to spare and sheathed as
e
asily. 3

NOTES

1
. HAZELL
, 1982.

2
. BISHOP, 1983

3
. Further reinforced by Connolly's experiments in t
he s
addle,
this volume.

B
IBLIOGRAPHY

B
ISHOP 1
983: M
.C. B
ishop (
ed.), Roman Military Equipment.
Proceedings o
f a Seminar Held i
n the Department of Ancient
History and C
lassical Archaeology at the University of
Sheffield, 2
1st March 1
983, (
Sheffield 1
983)

HAZELL 1
982: P
. Hazell, '
The pedite g
ladius', Antiquaries
Journal 6
1, 1
982, 7
3-82

1
75
 I
NDEX

Aalen Museum: 8 c
andidati s
implares: 5
9
A
emilius Paullus: 4
1 C
aracalla: 1
72
A
lgeria: 5
9 C
arlisle: 1
47
Agrippa: 5
2, 6
2 C
arnuntum
: 1
10, 1
20, 1
33
A
lbano: 1
43 c
arnyx: 2
9
A
lexander: 3
0 C
arthage: 5
6
A
lexandria: 5
6 C
astellum D
immidi: 5
6, 6
2
Apamea S
yriae: 1
43 C
astleford: 1
6
Aquileia: 143 C
ato: 4
3, 45
Aquincum: 145 C
ave of L
etters: 4
3
A
rrian: 6
2 c
enturions: 6
1
Arsinoite nome: 5
4, 5
5 c
hain mail: 9
2, 9
3
Augustus: 6
2 C
hatsworth relief: 48, 4
9
Aurelius S
urus: 1
45 C
herchel M
useum
: 4
3
C
hester
B
aden: 1
32 Abbey G
reen: 8
5
B
arberini N
ilotic mosiac: 5
2 D
eanery F
ield
: 9
3,
B
arbo9i: 1
61 9
4
B
atavian revolt: 1
14 F
oregate S
treet: 8
7
b
elt f
ittings: 4
2, 5
7, 5
9, H
unter S
treet: 8
5
8
8, 9
0, 1
05, 1
16, H
unters Walk: 9
2
1
41, 1
43, 1
68 N
ewgate: 9
2
B
elvedere s
arcophagus: 4
7 O
ld Market Hall: 9
3
B
esançon: 1
32 C
hester P
ageant: 9
6
B
eth P
haseil: 1
48 C
hichester: 1
33
B
ishapur: 1
43 C
ichorius: 44, 4
5
B
oulogne: 1
23 c
ingulum
: 5
7, 5
8, 1
41
B
regenz: 1
14 C
irencester: 2
4
B
ridgeness: 5
4 c
lassiarii: 5
7, 6
0, 1
01
B
rigetio: 1
45 c
lavarium: 1
01
brooches: 3
9 C
laudius I
I: 1
61
bucina: 2
9 c
lavi: 4
3, 44, 4
8, 6
0, 6
7
buckles: 9
0, 1
43, 1
71 c
loaks: 5
4
burial s
hrouds: 4
3 C
olchester: 3
9
button and loop S
heepen
: 1
13, 1
32
f
asteners: 1
62, C
ordova: 4
3
1
65 c
ornicines: 6
0

C
aerleon: 148 D
acia P
orolissensis: 1
61
c
aeruleus: 6
2 d
ecurions: 6
1
c
aligae: 9
9, 1
05 dolabra s
heath: 1
71
c
ab : 1
45 D
oorwerth: 1
32
c
altrop: 9
4 D
omitius Ahenobarbus: 4
1
C
ancelleria r
elief: 49 D
ura-Europos: 8
, 46, 5
4, 5
5,
c
andidati duplares: 5
9 6
1, 7
7, 1
03, 1
47,
1
48

1
76
Egypt: 43, 4
7 l
orica s
egmentata: 49, 1
21,
E
ining: 1
43 1
69, 1
72
l
orica s
quamata: 8
9, 9
3,
F
ayyum shield: 8 1
06, 1
10, 1
41
f
ibula: 42, 49 L
ugdunum (
battle of): 1
48
T
. F
lavius Felix: 1
43 l
uggage tags: 8
7, 1
71
F
rodsham: 9
2 l
unate pendants: 1
13
F
ulham sword: 1
75 L
unt (
the): 1
32
l
unula: 1
18
G
aius: 1
23 L
uxor: 5
6, 6
1, 6
2, 1
45
G
aius Romanius: 1
1 Lydney P
ark: 3
9
G
ellius: 4
1
g
ladius: 1
10, 1
41, 1
75 M
ahillon: 3
0
G
lanum relief: 4
1 M
ainz: 1
32, 1
47, 1
58
G
ilau: 1
57
M
arcus Column: 4
3
Ham H
ill: 1
32 M
ars: 1
57
hasta: 1
11, 1
41 M
ätäsaru: 1
61
h
elmets, I
mperial- m
iles: 1
45
G
allic: 1
12 m
imesis: 1
11
M
isene f
leet: 5
8
H
od H
ill: 1
23, 1
32 munifices: 5
9
H
ofheim
: 1
32
horse armour: 1
59 Nahal Hever: 4
3, 45, 4
7, 48,
hobnails: 8
9 5
8
Naqsh-i-Rustam: 1
43
I
llyria: 1
46 N
euß: 1
32
I
nläceni: 1
61
I
ntercisa: 1
46, 1
47 N
iedermörmter: 1
48
N
iederbieber: 1
46
J
udgement of Solomon: 5
2
J
ulia Mammaea: 1
72 Oberstimm
: 1
23
J
ulii monument: 1
1 O
ctavian: 6
2
O
stia: 1
01
kakaki: 3
2
K
empten: 1
14 p
aenula: 48, 5
3, 6
0, 1
41
K
hisfine: 1
47 P
alestrina: 5
8, 6
1
K
neller Hall (
Roy. M
il. P
annonian mutiny: 1
01
C
oll. Music): 3
6 p
apilio: 5
9
K
refeld-Gellup
: 8 P
arthia: 7
7
K
ünzing: 1
47 p
endants: 1
13, 1
18
P
hiladelphia: 6
7
l
ancea: 1
13 phalera: 1
16, 1
47
l
ati c
lavii: 43 phallus mount: 1
71
l
imitaneus: 1
05 P
iazza Amerini: 5
6, 6
0, 6
2
l
ituus: 2
9 p
ila: 1
11, 1
41
L
ondon: 1
33, 1
47 P
lato: 1
11
L
ongthorpe: 1
32 P
ompeii: 3
0, 4
1, 5
3, 6
1
l
orica hamata: 1
41 p
raetorium: 48

1
77
Q
uintillian: 4
2, 48 U
nits
a
lae
R
ottweil: 2
4 S
iliana: 1
57
R
ielves: 5
9 c
ohortes
R
ißtissen: 1
23, 1
32 I
V H
ispanorum
R
hine f
rontier: 3
9 e
quitata: 1
57
R
heingönheim: 1
32 XX P
almyrenorum
: 5
4
R
acari: 1
61 V
III Raetorum
c
.v. equitata: 1
57
S
aalburg: 1
47 I Tungrians: 1
57
s
addle covers: 7 A
sturian(s): 6
3
s
addle s
tiffeners: 8 l
egions
s
agum
: 1
41 I Adiutrix: 6
2, 1
45
S
alaria: 1
01 I
I Adiutrix: 6
2
S
allustius Lucullus: 1
14 I
I Augusta: 1
23
S
alzburg: 1
14, 148 I
II Augusta: 6
0
Sk
oata d
e Jos: 1
61 X
III Gemina: 1
23
S
assanians: 7
7 I
I Parthica: 1
43
s
cabbard mounts: 1
45, 1
71 XX Valeria
s
cale a
rmour (
see l
orica V
ictrix: 5
7, 9
4
s
quamata) numerus D
ivitensium: 1
43
s
cuta: 5
1, 6
0, 1
03, 1
05, e
quites s
ingulares
1
41, 1
49 Augusti: 1
45
S
outh S
hields: 1
47
s
patha: 1
4, 1
41, 1
47, 1
48, Valkenburg: 7
, 1
6, 9
9, 1
23
1
69 Varro: 4
3
spears (
see hasta) Vechten
: 7
S
trabo: 6
3 Vegetius: 5
2, 5
3, 6
0, 6
1,
s
trap ends: 9
0 1
47
S
trasbourg: 1
20, 1
32 v
enetus: 6
0
S
tatilii: 5
1 Verecundus: 44
S
traubing: 1
58 Verulamium: 3
9
S
uetonius: 1
01 Vespasian: 1
01
v
exillarius: 5
4
T
acitus: 5
3, 1
01 V
imose: 1
47
T
erentius f
resco: 1
43 V
indolanda: 1
00
T
horsbjerg: 1
47 V
indonissa: 1
03, 1
14, 1
23,
T
hracian c
avalry: 1
24 1
32
T
itiani: 9
4 V
itellius: 5
3, 1
71
T
orre de P
acliglione: 4
2 Voralpenland: 1
14
T
rajan's C
olumn: 44, 4
6,
1
02, 1
48 Waal: 1
58
t
rierarchus: 5
7 Waddon: 1
24
t
uba: 2
9 Waltersdorf: 43
t
ubicen: 6
0 W
ickford: 3
9
tunic (
civilian): 4
1 W
inchester P
alace: 1
72
t
unicati d
iscincti: 48
T
urda (
Potaissa): 1
61 Z
ilten mosiac: 6
0
Z
ugmantel: 1
47
U
lpian: 6
1

1
78