04-29-2009, 11:46 PM
I agree with Matthew's comments and think he also used the words 'record' and 'old' in relation to this topic on another thread!
All the evidence I found up to 2002 on clothing colours was published in Roman Military Clothing 1 & 2 published by Osprey. Too much to include in a post here! Otherwise you fall into the trap of being selective.
Everything I have found since then or with help from fellow RAT'ers including Raffaele D'Amato, plus inevitable revisions and ammendments is due to be published in a matter of weeks by the History Press in a book called 'Roman Military Dress'. All this colour evidence is published with both ancient sources and references to modern works. So you can read through it, look for the evidence yourself and arrive at your own conclusions. As before I tried to remain impartial.
Sadly I found no evidence for first century legionaries in blue tunics. However there are later sources for blue tunics, including the famous quote from Vegetius, relating to sailors of the British Fleet. Although Vegetius say's the blue is to match the sea he adds additional information which tends to get overlooked, for example in the review of my book on the RMRS website. The colour is 'Venetian', therefore the same shade as the blue circus faction. So look at chariot drivers for the blues.
There is more than a couple of pieces of evidence for connecting blue with the navy but again remember that a tombstone of a marine had traces of red paint on the cloak and tunic and recent research by Raffaele D'Amato has revealed that the Herculaneum soldier, possibly also a marine, was discovered with traces of orange red wool on his body. Again both of these finds are touched upon in the forthcoming publication. However if you want to see a reconstruction now of the Herculaneum Marine, plus Raffaele's article get the latest copy of Ancient Warfare via Jasper!
So we now have archaeological, literary and iconographic evidence for a certain colour worn by Roman soldiers. There is also plenty of circumstantial evidence that Romans and soldiers in particular also favoured this colour.
Does that make it case closed? Well I am sure that there will be those who disagree with both my own conclusions and can or will interpret the evidence I have presented in alternative ways. Plus there are also new discoveries being made and published all the time, so I am sure this thread will run and run!
Graham.
All the evidence I found up to 2002 on clothing colours was published in Roman Military Clothing 1 & 2 published by Osprey. Too much to include in a post here! Otherwise you fall into the trap of being selective.
Everything I have found since then or with help from fellow RAT'ers including Raffaele D'Amato, plus inevitable revisions and ammendments is due to be published in a matter of weeks by the History Press in a book called 'Roman Military Dress'. All this colour evidence is published with both ancient sources and references to modern works. So you can read through it, look for the evidence yourself and arrive at your own conclusions. As before I tried to remain impartial.
Sadly I found no evidence for first century legionaries in blue tunics. However there are later sources for blue tunics, including the famous quote from Vegetius, relating to sailors of the British Fleet. Although Vegetius say's the blue is to match the sea he adds additional information which tends to get overlooked, for example in the review of my book on the RMRS website. The colour is 'Venetian', therefore the same shade as the blue circus faction. So look at chariot drivers for the blues.
There is more than a couple of pieces of evidence for connecting blue with the navy but again remember that a tombstone of a marine had traces of red paint on the cloak and tunic and recent research by Raffaele D'Amato has revealed that the Herculaneum soldier, possibly also a marine, was discovered with traces of orange red wool on his body. Again both of these finds are touched upon in the forthcoming publication. However if you want to see a reconstruction now of the Herculaneum Marine, plus Raffaele's article get the latest copy of Ancient Warfare via Jasper!
So we now have archaeological, literary and iconographic evidence for a certain colour worn by Roman soldiers. There is also plenty of circumstantial evidence that Romans and soldiers in particular also favoured this colour.
Does that make it case closed? Well I am sure that there will be those who disagree with both my own conclusions and can or will interpret the evidence I have presented in alternative ways. Plus there are also new discoveries being made and published all the time, so I am sure this thread will run and run!
Graham.
"Is all that we see or seem but a dream within a dream" Edgar Allan Poe.
"Every brush-stroke is torn from my body" The Rebel, Tony Hancock.
"..I sweated in that damn dirty armor....TWENTY YEARS!', Charlton Heston, The Warlord.
"Every brush-stroke is torn from my body" The Rebel, Tony Hancock.
"..I sweated in that damn dirty armor....TWENTY YEARS!', Charlton Heston, The Warlord.
