01-06-2011, 01:58 PM
OK, I'm going to go off on a flight of fancy here.
The phalerae look, at least to me, quite like ritual cakes, inasmuch as they look like the popanum cavalry shield which was identified with the shape of the sacrificial cake. Polybius, describing early Roman cavalry (Histories, vI.25.7): "They had oxhide shields like knobbed popana, the kind used in sacrifices."
The suovetaurrilia sacrifice also included, along withe the pig, sheep and ox, sacrificial cakes. A public suovetaurilia was offered to bless the army before a major military campaign. Therefore could the phalerae record both the formal piety of the unit and also the number of major campaigns it was involved in?
Just a thought.
The phalerae look, at least to me, quite like ritual cakes, inasmuch as they look like the popanum cavalry shield which was identified with the shape of the sacrificial cake. Polybius, describing early Roman cavalry (Histories, vI.25.7): "They had oxhide shields like knobbed popana, the kind used in sacrifices."
The suovetaurrilia sacrifice also included, along withe the pig, sheep and ox, sacrificial cakes. A public suovetaurilia was offered to bless the army before a major military campaign. Therefore could the phalerae record both the formal piety of the unit and also the number of major campaigns it was involved in?
Just a thought.
Martin
Fac me cocleario vomere!
Fac me cocleario vomere!
