08-31-2011, 12:29 AM
Quote:I think, on the contrary, that it's highly likely that musculata was widely used by the late Roman army in the field - and not just by officers either. There's a brief thread about it here.
this would imply that the emperors and senior officers wore the same body-protection as an ordinary soldier and moreover, they wanted this to be shown in official monuments. it is possible, but I find it hard to believe.
I went through the old tread, but I would not call the person burried in the Ludovisi sarcophagus (and many other sarcophagi) an ordinary soldier or lower officer. I think the musculatas and Attic helmets depicted here refelect the same sense of antiquarianism and interest in antiquity and mythology as is seen in the monuments in Rome itself and in contemporary Latin literature, but which is far from everyday-reality in the third and fourth centuries. The scenes on these sarcophagi are usually generic; generalized battles are depicted in which probably only the head of the deceased is a realm portait. They have very little to do with the realty of the battlefield.
