06-20-2005, 10:35 PM
Avete Omnes,
I just got the COOLEST items in the mail today- a couple of actual Roman artifacts: a luniform Balteus buckle and an apron or standard studded strap terminus. Both are in pretty nice shape for objects that are probably 1800 years old and their construction really surprised me; the buckle is actually made of SHEET bronze- it's not solid. I've always expected these to be fairly thick bronze, but they're not- the portion by the hinge is thick- ~3mm, but beyond the ridge that forms the inner edge, it's actually less than 1mm thick. The front edge that makes it appar to be thick metal is actually shaped sheet metal. What's more, the base portion that has the hinge loop appears to be soldered on- the left one is missing- and the hinge loop itself is VERY thin, only about 0.5mm, and is simply curled into place- not soldered or anything. Have a look:
Obverse
![[Image: bucklefullsmalla2yb.jpg]](http://img297.echo.cx/img297/9912/bucklefullsmalla2yb.jpg)
Reverse (hollow!)
![[Image: bucklesmalla9nr.jpg]](http://img297.echo.cx/img297/6024/bucklesmalla9nr.jpg)
Hinge Loop
![[Image: hingesmalla0ce.jpg]](http://img297.echo.cx/img297/8535/hingesmalla0ce.jpg)
There's one more cool thing about this buckle- it appears to have been marked by its owner- there are a series of lines made up of dots on the body of the buckle:
![[Image: markingsmalla4up.jpg]](http://img297.echo.cx/img297/1561/markingsmalla4up.jpg)
![[Image: markingsmallaa0tb.jpg]](http://img297.echo.cx/img297/7108/markingsmallaa0tb.jpg)
I can't really make any letters out yet, but I'm still looking.
The strap terminus is interesting too- it's VERY thin sheet bronze (~0.5mm) with a fairly solid tip- obviously it was made by hammering a thicker piece of bronze flat. The concentric circle decoration is interestign as well- the small dent in the very center shows that the circles were made by a compass-like tool:
Obverse
![[Image: terminussmalla2mu.jpg]](http://img96.echo.cx/img96/6531/terminussmalla2mu.jpg)
Tip side view
![[Image: terminusendsidesmalla4xx.jpg]](http://img297.echo.cx/img297/6790/terminusendsidesmalla4xx.jpg)
Basically, these artifacts give an intersting insight into at least one form of each of the Balteus buckle and strap terminus that no doubt differs from the solid castings and thick metal versions produced for reenactors today.
I'm actually really keen to try and make a replica of the buckle especailly and to see just how well it stands up to use. I don't have easy access to the thickness of bronze that would be necessary, so I'll have to use brass and take its 'softer' nature into account when evaluating my results. I'll let you all know!
Valete
Matt
I just got the COOLEST items in the mail today- a couple of actual Roman artifacts: a luniform Balteus buckle and an apron or standard studded strap terminus. Both are in pretty nice shape for objects that are probably 1800 years old and their construction really surprised me; the buckle is actually made of SHEET bronze- it's not solid. I've always expected these to be fairly thick bronze, but they're not- the portion by the hinge is thick- ~3mm, but beyond the ridge that forms the inner edge, it's actually less than 1mm thick. The front edge that makes it appar to be thick metal is actually shaped sheet metal. What's more, the base portion that has the hinge loop appears to be soldered on- the left one is missing- and the hinge loop itself is VERY thin, only about 0.5mm, and is simply curled into place- not soldered or anything. Have a look:
Obverse
Reverse (hollow!)
Hinge Loop
There's one more cool thing about this buckle- it appears to have been marked by its owner- there are a series of lines made up of dots on the body of the buckle:
I can't really make any letters out yet, but I'm still looking.
The strap terminus is interesting too- it's VERY thin sheet bronze (~0.5mm) with a fairly solid tip- obviously it was made by hammering a thicker piece of bronze flat. The concentric circle decoration is interestign as well- the small dent in the very center shows that the circles were made by a compass-like tool:
Obverse
Tip side view
Basically, these artifacts give an intersting insight into at least one form of each of the Balteus buckle and strap terminus that no doubt differs from the solid castings and thick metal versions produced for reenactors today.
I'm actually really keen to try and make a replica of the buckle especailly and to see just how well it stands up to use. I don't have easy access to the thickness of bronze that would be necessary, so I'll have to use brass and take its 'softer' nature into account when evaluating my results. I'll let you all know!
Valete
Matt
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