Lorica Segmentata: The Roman Spitfire?
Quote:Inspired by recent discoveries at Caerleon, this lecture will – amongst other things – compare and contrast two iconic images forever associated with their respective cultures: Roman segmental body armour, and the Vickers Supermarine Spitfire.
Just as the curve of a wingtip or snarl of a Merlin can still quicken the pulse of any modern Briton, the sight of legionaries clad in their distinctive body armour seems to have proclaimed one thing to the Romans for three centuries: military virtue.
Official metropolitan monuments in the Eternal City were covered with depictions of this sophisticated form of articulated plate armour. Everywhere a Roman looked they saw (what we now call) lorica segmentata.
Now, archaeological finds from all over the Roman Empire are telling us about the manufacture, use and evolution of the ultimate cutting-edge-technology defence. Where did it come from, how was it made, and to which troops was it issued?
Find out what Miss Shilling's Orifice and Roman girth hoops share in common, the importance of cut’n’shut and Heraclitus, and why names matter so much. Never in the field of human conflict has so much scrap metal proved so useful to so many.
September 23rd 2013 7pm in Caerleon. More info
here.
Mike Bishop
A propos of nothing much - do you prefer wine or beer? Or ginger beer for that matter?
Mike Thomas
(Caratacus)
Are these the Annual lectures? Love the pic, red Tunica and Deepeeka belt. Gotta be the "Guard"
Kevin
Quote:September 23rd 2013 7pm in Caerleon. More info here.
A Caerleon Annual Birthday Lecture? Kudos, sir.
Quote:Are these the Annual lectures? Love the pic, red Tunica and Deepeeka belt. Gotta be the "Guard"
No, that's Joe, the Museum's Education Support Officer (who came out to ROMEC to talk about his work on the finds from Brecon Gaer).
Mike Bishop
Quote:A Caerleon Annual Birthday Lecture? Kudos, sir.
I think they must have been getting desperate ;-)
Mike Bishop
Quote:A propos of nothing much - do you prefer wine or beer? Or ginger beer for that matter?
Beer's only good for washing hair ;-) Always been a cider man (think Westons rather than Bulmers), but will stoop to wine on occasion (especially if necessary to stop The Good Dr Coulston drinking all of it and doing embarrassing dancing on tables; I view that as a public service)...
Does this mean they have to get both the audience and speaker drunk first in order to persuade them to participate?! At that rate, it could end up like a TRAC... :-D
Mike Bishop
Quote:Caratacus post=342953 Wrote:A propos of nothing much - do you prefer wine or beer? Or ginger beer for that matter?
Beer's only good for washing hair ;-) Always been a cider man (think Westons rather than Bulmers), but will stoop to wine on occasion (especially if necessary to stop The Good Dr Coulston drinking all of it and doing embarrassing dancing on tables; I view that as a public service)...
Does this mean they have to get both the audience and speaker drunk first in order to persuade them to participate?! At that rate, it could end up like a TRAC... :-D
Mike Bishop
Right, I'll lay in a supply of the Cornish Nectar, then.
Never had a drunken speaker yet - might be interesting though? The audience I cannot vouch for. I have to admit that I have never seen any of the usual suspects dancing on tables. I clearly have had a sheltered upbringing. Although as a university post-grad I was rather deeply involved into research as to the best way to make and consume beer in large quantities. This was certainly not used as a shampoo (although there were some close similarities as to taste, I seem to remember. And there was one batch that had distinct overtones of garlic).
Mike T.
(Caratacus)
What I find disappointing is that, although the first ten lectures were published, subsequent ones have not been. I once wrote to Cardiff Museum (or whoever is responsible for that sort of thing) asking whether there was a possibility of their being published but did not get the courtesy of a reply.
Quote:What I find disappointing is that, although the first ten lectures were published, subsequent ones have not been. I once wrote to Cardiff Museum (or whoever is responsible for that sort of thing) asking whether there was a possibility of their being published but did not get the courtesy of a reply.
I'm hoping to record it and release it as a podcast. Sound only, so you'd have to be there to see my diamanté Peter-Gabrielesque Spitfire costume, but you can't have everything in life, can you?
Mike Bishop
My imagination is already running wild :wink:
Sadly in the Old Smoke doing the Pompeii thing that day.
Quote:Sadly in the Old Smoke doing the Pompeii thing that day.
Please note: the BM takes a
very dim view of drooling over the front of the case containing the equipment of the Herculaneum 'soldier'...
Seriously, though, they've placed it in a bit of a bottleneck towards the end of the exhibition, so sharpen those elbows!
Mike Bishop
Quote:What I find disappointing is that, although the first ten lectures were published, subsequent ones have not been. I once wrote to Cardiff Museum (or whoever is responsible for that sort of thing) asking whether there was a possibility of their being published but did not get the courtesy of a reply.
Try writing to the Legionary Museum in Caerleon, addressing it to the 'Shop Manager'. You are much more likely to get a reply from him than the main museum in Cathays Park.
You are correct in that the first ten lectures were amalgamated and published as a single work. However, an update was published a few years back (author/editor, Richard Brewer) under the title "
The Second Augustan Legion and the Roman Military Machine", (Published by NMGW 2002). Not sure of the price, I'm sorry. The idea was that the various authors would look at their original paper and then update it in the light of a few decades more of research.
There was a time when the individual lectures were published as pamphlets, but it may be that this got too expensive. Who knows, they may amalgamate the next batch of ten lectures in due course!
Mike Thomas
(Caratacus)
Quote: You are correct in that the first ten lectures were amalgamated and published as a single work. However, an update was published a few years back (author/editor, Richard Brewer) under the title "The Second Augustan Legion and the Roman Military Machine", (Published by NMGW 2002).
Mike Thomas
(Caratacus)
Excellent collection - you may find it cheaper to buy it from the Museum of Wales than via Amazon.
Quote:Excellent collection - you may find it cheaper to buy it from the Museum of Wales than via Amazon.
Quite. £29 from the museum, £59 on Amazon. Lunacy!