A Catalogue of Military Weapons and Fittings
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A catalogue of military weapons and fittings Autor(en): Bishop, M.C. Objekttyp: Article Zeitschrift: Jahresbericht / Gesellschaft Pro Vindonissa Band (Jahr): - (2001) PDF erstellt am: 02.10.2021 Persistenter Link: http://doi.org/10.5169/seals-282467 Nutzungsbedingungen Die ETH-Bibliothek ist Anbieterin der digitalisierten Zeitschriften. Sie besitzt keine Urheberrechte an den Inhalten der Zeitschriften. Die Rechte liegen in der Regel bei den Herausgebern. Die auf der Plattform e-periodica veröffentlichten Dokumente stehen für nicht-kommerzielle Zwecke in Lehre und Forschung sowie für die private Nutzung frei zur Verfügung. Einzelne Dateien oder Ausdrucke aus diesem Angebot können zusammen mit diesen Nutzungsbedingungen und den korrekten Herkunftsbezeichnungen weitergegeben werden. Das Veröffentlichen von Bildern in Print- und Online-Publikationen ist nur mit vorheriger Genehmigung der Rechteinhaber erlaubt. Die systematische Speicherung von Teilen des elektronischen Angebots auf anderen Servern bedarf ebenfalls des schriftlichen Einverständnisses der Rechteinhaber. Haftungsausschluss Alle Angaben erfolgen ohne Gewähr für Vollständigkeit oder Richtigkeit. Es wird keine Haftung übernommen für Schäden durch die Verwendung von Informationen aus diesem Online-Angebot oder durch das Fehlen von Informationen. Dies gilt auch für Inhalte Dritter, die über dieses Angebot zugänglich sind. Ein Dienst der ETH-Bibliothek ETH Zürich, Rämistrasse 101, 8092 Zürich, Schweiz, www.library.ethz.ch http://www.e-periodica.ch A catalogue of military weapons and fittings M.C. Bishop Introduction Hand-held weapons Any attempt to provide a brief catalogue ofRoman military The Roman soldier's primary handheld weapon was equipment is almost certainly doomed to failure, in always the sword, a short one in the case of Republican whatever context the task is undertaken. So it is with a and early imperial infantryman8, and a long one (almost deep sense of unease on the part of the writer that this certainly of Celtic origin) for cavalrymen9. The High paper will nevertheless try to do just that and provide a Empire saw infantrymen too adopting the longer sword. summary overview of military equipment in the spirit of All troops from time to time seem to have been equipped the general theme of the conference: military equipment with a secondary sidearm, a dagger which, like the short in civü contexts. The reader might expect what follows sword, appears to have had its origins on the Iberian to be shallow, over-generalizing, and almost certainly peninsula10. wrong on many counts, and there is little reason to doubt The iron blades of swords themselves are not common that this will indeed be the case. In order that this should finds except in unusual — often ritual — circumstances, not seem a totally futile exercise, however, a tentative although parts of their handle assemblages are often found. overview of military equipment in civil contexts from a However, scabbard fittings are relatively abundant, and Romano-British perspective will be included. the same relative frequency of finds holds true for items related to the dagger. Shafted weapons Projectiles Our study will begin with offensive weaponry, and shafted weapons first of all, so where better than the most The Roman army had access to a wide variety of distinctive weapon of all? Legionary soldiers from the missiles, starting with javelins, or types of light spear specifically Republic through to the High Empire were equipped with designed for throwing, rather than thrusting. their characteristic heavy javelin, the pilum. Whatever its Infantrymen had these and so too did the cavalry, and origins1, by the early Principate it had become an epigraphic evidence at least suggests that they were armour-piercing weapon designed to penetrate an enemy's distributed amongst both auxiliaries and legionaries11. shield and any body armour he might be wearing2. The Archaeologically, these are distinguished by virtue of their bulk of the auxiliary infantry, on the other hand, carried smaller heads (both in size and socket diameter) from a spear that could be used for thrusting or throwing: that thrusting weapons (Fig. le). it could indeed be used for throwing is suggested by the Greater range could be achieved by means of the bow12, fact that auxiliary infantrymen are depicted on usually represented by arrowheads, trilobate and barbed iconographie sources, such as tombstones, carrying two for unarmoured targets (Fig. If), or of square-sectioned spears3, just as legionaries were said to carry two pila4. pile-type (Fig. lb) to penetrate armour. Other evidence The pilum is manifested archaeologically by its distinctive iron shank and pyramidal head (Fig. la), although the latter is easily confused with some pile-shaped arrow and heads Finds associated its bolt (Fig. lb). with manner of 1 Connolly 1997, 44-49. less and still have 2 hafting are common, we no Bishop/Coulston 1993, 48. indisputable 3 example of the ferrule or butt-spike which we Espérandieu 1907-66, 6207, 6125 | Espérandieu 1931, 16. 