Crest attachment?

[Marcus Ulpius Quintus]

Salvete fratri!

I have a nice Hebron Italic G helmet, and I'm looking to add a transverse crest to it, to put it simply. However, as you will know, this model doesn't have any slots / crest attachments, although it does have a crossbrace over the bowl. Any hints/suggestions? I don't have access to high powered machinery at the moment, and I really don't want to overly cut it into it - the crest attachment is purely temporary

Mat

[Peroni]

It would appear that crests were going out of fashion by the late first quarter to mid second century when the Hebron helmet was in use. From the crescent appliqués around the cross-bracing it would appear that this wasn't a field modofication, as seen on the earlier (Trajanic) Berzobis helmet, but had the cross-bracing fitted right from the start. Doubtful that this type of hemet (including the Theilenhofen and Brigetio Italic G types) ever had crests.

If you really want a crest on a later Italic helmet, I would go for the Italic D types (Mainz or Krefeld).

[Crispvs]

Actually the Brigetio helmet is designated as Imperial Gallic type 'K' and does not feature crossed re-enforcements or lunate appliques. It can be seen in the museum in Caerleon. Imperial Gallic type 'J' (whose findspot I do not recall off the top of my head, not being at home as I type this) features a lunate applique like those on the Hebron helmet, although the opposite way up to those on the Hebron helmet.

Like Peronis I am inclined to think that a crest would not have been fitted to a helmet like the Hebron and Theilenhofen helmets. I think that they would probably have been relying on silvering or tinning to make their helmets distictive to their soldiers. Their other attributes of greeves and vinestick presumably continued.
Of course, it is possible that some helmets could have been decorated with enamel and the inset jewels found in in the fourth century Berkasovo I and Budapest helmets could possibly have been derived from an earlier practice of decorating officers' helmets with stones or glass as an alternative to crests. However, very few helmets are so far known from the second century AD and so without a greater sample to examine, such ideas must remain supposition and nothing more. Certainly there is a very large gap in time between the introduction of the crossed re-enforcements which would obscure most crest fittings and the first evidence of bejeweled helmets in the early fourth century.

Crispvs

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

Possibly also, they may have decided the crest attracted too many falx's in their direction? Brave or not...I doubt they were suicidal! hock: