i am currently working on a reenactment of a roman auxiliary, and so far so good, all weapons and armor, aswell as most of the marching kit are complete, but right now there came up a pressing question:
is there any form of a carrying strap for the oval scutum?
i tried it with a simple strap like i have on my viking shield, but it didnt work out well
you might look at this site http://www.roman-reenactor.com/ it ia abour republican soldiers but the way they carry their scutum could work on a clipeus too.
AgrimensorLVCIVS FLAVIVS SINISTER
aka Jos Cremers
member of CORBVLO
ESTE NIX PAX CRISTE NIX
Not too helpful I know, but there is a carving of an auxiliary, with a strap over his shoulder for the shield, he holds the strap with his left hand as if it is a ruck sack slung over his shoulder. Sorry, I'm away from books at the moment so cant give you a more detailed answer.
But the way of carrying the clipeus you suggested sounds pretty unhandy because where do i put my furca and my spear while carrying the shield like this?
Found it, the gravestone of Aurelius Iustinus, a soldier from II Italica who dies in the wars against the Dacians. Tombstone now in Museum of Celje, in Slovakia.
Quote:looks promising, but still where to put the furca?
The soldier is a legionary, and third century, so perhaps his shield is a slightly different pattern to the 1st-2nd century auxiliary version.
However, I don't think he's actually holding onto the carrying strap. His left hand is gripping his sword hilt, the right is either resting with two fingers on the sword pommel or (perhaps) holding another strap across his right shoulder, which might in turn be supporting the heavy pilum he's apparently carrying slung on his back.
So some kind of double strap arrangement, maybe? Unless the pilum is tied to the shield in some way... He appears to have both hands free though, so could feasibly carry a spear or furca in either if necessary.
Lucius Tagomas post=344738 Wrote:looks promising, but still where to put the furca?
So some kind of double strap arrangement, maybe? Unless the pilum is tied to the shield in some way... He appears to have both hands free though, so could feasibly carry a spear or furca in either if necessary.
something like that also crossed my mind, for testing i will try to loop two seperate ropes thrugh the handle of the clipeus and wich would end in two straps like the ones on a backpack
Yes, I either misremembered, or I'm thinking of another gravestone. I'm not saying these are your answer, but they are evidence you can look at for yourself and decide how that would work carrying additional kit.
When I've used the furca with my 3rd century shield (which is similar to the auxiliary, but a bit wider), I have tried a strap that goes through the handle and to a ring on the back of the shield (the top left) as this replicates a possible setup found at Dura Europus from 256. Ive also done the same but just threaded the strap through the handle. In both cases I pass the strap over head and shoulder.
What happened was that the shield tended to rotate with its long axis going side to side, it made it easy to carry the furca. I have a photo somewhere....
