The Roman Army: A Social and Institutional History - Karatunov.net

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The Roman A rmy
verted bowl made of one piece of m et a l , with a ru d i m en t a ry neck guard at
ninety degrees to the body of the helmet. Hinged cheek pieces could be attached
to the side s . This is typ i f i ed by the devel oped Mon tefortino type , wh i ch had
been used in a simplified form since the third century bc. In the first century
ad, the Coolus type superseded this helmet, with a similar neck guard and an
ad d i ti onal brow guard . The Im perial Gallic and Im perial Italic hel m ets improved
on these designs in that the neck guard was provided with ribs and angled
down to reduce the space between the old-type neck guard and the shoulders
. Pro tective ear pieces were ad ded to some hel m et s , and the ch eek piece s
became more elaborate with the rear section angled outward, to deflect blows
from connecting with the side of the neck. Some helmets were very elaborate,
m ade of i ron with decora tive bron ze fitti n gs and stu d s . On Tra ja n’s Co lu m n ,
some legionaries are depicted with reinforcing cross pieces on the tops of their
h el m et s , but no actual examples were known until com p a ra tively recen t ly
( Con n o lly, 1 9 9 8 ) . A significant fe a tu re of Roman hel m ets is the so-call ed
drawer handle that was attached to the neck guard for ease of carrying it; these
pieces survive in greater numbers than the helmets themselves.
Most of the helmets had a knob or some other attachments at the top for fitting
a crest, and the Coolus type was equipped with a slot at the side for plumes.
Po lybius says that the Rep u blican soldiers sported bl ack or purple fe a t h ers in
their helmets, to make themselves seem taller and more imposing. According to
Vegetiu s , cen tu ri ons were disti n g u i s h ed by a wi de crest running tra n s vers ely
over the helmet, rather than the more usual form running from front to back,
but no fittings have yet been discovered to verify this statement. It is not certain
whether the Romans went into battle wearing their crests and plumes. On Trajan’s
Column it seems that these were fitted only for parades and ceremonies,
but Julius Caesar describes an occasion when fighting broke out unexpectedly,
giving the soldiers no time to take off their shield covers, or to fit their plumes
to their helmets. It may have been a case of fashionable practice at certain times,
or perhaps it was left to the discretion of the general in command.
Military Music
Musical instruments are known from Roman military contexts, attested by arch
aeo l ogical finds, f rom sculptu ral repre s en t a ti on s , and from litera ry references.
These sources have enabled modern craftsmen to reconstruct the instrum
en t s , and so the prob a ble ra n ge and type of sounds that they made can be
ascertained. It is not known for certain, however, what combinations of notes
were played on them in Roman times—despite the efforts of the epic film industry
to produce likely compositions. In the military context, it is likely that