4 know must have been used with this weapon5. Spearheads Mentioned as part of the weaponry of the bastati by Polybius (Fig. lc) and ferrules (Fig. Id) are much harder to (VI,23) and shown on the tombstone of C. Castricius Victor (Robinson 1975, pi. 470) others. characterize as military in and of themselves, although amongst 3 Shown on the Cancelleria relief A: 1945, the sites6 generally-reliable Magi range of types found on military gives some 26. indications of what might normally be found where some 6 E.g. Unz/Deschler-Erb 1997, Taf. 16-19. sort of military presence has occurred. 7 Bishop forthcoming. 8 The spearhead in Figure 1 c came from the vicus of the Thus Josephus (Bell. lud. 111,5,5), supported by the iconographie Antonine castellum at Inveresk, near Edinburgh. However, evidence, e.g. Espérandieu 1907-66, 5822. 9 Josephus (Bell. lud. loc. cit.); Espérandieu 1907-66, 6435. found in a midden the first 10 it was military underlying FiUoy Nieva/Gil Zubillaga 1997. civil phase7, serving to remind us that what might appear 11 Bishop/Coulston 1993, 69 and 126. to be a civil context need not always be one. 12 On archery in the Roman army see Coulston 1985. JberGPV 2001 of archery is provided by bow components, normally body shields18 made of three layers of plywood, auxiliaries made of bone or antler (Fig. lg). Sling shot of lead, stone, with flat shields in a variety of shapes. These wooden and baked clay are also common, but seldom as components are seldom found, but archaeology widespread as evidence for the use of artillery by the army13. frequently produces fragments of copper-alloy shield Torsion artillery provided the Roman army with its binding (Fig. 11), iron shield-strengthening bars and, furthest reach and greatest remote destructive power. occasionally, shield bosses. Other organic fittings sometimes Whether it be the occasional finds of components of the found include leather shield covers (which were detachable weapons themselves, or the frequent discovery of the and used to protect a shield when not in use) and — missiles, either stone shot or bolt heads (Fig. Ih), the even rarer — leather shield facings, which could not be Romans took artillery to the limits of their empire and even removed. Shield bosses were attached — and boards beyond, since knowledge of it made defectors valuable to occasionally decorated — with studs. both the Dacians and the Parthians. Artillery was, of course, used for defending cities as much for attacking them, but the presence of at least one component in a Belts ritual context, in the sacred spring at Bath, must give pause for thought, whilst stone shot re-used as foundation Besides their weaponry, the belt was the most immediately material for a civil building at Corbridge sheds new light recognizable component of a soldier's equipment19. on the phrase "army surplus"14. Apart from the leather belt itself, examples of which are, so far as I know, completely unknown, there were a variety of fittings that can be found, including the buckle, Armour belt plates, and dagger and sword frogs (Fig. lm). Sculpture depicts a variety of ways in which belts could be Some Roman soldiers wore large amounts of armour, used, but the main distinction in the 1st century AD lay others none whatsoever. A heavily-armed legionary at between two belts (worn either one above the other or the beginning ofthe 2nd century AD might be equipped crossed) or a single one. The use of the so-called apron with a helmet, a cuirass of mail, scale, or segmental by infantry can also be seen in both the archaeological armour, an articulated armguard, and possibly even a and iconographie records20; it is here that we first greave15. Equal use was made of iron and copper alloy encounter the bugbear of the finds specialist, the stud. (both bronze and brass). Fortunately, apron studs are extremely distinctive, being of a Segmental armour (so-called lorica segmentata) is probably fairly consistent size and form, and marked by raised the most readily identifiable find from the 1st century concentric rings on the underside of their heads (Fig. In). AD (Fig. li), yet is less prominent in the archaeological Their terminals are also readily recognizable although, as record in later periods (Fig. lj). We may legitimately with belts, the leather itself seldom survives. question whether this is as a result of a change in the Interest in decorated belt plates appears to have declined pattern of its use, or whether evolution in its design made it in the 2nd and 3rd centuries, only to revive with the less likely that its components be found. In the early arrival of the Tetrarchy. Under the Dominate, it is often principate, it is certainly more often excavated than mail said that the wearing of military belts was adopted by civil or even scale.