Impression questions

[Caius Marius]

Martin,
Thank you for the link. I had not yet seen those. It's help like this that makes me feel lucky to have found RAT!

Peroni,
Beautiful belt plates and those boots are simply amazing! Thanks for the link. And it's great to know where to look if we decide to go with that helmet. Thank you.


Crispvs,
Thanks for the info on the "factoid". I am happy to learn something new everyday, and that's a great one to know. It was the Gallic I type that I was thinking of, I just wasn't certain if there was a type that I may have been missing. My choices are all going to come down the time frame we finally decide on, but I'm going to keep asking questions and looking for info before we finalize it.

It is wonderful to have such a great resource to tap here at RAT, and I know that I greatly appreciate it. Again, thank you all for your knowledge and your insight.

~Chris

[Tarbicus]

It is entirely possible that centuriones came again to depend on tinned or silvered helmets for field identification, possibly embellished with enamel or the forerunners of the settings found on some late Roman helmets.

Again? When did they rely on it before?

[Peroni]

Here are those heavy enamelled plates and buckles from 2nd century Caerleon (South Wales) There's also a pic of the rough start to producing something similar. I've got a few plates and a master buckle plate done so far! Please ignore the crappy experimental enamelling! I will leave that to the master!

[Caius Marius]

It is entirely possible that centuriones came again to depend on tinned or silvered helmets for field identification, possibly embellished with enamel or the forerunners of the settings found on some late Roman helmets.

Again? When did they rely on it before?

I read something on that in Dan Petersons book, The Roman Legions in Color Photographs.

(page 42)" ....During the Roman Republic the vast majority of helmets were bronze, so those of the centurions were often tinned or silvered for smartness or recognition. (Perhaps in the Principate, when bright, silver-like iron helmets became commonplace, some centurions may have preferred bronze, to remain more conspicuous on the field?)"

While I have heard that some of the info in the book has been found to have become outdated, is that the case with the above bit?

In the pic that the above quote is the caption for it shows a centurio wearing an imperial gallic "I" brass helm with a transverse crest. Makes me curious what type of, if any, modifications had to be made to mount the crest?

[Crispvs]

Well, 'relied on' might be a bit to strong a term to have used, but I think the reference to centuriones silvering their helmets to make them identifiable comes from Polybius.

Peronis,

Thanks for the pictures - it is a while since I last saw those plates in person. Incidentally, the reproduction plates you posted look pre-Flavian to me by their patterns.


Crispvs

[Peroni]

Peronis,

Thanks for the pictures - it is a while since I last saw those plates in person. Incidentally, the reproduction plates you posted look pre-Flavian to me by their patterns.

They do because they are the only stamps I have!

I actually said..

a pic of the rough start to producing something similar.

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

Hmmmmmm....Vellllly intelestink! Will follow the progress on these.
Will you be posting more pictures?

[Tarbicus]

Well, 'relied on' might be a bit to strong a term to have used, but I think the reference to centuriones silvering their helmets to make them identifiable comes from Polybius.

I think Virgil mentions officer crest mounts being silvered or gilded, and reaching across the bowl, to distinguish them from the men who also wore crests. No mention of the helmet being silvered, though, only the crest.
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