Scutum Emblem Name

[Matt Lukes]

Avete,<br>
<br>
Does anyone know the proper or accepted name/term for the rectangular figure with the triangles at each end that is sometimes put to the left and right of a Scutum Umbo? And on Legion-made bricks for that matter...<br>
<br>
Valete<br>
<br>
Matt <p></p><i></i>

[aitor iriarte]

Matt, it is called 'tabula ansata', which means roughly 'tablet with handles'.<br>
<br>
Aitor <p></p><i></i>

[Andrew Brozyna]

I would like to add that I often see modern paintings of romans carrying shields with the tabula ansata left blank, but I think it unlikely this devise was ever used without text inside. I expect the most common writing inside when appearing on a shield was the unit's name. Also, Cassius Dio's description of Domitian's war with the Dacians states that soldiers placed their name and that of their Centurion on their shield so their individual exploits / cowardice could be easily noted.<br>
<br>
P.S. I live by the US Naval Academy and was pleased to see their campus signs use the tabula ansata. <p></p><i></i>

[Matt Lukes]

Thanks guys! It's very intersting to hear that there was sometimes personal or subunit-specific markings on a soldier's Scutum.<br>
<br>
Vale<br>
<br>
Matt <p></p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

Hi,<br>
If you look closely on the Niedermormter helmet, you can see the name of the owner "Julius Mansuet..." of the tabula ansata.<img src="http://www.legionsix.org/neideraboveback.jpg" style="border:0;"/><br>
More of the pictures (mentioned in an earlier thread) can be found at http://www.legionsix.org/Real%20Gear.htm .
<br>
Punching your name was common - for example on the blade of the gladius in the website above.<br>
I agree- the tabula ansata would rarely be left empty- this was valuable kit!!<br>
<br>
Regards,<br>
<br>
Paulus <p></p><i></i>

[Crispvs]

Actually that is not the Niedermoermter helmet but the 'Guttmann' helmet, which was auctioned (but did not sell) at Christie's earlier this year. The tabula ansata does indeed however, have the owner's name punched into it, as did (if I remember rightly) a surviving carrying handle attachment plate of tabula ansata form which Robinson featured (along with the Niedermoermter helmet and an iron helmet) under the Imperial Italic type 'H' classification.<br>
<br>
As an aside, in the RMRS, we paint 'LEG' into the left tabula ansata and 'XIIII' into the right hand one. Not very imaginative but it certainly works.<br>
<br>
Crispvs <p></p><i></i>

[Lucius Aurelius Metellus]

Would it be proper to tool a tabula ansata into the leather lining of the cheek guard of my Intercissa ridge helmet, and have my name inscribed inside? <p>Lucius Aurelius Metellus, miles gregarius, Secunda Brittanica</p><i></i>

[Lucius Aurelius Metellus]

Actually my ridge helmet is more like an Augst ridge helmet rather than an Intercissa... <p>Lucius Aurelius Metellus, miles gregarius, Secunda Brittanica</p><i></i>

[aitor iriarte]

Lucius, if I were you, I'd line the cheek-pieces with glued felt and would leave leather for the edging, following the line of holes near the border...<br>
<br>
Aitor <p></p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

Avete! Just to clarify: the helmet pictured above most certainly <em>is</em> the so-called Nidermörmter helmet, also designated the Imperial Italic H. It was part of Bonn collector Axel Güttman's collection... this is nothing called a "Güttman helmet". The confusion may be in part because there are two Nidermörmter helmets in existence, one entirely of bronze (not brass, like the repro), and the one pictured here.<br>
<br>
As for the tabulum, Matt, I agree they almost certainly had words inscribed in them. My own opinion differs from most reenactors, in that I think their name may have been one of the things included.<br>
<br>
Vegetius wrote: "To ensure that soldiers did not become lost of separated from their comrades during the confusion of battle, each cohort had its individual design of shield decoration, and this practice continues today; these distinctive signs are known by their Greek name of [illegible]. <em>Furthermore, the soldier's name and cohort number were written on his shield."</em><br>
(Veg., Mil.II.17, as quoted in Michael Feugere's Weapons of the Romans, Paris, 1993)<br>
<br>
Vegetius was a military historian of the 4th Century AD, writing about the Roman Army [primarily] of the 2nd Century AD, as well as a veteran himself.<br>
<br>
I would add that, having spent many years in the infantry (13 all told), all soldiers mark their equipment. Flak jackets, helmet covers, ammo pouches... everything has a name inked on it somewhere inconspicuous (so you don't get in trouble for vandalizing government property ), or a little symbol, a piece of colored tape, etc., that prevents one's gear from "walking away". I'm sure Roman grunts were no different in that regard.<br>
<br>
Now, having said that, I actually just have my legion number painted inside my shield tabulum, because that's the look we all decided on. Some guys paint their names on the back of the shield. Though, again, one would think that your name would go in the "name tag shape" the Romans so thoughtfully added to the design.<br>
<br>
Just my two denarii,<br>
Darius<br>
<br>
<span style="color:orange;font-family:georgia;font-size:medium;">LEGVIVICPF</span><br>
Los Angeles <p></p><i></i>

[Praefectusclassis]

Actually, Vegetius was probably a bureaucrat without any military knowledge (Milner's introduction to the translation, xxxv), in I.8 he says he claims no authority himself, but is instead just compiling what he read. <p>Greets<br>
<br>
Jasper</p><i></i>

[Lucius Aurelius Metellus]

Hi Aitor,<br>
It's too late, my helmet is already constructed and stitched together. The lining in my cheek guards and neck guard are natural vegetable tanned leather, and the leather edging overlaps and is stitched through it. I plan to line the skull of my helmet with either glued felt, or a stitched linen padding stuffed with tow. I may tool a tabula ansata into the leather lining of one of my cheek guards and put my name inside it. <p>Lucius Aurelius Metellus, miles gregarius, Secunda Brittanica</p><i></i>

[aitor iriarte]

Hi Lucius,<br>
Well, at least you will first hand experiment if a leather lining is so uncomfortable as many people say!<br>
Perhaps you could write the name of your unit too...<br>
<br>
Aitor<br>
<p></p><i></i>

[mcbishop]

<em>there are two Nidermörmter helmets in existence</em><br>
<br>
Umm, no. There is only one, published by Robinson as Imperial-Italic H in <em>Armour of Imperial Rome</em> and it came from Niedermörmter, near Xanten (DEU). The helmet formerly in the Guttmann collection is unprovenanced (other than 'the Balkans'). Junkelmann characterised it as Weisenau/Niedermörmter <em>type</em> but it definitely does not come from Niedermörmter.<br>
<br>
The long and the short of it is that, in the messy and imprecise world of Roman helmet nomenclature, the helmet type is either an 'Imperial-Italic type H' or a 'Weisenau-Niedermörmter'. The Niedermörmter helmet is the one that came from, unsurprisingly, Niedermörmter.<br>
<br>
This may all sound unnecessarily anal, but when you start talking about several helmets of different types from the same place, precision is somewhat important for clarity.<br>
<br>
Besides, all such classificatory systems are pants anyway... ;-)<br>
<br>
Mike Bishop <p></p><i></i>

[Lucius Aurelius Metellus]

Hi Aitor,<br>
Yes, that is a good idea, perhaps one with my name inside one cheek guard, and one with my unit in the other cheek guard. Sounds perfectly plausible, I see no reason the Romans couldn't have done this, particularly if the helmet was an actual purchased (or otherwise obtained in a manner other than issue)belonging, rather than issued. <p>Lucius Aurelius Metellus, miles gregarius, Secunda Brittanica</p><i></i>