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What Happened to the Eagles?
#16
Of course, in the movie Centurion, the Picts just set the captured eagle on fire, and that was that.
M. Demetrius Abicio
(David Wills)

Saepe veritas est dura.
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#17
Ah Hollywood - they make everything seem so simple, so easy, so straight forward. :?

:wink:

Narukami
David Reinke
Burbank CA
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#18
One legion, one eagle, in Early Empire we have around 46 legions, it means 46 eagles.

Now think in helmets, there should be hundreds of thousands, how many helmets have been found?

Discover an eagle would be rare, but extremely amazing!
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#19
Hi, I was wondering how many times eagles could have been lost and the loss covered up. I was just asking because during the Marcomannic Wars in 170ad Marcus Claudius Fronto who was Governor of the combined provinces of the Three Dacias as well as Governor of Moesia Superior with 4 legions at his disposal as well as auxiliary units, was killed in battle in Dacia by either the Iazyges, Dacians or German Buri. I don't know much of him but he was a bit of a war hero during the Parthian War.
He was in command of Xl Claudia legion in Moesia Inferior in his 30s and then in Parthian war he commanded 1 Minerva winning a string of army's prestigious awards and in 163Ad was promoted to "Legatus Augusti Pro Praetore" Governor of an Imperial Province. He was suffect consul in either 165 or 166AD. Anyway I digress, I was just wondering that with his important position he must have had a sizeable force with him when he was killed. What happened to that army, it seems funny to me that in 171AD the Costoboci overran Dacia and I was just wondering does anyone know more about this phase of Marcomannic Wars and indeed did the Costoboci invade because Dacia was short on troops because of some disaster. Anyway I love the site and enjoy reading the discussions that take place in the forum.
Michael Kerr
"You can conquer an empire from the back of a horse but you can't rule it from one"
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#20
Sometimes the simplest answer is the most correct..
"...quemadmodum gladius neminem occidit, occidentis telum est."


a.k.a. Paul M.
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#21
Do you have any links to articles or photos of that surviving roman eagle Pavel?
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#22
Quote:Do you have any links to articles or photos of that surviving roman eagle Pavel?

That's a good point; wouldn't it make it the only known example of a surviving Aquila?
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#23
Quote:Maybe we should only discuss specific topics about the art here, and save discussions about eagles and numbers for the other sections?

Ok.I dont know if there is(I would be surprised if not)some topic about military standarts,so redirected this elsewhere if needed.
To Baylonian eagle-as I already mentioned,we would probably never by sure what this eagle purpose really was,but the possibility that it is indeed rare survived aquila exist.I first met this option in Article by Raffaele D'Amato about late Roman/early Byzantine standarts for Ancient warfare magazine.
The best picture(only one side view)Ive found so far(but more are on the internet)is official photo of the institution where it is stored now-the Coptic museum of Cairo.Their own interpretation is in their words:
Bronze
H: 47 cm, W: 41 cm
Old Cairo, Fortress of Babylon, 3rd / 4th century

A majestic eagle with outspread wings holds in its talons a horn filled with leaves and fruitbearing branches. The eagle is an ancient symbol of power, beauty and independence. In Christianity the eagle became a symbol of resurrection and the evangelist St. John. This bronze eagle was discovered in the debris of the Fortress of Babylon.
http://www.coptic-cairo.com/museum/selec...metal.html


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#24
I've moved the discussions about the Eagle from the Art section here.
Robert Vermaat
MODERATOR
FECTIO Late Romans
THE CAUSE OF WAR MUST BE JUST
(Maurikios-Strategikon, book VIII.2: Maxim 12)
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#25
That's quite different to the Roman Eagles that are used by reenactors pretty much everywhere. Ours look more like the flagpole toppers, and a much more modern style. That eagle below looks more like the ones seen on coins.
M. Demetrius Abicio
(David Wills)

Saepe veritas est dura.
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#26
They only took a 14 year break.

Simples
Kevin
Kevin
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#27
I've always been interested in this topic. Never mind the ones that were lost . What about the ones that survived,weren't they all stored in the temple of mars? Were some moved to the east with the founding of Constantinople? Were some looted in the later sacks of Rome? Would be nice if one turns up someday.
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#28
Presumably any that may have been moved with the imperial regalia of the west in 476 were melted for money (possibly by heraclius to fund his campaign to combat the sassies) or captured in the sack of 1204 and melted.
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#29
Quote:Presumably any that may have been moved with the imperial regalia of the west in 476 were melted for money (possibly by heraclius to fund his campaign to combat the sassies) or captured in the sack of 1204 and melted.
Aquilae were unlikely to have been worth much to have been melted down for coins, though bronze had a high scrap value, and would've been retained for as long as the unit in question was in existence and possibly removed from storage and assigned to newly formed ones. The Crusaders might've melted down the remaining aquilae, but more than likely took it back as trophies, like the bronze horses now in Venice.
aka T*O*N*G*A*R
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#30
Hi Magno,

If I'm not mistaken, the crusader horses in Venice are quite large. Crusaders would
have wanted these as trophies because they were large, noticeable, and could be used for public propaganda. However, aquilae were not very large, and unless someone wanted to mount one over the fireplace, they were more useful as coinage than paper weights. I do certainly hope that you are right, as it would mean that there could be some aquilae are out there, but sadly, it's most likely wishful thinking.

I would like to impose a question as well. Are we (mostly) certain on the Aquilae being made out of bronze? I would think that the item that reflected the glory of Rome and the legion would be made of gold. Additionally, if the Aquilae were gold, I believe it would reduce the chances of finding a surviving Aquilae to almost zero for the reasons already listed.
Tyler

Undergrad student majoring in Social Studies Education with a specialty in world history.

"conare levissimus videri, hostes enimfortasse instrumentis indigeant"
(Try to look unimportant-the enemy might be low on ammunition).
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