08-25-2004, 07:51 AM
You're right to suspect, Aitor, that I don't put much faith in the <em>Notitia Dignitatum</em> since it was written much later. Some believe it to have been written as late as the fifth century. By that time, the empire suffered so many losses in battles that the army looked quite different by the time it recovered (at least partially).<br>
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Zosimus says that Constantine had at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge 90,000 infantry and 8,000 cavalry. We know from other sources that he ordered his men to paint the Chi-Ro on their shields. Well, right there I believe you have the most wide-spread shield blazon. I don't know how long all the men maintained this symbol on their shields, but I think it's indisputable that it was the most widely used. The empire, afterall, had only 400,000 men and Constantine had 1/4 of them paint the symbol.<br>
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Anyway, how many reenactors use the winged thunderbolts on their scuta nowadays ? Clearly that symbol is over-used . <p></p><i></i>
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Zosimus says that Constantine had at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge 90,000 infantry and 8,000 cavalry. We know from other sources that he ordered his men to paint the Chi-Ro on their shields. Well, right there I believe you have the most wide-spread shield blazon. I don't know how long all the men maintained this symbol on their shields, but I think it's indisputable that it was the most widely used. The empire, afterall, had only 400,000 men and Constantine had 1/4 of them paint the symbol.<br>
<br>
Anyway, how many reenactors use the winged thunderbolts on their scuta nowadays ? Clearly that symbol is over-used . <p></p><i></i>
Jaime
