Scutum from Dura-Europos mid-3rd century A.D.

[Rado]

We in our LEG IIII SCYTHICA began preparing for the reconstruction of 15 legionaries for the period 3rd century AD . We begin preparing to produce 15 shield of the model Dura-Europos here in our club.

Most likely IIII Scythica in the 3rd-th century to remained in the province Syria .Zeugma is an important place on the river Euphrates, facing the Parthian frontier. Probably, IIII Scythica was somehow involved in the eastern campaign of Caracalla(in 217) and must have passed through Zeugma.
Information which we have is from known web publications:
Dura-Europos Paint on Wood and Rawhide, H. 105.5 cm, W. 41.0 cm, D. 30.0 cm
From Tower 19, Dura-Europos, mid-3rd century CE
http://ecatalogue.art.yale.edu/detail.htm?objectId=5959
http://www.romancoins.info/MilitaryEquip...hield.html
http://malwaretips.com/Thread-Shroud-of-...res?page=6
http://www.flickr.com/photos/medievalkar...otostream/
And the book"James S. - The Excavations at Dura-Europos conducted by Yale University and the French Academy of Inscriptions and Letters 1928 to 1937 - 2004"

[Rado]

Unfortunately we cannot find answers from these sites of many not clear for us details:
1.Width which is shown W. 41.0 cm ! is this the real width of the shield !? It seems inappropriate narrow and tight for body protection!
Common reconstruction scutum dimensions standard is around Width 80 cm Height 105 cm.!
How to understand the data from the book "James S. - The Excavations at Dura-Europos conducted by Yale University and the French Academy of Inscriptions and Letters 1928 to 1937 - 2004":
Height 1.06 m. Width around curve 0.86 m ,chord 0.66 m.?

[Rado]

2. How to make proper the brass fittings on the periphery? As I watching pictures I think I see holes in fitting that is attached with string!? I think on this picture is clearly visible:

Here missing nailing ears as on the classic scutum fittings.
Thanks in advance to everyone who sharing the opinion end clarifications on the topic!
We will try to make 15 correct replica of Dura-Europos scutum .

[Paul Elliott]

Hi Rado, I too have constructed and painted this shield! The chord is the distance from one straight edge to the other in a direct line. The curve is the distance around the face of the shield.

This example has no metal edging and none has been found in the third century. The edging is leather or rawhide stitched on through those holes....

[Titus Marius Secundus]

This question may sounds rather silly to some, but I am pondering over how you would stitch through wood :S Would they pierce holes?

[Paul Elliott]

This question may sounds rather silly to some, but I am pondering over how you would stitch through wood :S Would they pierce holes?

Yes, holes were found drilled through the thin plywood of the scutum.

[Rado]

Thank you for the clarifications Paul !
I understood no brass hardware on the periphery, even though in this picture the material much look like bronze!

I realize that you are re-enactor with experienced on this topic.
Regarding dimensions of the wooden panels ,how will you advise me? With what size we have to cut the boards before we bend them? Height 105.5 cm, Width…?

[Amiculus]

A bit off-topic, but I was curious...what are the origins of the Scythica legion? I would assume from the name that they began as a Danube legion, but I could be wrong.

[Paul Elliott]

Radostin, a website like this will show you all the steps you need, I used a similar one but it is no longer online.

http://web.utk.edu/~cohprima/scutum.html

Note however, that the scuta on that website are Republican and of slightly different dimensions, but the procedure would be the same.

Another site showing a slightly easier method is here: http://www.larp.com/legioxx/scutum.html

The plywood you would need to replicate the Dura shield would be:

106 cm long x 86 cm wide and 5 or 6 cm thick.

[Rado]

Thank you for your cooperation Paul!
We have good experience in the production of Roman shields(scuta, Auxiliary clipeus and parma). Just dimensional details that are published in web publications on Dura-Europos shield confuse me: Width- 41.0 cm !?
We in our club have press for shields and barrel for bending of a single piece. In our club we have produced in excess of 30 Roman shields of different models.

[Flavivs Aetivs]

It's probably supposed to be 41 inches or something. Not 41 cm.

why in god's name are you using plywood 6 cm thick? 1 cm is as thick as Roman shields got.

[Paul Elliott]

Why did I say 6 cm thick? Of course it should be 6 mm thick >: that's the dimensions given in Simon James Final Report, anyhow.

[Rado]

[quote="Magister Militum Flavius Aetius" post=341930]It's probably supposed to be 41 inches or something. Not 41 cm.

In all official sites are defined not ambiguously size/Dimensions: 105.5 x 41 x 30 cm (41 9/16 x 16 1/8 x 11 13/16 in.)

[Flavivs Aetivs]

It's curved right? maybe they measured from one corner straight to the next without following the curve?

[Quintius Clavus]

I have personally seen the Dura Europos scutum, twice and can now see it whenever I want to make a short trip to Yale University's Peabody museum, where it is on display - once again. When it was originally found, it was smashed flat, and was "restored", but is in fact a much tighter curve than it would have had originally. When they closed the galleries with the Dura Europos artifacts a number of years ago, they had been in the lowest level of the museum. They had to do some serious restoring/reconserving due to the damage done by damp. Now everything, which is out on public display, is on the main level of the museum.