03-06-2007, 11:10 PM
"I don't have any experience of marching with full pack, but I believe that Legio VI in the US (who do) attach the pilum etc to their furca and have successfully marched that way? "
Oh, I have no doubt that Legio VI USA successfully managed to march that way, just as they have successfully demonstrated that the scutum can be carried horizontally from a strap. It's just that neither of those things are shown in the few surviving representations of the Romans actually marching.
Putting this into context, the surviving sample of images of soldiers in marching order is admittedly, incredredibly small: one of the Mainz column bases showing two soldiers on the march, one of whom carries a signum (?) and the other has a shield slung high on the left shoulder and carries his pilum and helmet on the right shoulder; the well known images from Trajan's column showing soldiers on the march with shields carried around the left shoulder, helmets on the right shoulder and impedimenta poles carried over the left shoulder. No pila survive but the positions on the right hands indicate they were carried over the right shoulder; lastly a soldier from Trajan's arch at Puteoli who carries his pilum over his right shoulder and carries his shield slung on a strap around the left shoulder. To these we might consider adding the stele of P. Flavoleius Cordus, who carries his pilum on his right shoulder and his shield on a strap over the left shoulder. Incidentally, Cordus's grip on his pilum seems to resemble the type of grip most re-enactors use, whereas the Trajan's column soldiers and the Mainz column base use the grip discussed in this thread.
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b73/C ... imbase.jpg
http://ccwf.cc.utexas.edu/~galinsky/NEH/picwk3.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b73/C ... zzouli.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b73/C ... cordus.jpg
The various other things carried are listed by Josephus but he does not say exactly how they were carried. The entenching / pioneering tools are not shown anywhere carried on the march but they are too big to be put into a bag so it makes most sense for them to be positioned on the left shoulder with the impedimenta furca so that they can be picked up together and ditched quickly in an emergency.
Crispvs
Oh, I have no doubt that Legio VI USA successfully managed to march that way, just as they have successfully demonstrated that the scutum can be carried horizontally from a strap. It's just that neither of those things are shown in the few surviving representations of the Romans actually marching.
Putting this into context, the surviving sample of images of soldiers in marching order is admittedly, incredredibly small: one of the Mainz column bases showing two soldiers on the march, one of whom carries a signum (?) and the other has a shield slung high on the left shoulder and carries his pilum and helmet on the right shoulder; the well known images from Trajan's column showing soldiers on the march with shields carried around the left shoulder, helmets on the right shoulder and impedimenta poles carried over the left shoulder. No pila survive but the positions on the right hands indicate they were carried over the right shoulder; lastly a soldier from Trajan's arch at Puteoli who carries his pilum over his right shoulder and carries his shield slung on a strap around the left shoulder. To these we might consider adding the stele of P. Flavoleius Cordus, who carries his pilum on his right shoulder and his shield on a strap over the left shoulder. Incidentally, Cordus's grip on his pilum seems to resemble the type of grip most re-enactors use, whereas the Trajan's column soldiers and the Mainz column base use the grip discussed in this thread.
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b73/C ... imbase.jpg
http://ccwf.cc.utexas.edu/~galinsky/NEH/picwk3.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b73/C ... zzouli.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b73/C ... cordus.jpg
The various other things carried are listed by Josephus but he does not say exactly how they were carried. The entenching / pioneering tools are not shown anywhere carried on the march but they are too big to be put into a bag so it makes most sense for them to be positioned on the left shoulder with the impedimenta furca so that they can be picked up together and ditched quickly in an emergency.
Crispvs
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