02-03-2007, 03:17 PM
Hi!
I started a thread about the Soldiers on the Arch of Severus some months ago but wasn't able to scan the image I had in a book which showed a drawing of the relief which is badly damaged nowadays. Anyway now I managed to scan it somewhere and post it here so we can have a little discussion. What I find very interesting is the distribution of armour and shields as well as the variety of swords on the left or right side.
The most interesting part imho is the depiction of legionaries in segmentata with oval shields, some with hamata with rectangular shields and some auxiliaries with oval or hexagonal shields.
I don't really know what to take out of this. Is it a great example for (although still stylized) the change of equipment during this period, or was the intention to show legionaries equipped for different purposes, or maybe the artist wanted to make a difference between Septimius Danubian legions which due to the different situations of combat at the danube and limes frontiers had already started to change to longer swords and oval scuta while his eastern legions were still using the rectangular, or do we see the soldiers of the "old" legions compared with soldiers of Severus newly raised and equipped legions?
what do you think?
Left side of the Arch of Severus
sorry for the bad quality of the image. I don't really know how to cut out the picture from the text and keep it in good quality somehow. If anyone can help I'd be grateful.
Oh and sorry for starting a new thread but the old one went off topic as I didn't have the picture so I thought I'd start a fresh one.
thank you.
I started a thread about the Soldiers on the Arch of Severus some months ago but wasn't able to scan the image I had in a book which showed a drawing of the relief which is badly damaged nowadays. Anyway now I managed to scan it somewhere and post it here so we can have a little discussion. What I find very interesting is the distribution of armour and shields as well as the variety of swords on the left or right side.
The most interesting part imho is the depiction of legionaries in segmentata with oval shields, some with hamata with rectangular shields and some auxiliaries with oval or hexagonal shields.
I don't really know what to take out of this. Is it a great example for (although still stylized) the change of equipment during this period, or was the intention to show legionaries equipped for different purposes, or maybe the artist wanted to make a difference between Septimius Danubian legions which due to the different situations of combat at the danube and limes frontiers had already started to change to longer swords and oval scuta while his eastern legions were still using the rectangular, or do we see the soldiers of the "old" legions compared with soldiers of Severus newly raised and equipped legions?
what do you think?
Left side of the Arch of Severus
sorry for the bad quality of the image. I don't really know how to cut out the picture from the text and keep it in good quality somehow. If anyone can help I'd be grateful.
Oh and sorry for starting a new thread but the old one went off topic as I didn't have the picture so I thought I'd start a fresh one.
thank you.
RESTITVTOR LIBERTATIS ET ROMANAE RELIGIONIS
DEDITICIVS MINERVAE ET MVSARVM
[Micha F.]
DEDITICIVS MINERVAE ET MVSARVM
[Micha F.]
