Face mask or face guard in late roman period

[Robert Vermaat]

Be careful about the terminology. Clibanarius does not enter into the literary vocabulary until the 4th century.

I agree. I was a after the 'image of an armoured cavaryman decked in iron from head to toe'. I agree that 'clibanarius' is a late term, i recall your earlier posts about that.

Depending upon how Heliodorus is to be dated, either he or Julian is the first to mention facemasks and the image of the living statue. Before that, writers had merely described these warriors as being completely armoured. Plutarch’s reference to the Armenian cataphracts at Tigranocerta having only their legs and thighs exposed (Plut., Lucullus, 28. 4) could imply that their heads, as well as the rest of their bodies, were completely covered and there is a facemask helmet depicted among the Pergamum reliefs which may support this.

Which means that, as a topos, this image did not really occur in earlier texts?