My inherited Roman helmet, possibly a film prop?

[Julia]

Hello

I recently inherited this helmet from a family member. He collected a lot of film memorabilia/film props but also has a house full of other stuff and we have no idea where most of it came from.

It seems to be made of copper and brass and has leather straps attaching the side pieces and then a tie under the chin. The bits that go over the ears seem to be hand hammered. As you will see from the photos, one of the side pieces is unattached because the leather has snapped, the leather is very worn and dried out. Also a couple of the studs/rivets appear to be missing. I think it's maybe had one battle too many!

My OH thinks it is a Roman Legionnaires helmet and has mentioned Coolus , sorry if I have that spelled wrong. We would both love to know more about it, though to be 100% honest, there is so much stuff that most of it is going to end up being given away, thrown away or sold on ebay :oops:

Thanks very much for any help anyone can offer

Julia

[jkaler48]

It is a fairly distinctive helmet. If you can spot it in an old movie it would have some value as movie memorabilia. The general shape is that of various Roman helmets but the construction details are incorrect.

[Narukami]

You might check with Graham Sumner (a member of this Forum) perhaps he can narrow down the possibilities. At first glance I wonder if it might be from the film: Fall Of The Roman Empire. That's just a wild guess.

Perhaps your source for the helmet has more information at to when & where they originally obtained it.

Fun item none the less.

:wink:

Narukami

[Paul Elliott]

No, the Fall of the Roman Empire helmets were similar but had that distinctive circle at the crest that sort of marks them as copies of the Niedermormter helmets. Pretty sure its not from that film...

EDIT: With the flat cross bracing it certainly takes some inspiration taken from the 2nd century to me (though the movie might have been set anywhen!!).

You might check with Graham Sumner (a member of this Forum) perhaps he can narrow down the possibilities. At first glance I wonder if it might be from the film: Fall Of The Roman Empire. That's just a wild guess.

Perhaps your source for the helmet has more information at to when & where they originally obtained it.

Fun item none the less.

:wink:

Narukami

[Graham Sumner]

Hi Julia

It does look similar to the Legionary helmets in 'The Fall of the Roman Empire', however although there were about six different helmet types, apart from the classic officers helmets, used in that film it does not appear to be any of them.

A few at least were decent attempts at reconstructing original helmets, in particular a cavalry helmet and a cavalry 'sports' helmet from Heddernheim. These were actually correct for the period the film was set in and indeed the sports helmet was a very brave choice as they are not instantly recognisable to the general public as Roman helmets. The legionary helmet they used in this film were almost a crude reconstruction of the Italic 'D' type from Mainz only without the helmet bowl decoration. They even had the carrying handles on the neck guard!

The helmet you have is certainly a Roman legionary style helmet but I could not tell for certain from which film if indeed it is from a film. Is there any chance of getting a more normal sideways view?

It is not an 'attic' helmet type so you can rule out the likes of 'Ben-Hur' And 'Quo Vadis'. Other films from the fifties had more recognisable legionary helmets including 'Coolus' types so that rules out 'The Robe' and its sequel. Neither does it have a ring crest so that rules out the more recent series 'Rome'.

Looking through the stills I have there were a variety of helmets used amongst the extras in the slave army in ''Spartacus' 1960. As it is in metal too there may be a slight possibility it came from that film. Was it bought in Spain do you know?

If it is a genuine film prop with some provenance, props like these can have considerable value to collectors, so do not give it away!

Are there any more helmets?


Graham.

[Alanus]

Hello, Julia

I'm glad you could finally post the photos of your film-prop helmet. :grin:

Looking through the stills I have there were a variety of helmets used amongst the extras in the slave army in ''Spartacus' 1960. As it is in metal too there may be a slight possibility it came from that film. Was it bought in Spain do you know?

If it is a genuine film prop with some provenance, props like these can have considerable value to collectors, so do not give it away!

Are there any more helmets?

Graham.

PS: And follow Graham's advice. He knows his stuff!

[Julia]

Thank you everyone for your help and comments. I do not know where the helmet came from as it was inherited from a deceased family member. He bought things at small auctions and also when travelling and ended up with a vast collection of some very interesting and some rather strange things but nothing was classified or labelled. Sadly some of his collection is in a very poor state due to an infestation of mice and those boxes have been thrown away, this is a great pity and there appeared to be a large number of film scripts which may have given a hint to the origins of the helmet. We haven't come across any more helmets yet but I will be sure to let you know if we do.

I have tried to add one more photo to give a more normal sideways view as requested.

Thank you again
Julia

[attachment=4234]009a.JPG[/attachment]

[Julia]

OH was looking at it again last night and pointed out that there is a missing rivet on either side, just in front of the side pieces. He wondered if it may have had a crest or some sort of "badge" attached which has been removed?

Thanks again for everyone's help

[Graham Sumner]

Hello Julia

Thanks for the extra photo. It has given me an excuse to look through old movies again but I have not seen anything yet. The holes on either side would probably be for a brow band which was used on Roman helmets to take the force of sword blows coming down and hitting the front of the helmet bowl.

Graham.

[Paul Elliott]

There's always the possibility that it was made by an enthusiastic amateur, rather than a prop man...

[Julia]

Thank you again for the help. I think this is going to remain as one of life's great mysteries mile:

As the helmet cost us nothing and we would like it to find a new home where someone could restore/display/use it, we are going to list it on ebay and hopefully it will get a new lease of life.

Thanks everyone.

Julia