10-13-2010, 06:43 AM
(Hope I'm doing the right thing starting this new thread). Referring to the question by SLIZA2 on Arbeia's Legions thread about the "HBO-Rome" helmet (See image "B" below), I've had thoughts about this helmet and whether it really existed.
![[Image: HOB_helmet.jpg?t=1286946951]](http://i363.photobucket.com/albums/oo73/hebrus12/HOB_helmet.jpg?t=1286946951)
.
I've seen elsewhere it has been attributed to images on Trajan's column, like this one of an auxiliary receiving first aid (Image "A"). Image "B" seems to have a smooth skull, whereas HBO's (Images "C" and "D") skulls have a dimpled texture - maybe to give them a more authentic, "hand-crafted" look?
Ages ago I came across an illustration of a helmet, apparently ex-Guttman collection, that reminded me strongly of HBO's (Image "E"). This helmet is usually given as Etruscan and 4th Century BC. I've never seen anything questioning its authenticity. Its patina looks convincing, but the Victorians apparently loved their Roman "replicas" (Images "F" and "G") so maybe this Etruscan mightn't be all it purports to be.
I, however, would like it to be genuine. Its proportions are quite beautiful - perhaps too beautiful I worry. Its profile makes me want to see it as a cavalry helmet. The ear recesses are quite deep, making me wonder about the functionality of the helmet, even with a liner. I'm also wondering about cheek-guards; whether there were any, whether if there were their hinges fastened to the helmet rim forward of the ears or maybe higher, on the inside of the helmet.
The ring on the crown is in its own keeper and is lying flat, unlike the HBO helmets and the fakes where we are to assume the rings have been soldered upright. I remember seeing some discussion about a similarly-attached ring on an Italic helmet (perhaps a Niedermörmter) and its purpose there was stated as a fastening-point for a decorative horsehair plume. Perhaps the ring on "E" has the same purpose.
The raised ridge around "E" is part of the shaping of the helmet (rather like the forming we see in Chalcidian and some Corinthian helmets) and doesn't have the "mini-brim" look of the HBO helmet.
I've often wondered if the "HBO helmet" (and all similar images preceding it) have been latter-day interpretations of surviving images on Roman monuments. My example ("A") from Trajan's column, by the way, is probably not the best for the present purposes, but it was the best I could find quickly. The helmet of the "medic" (higher) does look like the HBO model, but the helmet of the "patient" (lower) seems a cross-braced example with a brow-guard.
Nevertheless, since debate continues about how familiar Roman sculptors were with contemporary field gear (or just how "contemporary" an auxiliary's field gear might have been) I'd like to suggest that a helmet such as "E" might have been the model for Roman artists in depicting what modern film-makers have turned into the HBO helmet.
Cheers
Howard/SPC
.I've seen elsewhere it has been attributed to images on Trajan's column, like this one of an auxiliary receiving first aid (Image "A"). Image "B" seems to have a smooth skull, whereas HBO's (Images "C" and "D") skulls have a dimpled texture - maybe to give them a more authentic, "hand-crafted" look?
Ages ago I came across an illustration of a helmet, apparently ex-Guttman collection, that reminded me strongly of HBO's (Image "E"). This helmet is usually given as Etruscan and 4th Century BC. I've never seen anything questioning its authenticity. Its patina looks convincing, but the Victorians apparently loved their Roman "replicas" (Images "F" and "G") so maybe this Etruscan mightn't be all it purports to be.
I, however, would like it to be genuine. Its proportions are quite beautiful - perhaps too beautiful I worry. Its profile makes me want to see it as a cavalry helmet. The ear recesses are quite deep, making me wonder about the functionality of the helmet, even with a liner. I'm also wondering about cheek-guards; whether there were any, whether if there were their hinges fastened to the helmet rim forward of the ears or maybe higher, on the inside of the helmet.
The ring on the crown is in its own keeper and is lying flat, unlike the HBO helmets and the fakes where we are to assume the rings have been soldered upright. I remember seeing some discussion about a similarly-attached ring on an Italic helmet (perhaps a Niedermörmter) and its purpose there was stated as a fastening-point for a decorative horsehair plume. Perhaps the ring on "E" has the same purpose.
The raised ridge around "E" is part of the shaping of the helmet (rather like the forming we see in Chalcidian and some Corinthian helmets) and doesn't have the "mini-brim" look of the HBO helmet.
I've often wondered if the "HBO helmet" (and all similar images preceding it) have been latter-day interpretations of surviving images on Roman monuments. My example ("A") from Trajan's column, by the way, is probably not the best for the present purposes, but it was the best I could find quickly. The helmet of the "medic" (higher) does look like the HBO model, but the helmet of the "patient" (lower) seems a cross-braced example with a brow-guard.
Nevertheless, since debate continues about how familiar Roman sculptors were with contemporary field gear (or just how "contemporary" an auxiliary's field gear might have been) I'd like to suggest that a helmet such as "E" might have been the model for Roman artists in depicting what modern film-makers have turned into the HBO helmet.
Cheers
Howard/SPC
Spurius Papirius Cursor (Howard Russell)
"Life is still worthwhile if you just smile."
(Turner, Parsons, Chaplin)
"Life is still worthwhile if you just smile."
(Turner, Parsons, Chaplin)
