05-17-2006, 08:10 AM
Hello everybody,
I am new to this forum. The following additional information may be of interest for the dating of the Imperial Italic D helmet:
The Krefeld helmet (now kept in the musuem Burg Linn) appears to be very similar to the known specimen except that it replaces the eagles on the front side with cut copper alloy EYES (not eye brows). To my knowledge this is one of only two early imperial helmet with eyes instead of brows (the other one being at Wiesbaden).
The helmet was found together with a cut back Weisenau type helmet (similar to the one I believe was found in Nijmegen) trampled into a ditch of the extensive field fortifications found in Krefeld-Gellep. I am not aware that the helmet has been fully published yet, however, the excavators believe that the find spot was the place of the battle at Gelduba reported in Tacitus and the re-worked Weisenau helmet belonged to a Batavian auxiliary and the imperial D to a Roman legionary.
To my recollection there were also a lot of minor finds accompanying the helmets such as brooches which should make the dating fairly secure. The lay out of the fortifications would generally fit the description in Tacitus and one may speculate that both known helmets may have belonged to the same legion stationed in Moguntiacum.
You may also be aware that another very similar helmet was found in North Africa and dated I believe to the early third century but I assume that the dating was for typological reasons only.
I am new to this forum. The following additional information may be of interest for the dating of the Imperial Italic D helmet:
The Krefeld helmet (now kept in the musuem Burg Linn) appears to be very similar to the known specimen except that it replaces the eagles on the front side with cut copper alloy EYES (not eye brows). To my knowledge this is one of only two early imperial helmet with eyes instead of brows (the other one being at Wiesbaden).
The helmet was found together with a cut back Weisenau type helmet (similar to the one I believe was found in Nijmegen) trampled into a ditch of the extensive field fortifications found in Krefeld-Gellep. I am not aware that the helmet has been fully published yet, however, the excavators believe that the find spot was the place of the battle at Gelduba reported in Tacitus and the re-worked Weisenau helmet belonged to a Batavian auxiliary and the imperial D to a Roman legionary.
To my recollection there were also a lot of minor finds accompanying the helmets such as brooches which should make the dating fairly secure. The lay out of the fortifications would generally fit the description in Tacitus and one may speculate that both known helmets may have belonged to the same legion stationed in Moguntiacum.
You may also be aware that another very similar helmet was found in North Africa and dated I believe to the early third century but I assume that the dating was for typological reasons only.
Regards,
Jens Horstkotte
Munich, Germany
Jens Horstkotte
Munich, Germany
