04-30-2007, 08:21 PM
Quote:Besides, the size and shape the sculptor made individual items has nothing to do with which actual items are on the man, only to do with the sculptor's eye for proportions.
Well that's my point though Jim- that because of the aspects of the sculpture that seem unlikely to be exactly accurate, it's not reasonable to take others as being so. The attachment of the baldric to the sword scabbard may simply be the way the sculptor or whomever commissioned the stela chose to make it, as opposed to it being exactly true to life. It's better than some to be sure, but I'd still take it as being more representational than exact.
Quote:Facilis was an individual who had his own tastes and preferences. He may have liked big belts and pteryges, and you can't state otherwise. This wasn't an age of regulation uniforms. We can't go by practicality either. One centurion had a brazier of hot coals on his helmet which is highly impractical, but it scared the crap out of the enemy.
No, but when details are completely contradictory to what we do know, it's hard to see them as being accurate. No balteus plates have ever been found, and a LOT have, that are anywhere near the size of those shown, so it seems reasonable to me to consider those on the stela to be artistic license.
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