04-30-2009, 06:02 AM
Here's part of a post I put up on the AW site, but which may be of some interest here.....
AW III.2 "Alexander's Funeral Games"
"I can't resist saying what a superb Issue this is!
I thoroughly enjoyed it, cover to cover.
Raffaele D'Amato's article on the Herculaneum soldier was extremely interesting, since that particular soldier has long been of interest to me.
One jarring note was Raffaele's positive identification of the man as a 'classiarius'. Raffaele quite properly points out that he could just as easily be a retired veteran. Raffaele gives the man's probable age as 40-45 ( though the original report gave his age as 35-40) Either way, his age points to a veteran rather than a serving 'classiarius'. In fact he was originally identified, from the changes etc to bone structure, as likely to have been a legionary cavalryman. Raffaele suggests that this occurred as a result of holding lumbers between the knees, but this seems unlikely for two reasons: first ask any carpenter how practical it is to hold a large piece of timber this way while working on it with hand tools; second, this is an unlikely activity for a crewman aboard a ship.....building a ship in a shipyard maybe, and even then it would not be something done on a daily basis - note the activity causing the abnormality had to be 'continuous'.
In addition, the ossification of his instep indicated a man who had done a lot of marching in caligae, not very likely in a sailor/marine!
Further, if the man was from a ship, and sent ashore to help the evacuation, why would he have with him a bag containg an adze/hammer and several chisels? ( the tools are just generic carpenter's tools, there is nothing particularly 'naval' about them) Or carrying so much money?
All of this suggests to me someone/a veteran who has hastily gathered his valuables - his military 'memorabilia', his money, and his tools of trade - and like the others has hastened to the beach hoping to evacuate, as being a bit more likely than that he was a 'classiarius'....
I would therefore tend to favour the original identification of 'retired ex-legionary cavalryman, previously an infantryman', though of course 'classiarius' is possible.
The fragment of wool possibly adds another morsel of evidence to the 'tunic colour debate'.
The 'orange-red wool' was particularly interesting, because I have a 'tunica' which was originally hand-dyed red with a vegetable dye, and after several years it has faded to exactly that !! - an orangy-red, slightly salmon colour!!
AW III.2 "Alexander's Funeral Games"
"I can't resist saying what a superb Issue this is!
I thoroughly enjoyed it, cover to cover.
Raffaele D'Amato's article on the Herculaneum soldier was extremely interesting, since that particular soldier has long been of interest to me.
One jarring note was Raffaele's positive identification of the man as a 'classiarius'. Raffaele quite properly points out that he could just as easily be a retired veteran. Raffaele gives the man's probable age as 40-45 ( though the original report gave his age as 35-40) Either way, his age points to a veteran rather than a serving 'classiarius'. In fact he was originally identified, from the changes etc to bone structure, as likely to have been a legionary cavalryman. Raffaele suggests that this occurred as a result of holding lumbers between the knees, but this seems unlikely for two reasons: first ask any carpenter how practical it is to hold a large piece of timber this way while working on it with hand tools; second, this is an unlikely activity for a crewman aboard a ship.....building a ship in a shipyard maybe, and even then it would not be something done on a daily basis - note the activity causing the abnormality had to be 'continuous'.
In addition, the ossification of his instep indicated a man who had done a lot of marching in caligae, not very likely in a sailor/marine!
Further, if the man was from a ship, and sent ashore to help the evacuation, why would he have with him a bag containg an adze/hammer and several chisels? ( the tools are just generic carpenter's tools, there is nothing particularly 'naval' about them) Or carrying so much money?
All of this suggests to me someone/a veteran who has hastily gathered his valuables - his military 'memorabilia', his money, and his tools of trade - and like the others has hastened to the beach hoping to evacuate, as being a bit more likely than that he was a 'classiarius'....
I would therefore tend to favour the original identification of 'retired ex-legionary cavalryman, previously an infantryman', though of course 'classiarius' is possible.
The fragment of wool possibly adds another morsel of evidence to the 'tunic colour debate'.
The 'orange-red wool' was particularly interesting, because I have a 'tunica' which was originally hand-dyed red with a vegetable dye, and after several years it has faded to exactly that !! - an orangy-red, slightly salmon colour!!
"dulce et decorum est pro patria mori " - Horace
(It is a sweet and proper thing to die for ones country)
"No son-of-a-bitch ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country" - George C Scott as General George S. Patton
Paul McDonnell-Staff
(It is a sweet and proper thing to die for ones country)
"No son-of-a-bitch ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country" - George C Scott as General George S. Patton
Paul McDonnell-Staff
