09-04-2008, 06:03 PM
Quote:I'm pretty sure there were lots of eastern heavy cavalry wearing full face protection. The Parthian heavy cavalry may have been among the first to do so, but a lot of others adopted it eventually. I am unsure of the time of this, but I believe that the Romans may have copied the face mask from the eastern heavy cavalry.
I have even seen a reconstruction of a Galatian infantryman with a full-face protective mask! The evidence for this is not a slam-dunk by any means, but it's interesting. It's based on two statues of Galatian warriors with what appear to be full beards at a time when they are believed to have been clean-shaven, suggesting an armored face mask, as most armored face masks included a stylized beard. As I said, an interesting theory but the evidence isn't conclusive.
That's from Nick Sekunda's book on the reformed Seleucid army. Interesting read but he couldn't convince me.
Also known as: Jeroen Leeuwensteyn 
hock: <img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_eek.gif" alt="hock:" title="Shocked" />hock:
"You see, in this world there\'s two kinds of people, my friend. Those armed with pila, and those who dig. You dig."
hock: <img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_eek.gif" alt="hock:" title="Shocked" />hock: "You see, in this world there\'s two kinds of people, my friend. Those armed with pila, and those who dig. You dig."
