01-28-2006, 10:51 AM
The shields from the Apamea stelae and the Alba 'legionary' bathhouse are also mentioned in this article:
[url:17qafff9]http://www.ne.jp/asahi/luke/ueda-sarson/MIR-Shields.html[/url]
It seems that the Apamea designs were very simple, and not unlike the examples from the Piazza Armerina mosaics. Elsewhere on the same site, we have the interesting comparison of the aforementioned Alba mosiacs (which were probably connected to the Legio II Parthica camp) with later shields illustrated in the Notitia Dignitatum. With reference to II Parthica being the 'bodyguard' unit of the Severan emperors, and the Notitia's 'Domestici Pedites' shield, the site's author Luke Ueda-Sarson says:
Here is the shield in question:
![[Image: DomePedEast.jpg]](http://www.ne.jp/asahi/luke/ueda-sarson/DomePedEast.jpg)
A very classy looking design, I think. The author's remark about the 'angels' being Christian is possibly misplaced - there are plenty of 'angels' and other winged types, often bearing heads, wreaths etc, on Roman military art of the period, notably the Dura shields.
I haven't actually seen pictures of the Alba mosaics themselves, or the reconstructions based on them - perhaps Graham or somebody else could post images from the articles mentioned above (one of which, I notice, was co-authored by himself along with Mr Holder!)?
[url:17qafff9]http://www.ne.jp/asahi/luke/ueda-sarson/MIR-Shields.html[/url]
It seems that the Apamea designs were very simple, and not unlike the examples from the Piazza Armerina mosaics. Elsewhere on the same site, we have the interesting comparison of the aforementioned Alba mosiacs (which were probably connected to the Legio II Parthica camp) with later shields illustrated in the Notitia Dignitatum. With reference to II Parthica being the 'bodyguard' unit of the Severan emperors, and the Notitia's 'Domestici Pedites' shield, the site's author Luke Ueda-Sarson says:
Quote:Interestingly, if you take away the angels holding the image in the shield of the pedites unit (an obviously Christian embellishment), you have essentially the very same shield pattern shown in a mosaic in the 'legionary' bathouse at Alba just outside Rome. This would indicate the unit concerned has a continuous history as a bodyguard unit stretching back to the end of the second century AD.
Here is the shield in question:
A very classy looking design, I think. The author's remark about the 'angels' being Christian is possibly misplaced - there are plenty of 'angels' and other winged types, often bearing heads, wreaths etc, on Roman military art of the period, notably the Dura shields.
I haven't actually seen pictures of the Alba mosaics themselves, or the reconstructions based on them - perhaps Graham or somebody else could post images from the articles mentioned above (one of which, I notice, was co-authored by himself along with Mr Holder!)?
Nathan Ross
