Sometime in the near future I plan on buying a deepeeka Gallic g. I know the currently accepted theory for helmet crests is the centurion was the only one who would wear a crest in battle. I am wondering if it would have been possibly for an Optio in the primus pilus century to wear a helmet crest. I know there is not much evidence for optio equipment so please weigh in by what you think is logical. If it makes sense for an optio to wear a crest how hard is it for me to make one? I have read the article on legio xx's website on how to make a helmet crest a lot, and the instructions are simple bit it does not seem easy. If I am able to make it what do you think of brown for hair color? If I cannot make one I will buy a tan deepeeka crest it is just a little bit out of my price range but, it will probably be of better quality than the one I would attempt to make.
Gratias Tibi
I have seen the feather crests on SOTW, will it cost extra for a horsehair one? I'm willing to pay $100 because SOTW makes great stuff, bit if it costs more it is not worth it. The idea of having one custom made does seem really awesome though, I will look into it.
Quote:I know the currently accepted theory for helmet crests is the centurion was the only one who would wear a crest in battle.
When should a legionary wear his helmet crest if not in battle?
Why should a centurion wear a crest different fom the the "ordinary" form, when the legionaries wear no crests at all?
In my opinion the crests were made to be worn in battle, confirmed by art and written sources (the incident in Caesar's Gallic war where the Legionaries had no time to put on their insignia), like in many other helmeted Ancient armies.
A. GAL. PRISCVS post=351393 Wrote:I know the currently accepted theory for helmet crests is the centurion was the only one who would wear a crest in battle.
When should a legionary wear his helmet crest if not in battle?
Why should a centurion wear a crest different fom the the "ordinary" form, when the legionaries wear no crests at all?
In my opinion the crests were made to be worn in battle, confirmed by art and written sources (the incident in Caesar's Gallic war where the Legionaries had no time to put on their insignia), like in many other helmeted Ancient armies.
Yeah, a 100 years before the Gallic G. Caesar's men also wore a different type of helmet with a completely different type of crest. Some Imperial type helmets don't even have a crest holder, not to mention the fact that I cannot think of any Imperial-era reliefs that show legionaries with their helmet crests in any sort of battle situation. Having worn a Gallic type plume on my helmet, I can't imagine them being anything but cumbersome in the heat of battle
I just think it makes sense for a 160 man first cohort century to have the optio wear a crest. If you are in the heat of battle and something happens to the centurion you will need to find the optio.
If you want to make a centurio crest using feathers remember that the most common are slightly bent so choose the same amount for both side of the crest.