Scutum Emblem Name

[Matt Lukes]

Avete!<br>
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It hadn't even occurred to me that Legionaries might mark all their weapons and armor until I saw a beautiful Pompeii gladius blade (the one with the mail-splitting tip) with the former owner's name stamped into the steel by the hand guard. Since they had to pay for it all one way or another, it makes perfect sense that they'd mark it so, as was said, 'it doesn't walk off' It actually strikes me as one of those neat little details that makes our reconstruction objects that little bit more authentic-looking.<br>
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I've painted 'LEGVIII' and 'AVG' in the Tabula ansatae on the front of my new Scutum- simply because I've seen authentic bricks with this marking in a TA, and it seems reasonable enough that if it was done in one place, it might have been done in another. I'm very pleased with how it looks- it's just a shame that I'll have to more-or-less guess at how the name, Cohort, etc. painted on the inside somewhere might have looked. I'd love to have just one example of how this was really done to back up my choice.<br>
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Thanks for all the information guys- it's quite fascinating!<br>
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Valete<br>
<br>
Matt <p></p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

Is it me or are there two Picachus on the above helm? <p>[url=http://www.freewebs.com/davekufner" target="top]www.freewebs.com/davekufner[/url]</p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

To briefly revisit the Niedermörmter designation...<br>
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While the helmet pictured above is not "the" Niedermörmter, it was found <em>after</em> Robinson was published, and so was not able to be included in his study. Junkelmann has since labelled it a "Niedermörmter-type", and alternately a "late Wiesenau" which most people do not identify with, since "Wiesenau" seems to cover such a wide range of helmets. Consequently, many jr. archeaologists (like myself), as well as the Deepeeka company, refer to it as "a" Niedermörmter. Often the terms "iron" and "brass" are used to differentiate the two (which is itself misleading, since the "brass" Niedermörmter was in fact bronze).<br>
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In pointing out that there is not, nor ever has been, a "Guttman" helmet, I was attempting to do exactly as Dr. Mike says, i.e., not add a <em>new</em> misdesignation to the already confusing plethora of designations.<br>
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I like this site as a refernece:<br>
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www.romancoins.info/Milit...elmet.html<br>
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Among other things, it shows a helmet blatantly marked with the owner's name on the neckguard (alas, no tabulum), and the "type-Niedermörmter" (the helmet shown above).<br>
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Cheers,<br>
<br>
Darius<br>
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<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v204/darius27/victrix_tabulum_II_distort.jpg" style="border:0;"/><br>
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