Italic D: First or second century?

[FlaviusCrispus]

Thanks Peroni, Celer, Jho— excellent stuff! An Italic D variant with eyes on the forehead instead of eagles? Wow, someone should let Deepeeka know about this!

I did a web search on Gelduba and came up with a passage dating the battle to December AD 69, at the onset of the Batavian Revolt under Civilis. So if the helmets date to that battle, that would seem to nail down the Italic D as a mid-first century helmet. But... (and there alsways seems to be a "but")... there was also this notation:

The wooden fort had at least three occupation phases until it was rebuilt out of stone in the mid-second century. It offered accommodation to a squadron of cavalry (the cohors II Varcinorum equitata), which was still there in the third century....In 256/257, the Franks destroyed Gelduba. A mass grave has been excavated in an underground temple of Mithras. Immediately, the fort was rebuilt and turned into a castle, which continued to be in use until the Franks again destroyed the site in 275. In ca. 295 the site was reoccupied by Roman soldiers, and although there was a crisis in 353-355, the settlement survived more or less intact until the Franks took over the area at the beginning of the fifth century.

So it would seem to remain possible that one or more of the helmets dates to a later phase of the fortress. And if other "cut down" infantry helmets worn by cavalry are thought to be third century in date...

Hopefully, there's more about the Krefeld helmets in the new edition of Roman Military Equipment.