Late Roman Tent question

[Caballo]

From the Late 5th century Ambrosian Iliad , now in Miilan.

What on earth are the circular items shown on each of these tents...even the small one!





They are too small for shields (which would be too heavy). Hats ? Barriers (if spears are used for tent poles)?? I'm a bit baffled...

[John Conyard]

MO their function is to hold back the canvas/leather, and to display a unit ID.

Some tents do use bosses to hold back canvas. Medieval ones used shields for unit ID.

Not conclusive proof but probable.

[Matthew Amt]

Shields hung from the tent poles? Having done that in a medieval camp, it's the first thing to spring to mind.

Matthew

[Ron Andrea]

That certainly sounds plausible, supported by their uniformity. And it's easy to see what might have been the boss in the center, though they look as if they were entirely metal.

They appear undecorated, but shields wouldn't have borne unit colors?

They're small for shields, but seem to bear the same relation to the size of the tent. Suggesting they really were that small.

Were similar objects used to hold back drapes in homes or palaces?

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

Imagio of some sort? There seems to be a ritual going on in one?
Perhaps the round image in the right hand top corner of the second image is related to these discs?

[ValentinianVictrix]

I'd like to suggest that perhaps the artist made the human figures much larger than life size and that the shields are in fact the right size?

I think in the first panel the shield appears to have a figure of a well muscled man on it?

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

Glad you spotted that, I suggested it looked like a musculata in another forum.
If they are shields, then they stilappear to be made from one material, metal.
I still like my idea of a, imagio of some description. Although some do have the appearances of
shields. i ca nalso see a face in one or 2, with a stretch....

[Paul Elliott]

I always considered them decorative wooden discs, probably painted. I can't think of any practical reason.

[Matthew Amt]

I'm certainly not one to consider Romans of any era "practical", mind you, but why would special decorative discs of that size be lugged around to hang on a *marching tent*?? Particularly when every soldier is already carrying a nice spiffy painted shield? Just seems odd...

Matthew

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

The Roman's liked to bling up practically everything.....
I wouldn't be surprised if a sponge on a stick was found with a carved or painted handle :-o

So they could be both functional and decorative.

[Crispvs]

I find myself wondering if the tents might not be made from three separate sections of canvas or goatskin, each of which might have its own pole to be wound around for storage. These same poles could also serve as the ridge and side strainer poles which seem to be suggested in the pictures. If this was the case, each pole might have two end pieces which both tidied up the ends of the rolls and perhaps had some function in stopping them from unrolling during transport. If so this could be what we are seeing.

Only speculation of course.


Crispvs