Roman Cavalry Officer, Punic Wars?

[MeinPanzer]

The shield might be the round type with reinforced spine carried by the Greek enemy on the Aemilius Paullus monument (possibly adopted by Greeks from Celtic origins during Galatian invasion and, as the easiest but far from universally accepted explanation has it, taken to Italy by Pyrrhus).

Actually, you have that last point backwards. This type of shield, along with the scutum, actually originated in Italy in the 8th c. BC. From there it and the scutum were adopted by Celtic peoples and taken to central and northern Europe and eventually spread throughout most of the Old World. The theory is that after Pyrrhus' campaigns in Italy, he either brought back the cavalry shields which he had adopted there or brought back Italian allies and mercenaries who introduced such shields to Greece and beyond.

The only thing that can be said with much certainty is that the shield was a small round one. There are a lot of references to round shields in the early books of livy as well as in art.

Based on evidence, a larger round one seems more likely, and it fits with the overall usage throughout the Greek world at the time of large, round cavalry shields.

I did a bit of browsing and found this image of a coin from the second punic war, showing a cavalryman

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... Sg0542.jpg

The helmet looks high, open faced, with cheek pieces. The primary weapon is the spear. I can't make out what the image on the shield is meant to be.

This is a depiction of a cavalryman on a coin of the Frentani from Larinum, and so perhaps does not exactly reflect Roman arms in use at the time.

Yes, you see from the coin in the link above that the shield is actually quite large with a central spine, not the smaller earlier type with a circular boss (described by Polybius as like the round cakes with a boss in the middle used at sacrifices - representations of such cakes or loaves have been found, indirectly giving us the shape of the shield). The problem is that the relevant passage in Polybius, where he describes the Roman cavalry adopting Greek style shields and spears, comes as a digression in his coverage of the Second Punic War, but it is unclear whether he is saying the change was made before the Punic Wars, during it, or after. He contrasts 'earlier times' with 'now' and he was of course writing some decades after the close of the 2PW.

The problem is that both shields appear side by side in use at the same time as well, so that we perhaps cannot easily qualify popanum shields as early and round "Celtic" shields as coming later.

Although there are representations of mounted figures with greaves (I'm thinking of Classical Greek art), they are far outnumbered by those without.

Actually, during the Hellenistic period, it is abundantly evident from funerary stelai that greaves were normally worn by cavalrymen. Whether that reflects on Roman practice, however, is very unclear.

Here are a few sources which you might find helpful.

These first two are late Republican intaglio impressions. This one:

http://antiquemilitaryhistory.com/images/repubgem.JPG

Shows what is perhaps a cavalry officer. He wears a muscle cuirass and his attendant carries a spear for him, but what is most interesting is his large round shield with a classic lightning bolt emblem. This was a very common emblem in the Hellenistic period and represents the power of Zeus.

This one:

http://antiquemilitaryhistory.com/images/repubgem2.JPG

Shows a cavalryman fighting in action like a Hellenistic heavy cavalryman, just as we would figure from Polybius' description. However, he is carrying a large popanum shield instead of a "Celtic" shield as one would expect. Note how he wields his lance one-handed in the Hellenistic style.

And finally here is a monument from Pompeii showing Roman cavalry. You can see on the lower figure the mail cuirass, and on the upper figure the large popanum shield.

http://antiquemilitaryhistory.com/image ... nument.JPG

Hope this helps.