Читать книгу British and Foreign Arms & Armour - Charles Henry Ashdown - Страница 20

Fig. 57.—Officers lorica (Republican Period).

With the advent of the emperors our knowledge becomes of a more definite character. The admission of foreigners into the Roman army, although it had proved disastrous to the republic, was continued by the emperors, and not only were the natives of the conquered countries enlisted but also mercenaries were employed.

Consequently a great variety of armour and arms existed in the Roman armies, but the essential ones stand out prominently in sculptures, painting, and upon coins, &c., and with these only will we deal.

Fig. 58.—Roman laminated cuirass.

The Cuirass.—The heavily-armed troops bore the laminated cuirass (Fig. 58), which consisted of about seven lames of steel encircling the trunk, each lame being divided into two portions, which joined in the middle of the back and in front. Affixed to the top lame, back and front, were four or more bowed lames passing over the shoulders and working freely upon the pivots which secured them. In front, and fixed to the lower part of the second lame from the bottom, were three or four short lames pendent and hanging vertically so as to protect the middle of the body below the waist. The lames encircling the body were sewn down to a tightly-fitting leather garment, the true cuirass, which was continued upwards before and behind in order to protect the chest and throat and passed over the shoulders under the curved lames. The whole cuirass opened down the front, the iron bands being hinged behind, fastening with a clasp in front. To the lowest lame was generally affixed two rows of leather, dagged at their edges, and the lambrequins descended beneath them, one row of the straps being shorter than those beneath, which fell lower than those used in the earlier age.

The officer of the Imperial Period affected the lorica modelled to the figure as worn by the soldiers in the Republican Period, but considerably shortened and seldom reaching below the waist, but the scaled cuirass was also a favourite.

Fig. 59.—Roman helmet.

Fig. 60.—Roman helmet.

The Helmet of the soldier was simply a skull-cap with a peak and pendent cheek-guards (Fig. 59), but subsequently was furnished with a descending hollowed neck-guard, a bar across the forehead acting as a visor, and two cheek-pieces, hinged, which could be fastened together beneath the chin (Fig. 60). During the later days of the empire the helmet became deeper. A common form of ornament for the crest was simply a round knob.

The Shield.—This was of two distinct kinds, a long, rectangular, and very concave shield borne only by the legionaries, and an oval, flattened form carried by the horsemen. The rectangular shield was about two feet six inches long, and composed of two plates of metal overlapping, with bands of metal strengthening it at the top and also at the lower edge, where it often rested on the ground. With this shield the well-known testudo was formed. The cognisance of the legion appeared upon the outer face, and on the column of Trajan, where members of the “thundering legion” are depicted, the device is that of a conventional thunderbolt of the usual zigzag description. The oval shield carried by the cavalry (the equites) and the light-armed troops (the velites) was a much-flattened variety of the old shield, and in the later years of the empire was adopted by the legionaries when the rectangular shield was discarded; it was, however, considerably enlarged in its later form.

Fig. 61.—Roman swords.

The Sword.—The early sword, like that of most nations, was of bronze of the well-known leaf shape, and, compared with those of other nations, comparatively short. In the first century b.c. it had become modified into a weapon about two feet in length, having a two-edged blade with parallel sides, and the point at an obtuse angle (Fig. 61). A short cross-guard, thin grip, and swelling pommel completed this remarkable weapon, which when used against adversaries armed with lance, javelin, or a long sword must have necessitated the Roman legionary getting within the guard of his adversary before being able to use his weapon, thus implying a high degree of personal bravery. It was worn upon the right side, suspended from a shoulder-belt. Upon the Trajan column, dating from 114 a.d., the sword appears much longer than in earlier representations, and shortly afterwards a long single-edged sword called the “spatha” was in use side by side with the short sword.

PLATE IV*

Shield of Augsburg make, Sixteenth Century

A. F. Calvert

The Spear.—“The spear that conquered the world,” as a French author defines it, was the redoubtable pilum, concerning which much has been written and much disputation has arisen. It is most remarkable that a weapon which is constantly alluded to as the essential arm of the Roman warrior, and which has been fully described by a writer, should be of such extreme rarity that its very form has provided matter for discussion and dispute. The description of the pilum by Polybius, who flourished in the second century before Christ, is comprehensive and distinct, but owing to the lack of representations and of actual models, much misconception has arisen concerning the exact meaning of his words. He describes it as a weapon having a very large iron head, which was furnished with a socket to receive the wooden shafts. The socket was about a third of the length of the weapon, and the barbed head of the same length. In the Museum at Wiesbaden there is a reputed pilum, but the marvel is that there do not exist hundreds of examples of a weapon with which combats without number have been fought over an area equal to the half of Europe.

The large iron head mentioned by Polybius is an obtusely pointed pike-head with three or four barbs projecting backwards to a short distance from the head; behind the head is the neck, which, though long and slender, is capable of resisting a considerable amount of violent usage. This neck is about twenty inches in length, and at its base swells into a socket for the shaft, and encases the latter for a good portion of its length, being fitted with extreme care. The whole weapon was about six feet nine inches to seven feet in length, and may be described as one-third visible shaft, one-third shaft in iron socket, and the remainder a slender iron rod bearing a large head. It will readily be seen that, owing to the uncased shaft at the base, the centre of gravity would lie between the middle portion of the weapon and the head, thus adapting it for throwing purposes.

The particular purpose of the pilum was to deprive an adversary of his shield. The method adopted was to approach within throwing distance and hurl the massive weapon at an opponent, who would naturally interpose his shield in defence; if the head crashed through the shield the object was accomplished, for owing to its form withdrawal was impossible, while the heavy shaft prevented any advance, and at the same time hindered retreat. To prevent the probability of either, however, the legionary with sword and shield promptly fell upon his embarrassed adversary, and there could be but one ending to such an unequal combat. For use at close quarters it was also equally efficacious, for, wielded with both hands like a mediæval pike, it could resist with ease the sword-cuts of the enemy; indeed Polybius tells us that the legionary received the sword-cuts of the enemy with calm confidence on his pilum, which resisted them with ease, while the adversary’s weapon was cut and hacked into the mere semblance of a strigil, or skin-scraper. This weapon was essentially Roman, and the troops wielding it were known as pilani. The cavalry carried a long and slender lance furnished with the amentum, a leather thong fitted nearly two-thirds of the length of the spear from the butt, being the centre of gravity of the shaft. This thong was of great use in propelling the spear when used as a javelin. The Roman dart was about three feet in length, and fitted with an extremely thin point about six inches long; upon striking any obstacle the point became so bent and distorted that it was of no use for hurling back again at the enemy. The light-armed troops also possessed a spear which was about four and a half feet in length.