04-14-2008, 10:43 PM
Ok, so I have a question, and tried searching first through the forum and didnt find an answer, although I suspect I must have missed it in the 85+ pages that showed up.
Anyway, taking only my little re-enacting experience into account, I seem to notice obviously auxiliary soldiers dress differently than their legionary counterparts. The tunic may be a different colour (i've yet to see red), maybe longer sleeves, it can be patterned, eg tartan, checked, etc.... the shield emblem is usually different, helmets are usually coolus/gaelic types... the they have a choice for a spatha... and then comes the armour.
Although there has been recent discussion maybe auxilia did wear lorica segmentata, this is not my point. My point is, seeing as there are so many differences, as explained above, between the kits, why is it I seem to always see the same type of chain mail (that is, with shoulder doublings) for both Legionary's and Auxilia?
Wasnt it a more celtic/germanic/generic barbarian practice to wear them without doublings? Or even with doublings, but the V shaped ones, or the one usually reserved for cavalry use (I remember Johhny made a good picture of a gallic cavalry unit wearing one). Deepeeka has a set of 2-3 kinds generally avoided by re-enactors but that seem to be more suitable to barbarians and such. The doublings in the style generally worn seem to be a more mediterranean sytle judging by the Carthaginians, Latins, and even greeks with their linothorax (the same type of doubler is used here as in the chain mail favoured by the legions).
So, with this in mind, why has the type of armour worn by celtic/germanic/barbarian peoples failed to translate into the auxiliary kit as nearly everything else has? Is there any re-enactment group out there which its auxiliary cohort adheres to the more exotic type of chain mail and leaves the typical type with the doubler to the legionary miles?
Discuss
Anyway, taking only my little re-enacting experience into account, I seem to notice obviously auxiliary soldiers dress differently than their legionary counterparts. The tunic may be a different colour (i've yet to see red), maybe longer sleeves, it can be patterned, eg tartan, checked, etc.... the shield emblem is usually different, helmets are usually coolus/gaelic types... the they have a choice for a spatha... and then comes the armour.
Although there has been recent discussion maybe auxilia did wear lorica segmentata, this is not my point. My point is, seeing as there are so many differences, as explained above, between the kits, why is it I seem to always see the same type of chain mail (that is, with shoulder doublings) for both Legionary's and Auxilia?
Wasnt it a more celtic/germanic/generic barbarian practice to wear them without doublings? Or even with doublings, but the V shaped ones, or the one usually reserved for cavalry use (I remember Johhny made a good picture of a gallic cavalry unit wearing one). Deepeeka has a set of 2-3 kinds generally avoided by re-enactors but that seem to be more suitable to barbarians and such. The doublings in the style generally worn seem to be a more mediterranean sytle judging by the Carthaginians, Latins, and even greeks with their linothorax (the same type of doubler is used here as in the chain mail favoured by the legions).
So, with this in mind, why has the type of armour worn by celtic/germanic/barbarian peoples failed to translate into the auxiliary kit as nearly everything else has? Is there any re-enactment group out there which its auxiliary cohort adheres to the more exotic type of chain mail and leaves the typical type with the doubler to the legionary miles?
Discuss
