I used to be under the impression that Roman generals, officers, legates, etc. would have worn an Attic helmet when wearing their armor, due to all of the sculptural representations everywhere. There are some cavalry helmets which even seem to me to be descended or influenced by the infamous Attic helmet. But now I am not so sure. I now believe that Roman officers would wear Etrusco-Corinthian helmets and I come to that conclusion based on a few points. One, the famous Autun helmet and the Heddernheim type Helmet with the eagle crest and face that hangs over the T-shaped opening for the face. I think those both are descended from Etrusco-Corinthian helmets and this Roman statue of Alexander shows him with a similar helmet. The sculpture is clearly based on the panalopy of a Roman general, with the shoulder pieces, pteruges, gorgon head and the roman daisy on the clasp of the palaudamentum. There is also a statue of Hadrian I believe, and at his feet rests a Corinthian helmet but more likely to be an Etrusco-Corinthian. The fresco in Nero's "Golden House" also shows what is assumed to be the Trojan hero Hector and he is wearing an Etrusco-Corinthian helmet. He also is wearing Lorica Segmentata and as Graham Sumner pointed out in his book Roman Military clothing #1, perhaps this was drawn from life? Why go all out in making a warrior have a classical appearance only to throw in segmentata? So that is my opinion or rather hypothesis.
ah, there we go. Now I got the picture up finally. That right there is how a Roman general or officer would look.......IMHO. Wow, note that instead of the traditional corinthian eye & nose piece this helmet is actually depicted as having a 3-Dimensional human nose and eyes (or perhaps those of a gods but nonetheless actual facial features instead of functioning parts of a helmet)
I am so sorry I didn't see that anybody replied to this so I never responded to your question. I'm sorry. I wasn't ignoring you or anything. Anyways, yeah I can try to find a picture of the fresco for you. There is one picture online I have seen of it but it is of extremely poor quality. The best image I have is in one of my books. I will keep searching though until I find a good quality pic of it and will post it as soon as I find it. BTW I also found another Roma statue depicting the same Apulo-Corinthian helmet as the one shown on Alexander. This time it is depicted on Jupiter/Zeus and I believe is from somewhere around 100 AD. All of the rest of Jupiter's panalopy is identical to that shown on monuments and depictions of Roman tribunes, officers, & even emperors, but rarely is it shown their head gear (barring the Tetrarchs) and it is long assumed they would have worn a helmet in the styleof the Attic Helm so frequently depicted on many Roman monuments but never found in the archeological record, unless you count some of the Cavalry helmets like the Auxilary type A cavalry helm aka the 'Weiler' helm. As much as love the look and design of the attic helmet I still felt that the evidence more closely matches with the Apulo/Italo/Etrusco-Corinthian which we know from the many recovered was actually worn by Roman citizens in the 3rd & 2nd centuries BC. It falls out of favor towards the mid-1st century and is assumed not to be in use by the Imperial period. But with many Romans & even emperors being phil-hellenes I would not doubt them wanting to look more Hellenistic. Plus there is even a staue of Emperor Hadrian with one at his feet. I think that the tradition of wearing this helm continued throughout the imperial period and even evolved to eventually replacing the eye holes and nose gaurd with actual human eyes and nose in 3D relief. I think such examples as the Autun Helmet and the Heddernheim Cavalry type helmet with the prominent Eagle crest are continuations of this style, directly descending from the early Italo-Corinthian types with their characteristic feathered plume holders along with raised horse-hair crest. The evolution of the helmet gradually changed until it resembled an entirely new looking helmet altogether. I am posting a link to the image of the Jupiter statue with the aforementioned helmet below. Thanks
Don't forget that styles changed during the time of the Roman Empire and many depictions of officers during the Late Empire period show them wearing helmets very similar to the rankers. The difference may have been that they were covered in gold and silver and 'shone with a scintilating light' due to the amount of gems set into the helmet.
The Autun helmet has a face embossed on the forepeak. I believe it's the last known example of the Etrusco-Corinthian (or whatever) design. Robinson assigns it a 1st century AD date.
Quote:As much as love the look and design of the attic helmet I still felt that the evidence more closely matches with the Apulo/Italo/Etrusco-Corinthian which we know from the many recovered was actually worn by Roman citizens in the 3rd & 2nd centuries BC. It falls out of favor towards the mid-1st century and is assumed not to be in use by the Imperial period.
All of the known Apulo-Corinthian helmets date to the 6th-4th BC. So they couldn't have been worn by Roman soldiers in the 3rd to 2nd Centuries BC.
The Autun helmet is believed to be part of a statue.
Judging only from depictions in Roman art can be misleading. Don't forget the artistic convention to use Greek/Hellenistic equipment in reliefs and especially statues.
It cannot ruled out that here and there Roman officers would have used Helmets in the tradition of Apulo-Corinthians as the Heddernheim type mentioned already.
Quote:"The Autun helmet is believed to be part of a statue."
Not at all true.
The Autun helmet was found in a battlefield environment near Bibracte.
Read the excavation report in French. Though it is a very old report.
Could it be that you are not talking about the same helmet? I believe that the report on the excavation of the Autun helmet is:
Découverte de deux inscriptions romaines et d'un casque votif à Autun · Bulliot, Jacques-Gabriel. (1901) - In: Bulletin monumental vol. 65 (1901) p. 30-36
According to this the helmet was found in close connection with two votive inscriptions to a Celtic god "Anval(l)vs" and was therefore believe to be a votive deposit. The original text is as follows:
I stand corrected, must have read a report on another helmet then several years ago... the report i read was about a helmet found near bibracte itself. Dated 1895.
Thats interesting, I never knew that about the Autun Helmet. But about the Apulo-Corinthian helms, I know they show up in the archeological record from 6th century BC - 4th Century BC but from that point onwards into the Principate and Imperial periods I was not trying to say that they were common or worn by the rank & file legionaries & auxila, but simply that when it comes to high ranking officers, those belonging to the senatorial class and what not, it would be more plausible for them to have Etrusco-Corinthian helms than the 'Attic' helms. I am not saying that Attic types didn't exist in the Roman army or were never worn because although they are lacking in the archeological record I do think they must have existed and been worn by some officers. I think that the aux cav helmets descend from or were inspired from true Attic types. Perhaps the cavalrymen wished to emulate the hellenistic look of the officers but tailored their helmets to be more functional and perhaps also making slight changes as to not be confused with what is normally considered a rare high ranking piece of ornate equipment. Of course I could be completely wrong here and I am absolutely open to that possibility or any other as long as it is accurate. I think that the Etrusco-Corinthian would be more common among high ranking elites because of the many depictions of such helmets or ones that look very close to the design in much of Roman sculpture. Also it is was known to be worn in Roman/Italian history and perhaps the traditions continued and was copied. Much of Greek art and depiction of gods show them with the original Corinthian helmet and no doubt many Romans would be familiar with the look. Seeing figures in art, sculpture, monuments and temples of Achilles and Mars or Jupiter himself wearing such a recognizable piece would definately be something to emulate. Image being very important to many commanders, wearing such a helmet would no doubt invoke associations with myths, gods and historical figures. Also because helmets such as the earlier mentioned heddernheim type cavalry helm have the face depicted over the helmets T-shaped face opening and it isn't simply on the top or brow of the helmet but is on a part of the brow that specifically juts outward and hangs over the face almost in a kind of visor or as if to emulate a the corinthian helmet being pushed up during breaks in battle. With that helmet being from around 180-220 AD somewhere in that range I believe and would show a continuation of or evoution of the said helmet. Also, I also found another very interesting helmet! It looks very much like some of ones depicted on the Ludovisi Sarcophagus, the ones with the scaled helmets with eagle head crests, they almost look like phyrgian helmets but with eagle beaks instead of a round knob. Anyways here's a look at it:
Question, have any victory monuments ever been found ? I once heard there was a large deposit found in France of Gallic weaponry in a votive context. I am not sure however where that was. In ancient books almost every battle was followed by a victory monument of some sort, whether it was in stone or just made of a pole stacked with weaponry of the enemy.
Helmet comparison is difficult. Where i agree with the OP that the highest officers must have had an elaborate outfit as well as helmet, i do not believe they all would have worn Apulo Corinthian style helmets. The Theilenhofen helmet could as well have belonged to a higher officer similar to other very elaborate "Cavalry" specimens like the Xanten helmet. There must have been a large variation in officer helmets, but sadly not one has survived in a context which would attest a name to it. The Autun helmet as votive offering is one thing, but to immediately have it attached to a statue (which was never found in situ) is a little bit over the top. Personally i love the fantasy that this helmet was the helmet lost by one of Caesar's co-Generals who has been described to having lost his helmet near Bibracte itself, which is very close to Autun. Whether or not the Autun helmet is in fact thelost helmet of Titus Labienus (at least i think he was the one losing his helmet), we will never know.....
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