Face mask or face guard in late roman period

[Nathan Ross]

this might have been a theatrical one-off for the spectacular occasion. Hey, it's my explanation. mile:

Ah, but Ammianus was not a witness to this particular adventus! - therefore his description of the clibanarii must be generic and not individual. He's describing what they usually looked like...

;-)

However, you could argue that the masked helmets were 'parade' items, not worn in battle. Possibly true, although the descriptions in the panegyrics of these troops suggests there was something especially fearsome about their appearance. Plus (I think) the Persian cataphracts wore masks in combat, so it's not an impossible feat or anything...