SCUTUM COVERING

[John M McDermott]

I recently saw a History Channel Show where a very flimsy shield was covered with hide, which made it practically indestructible. This lends credence to those who claim hide was used by the Romans because of its strengths imparting properties.<br>
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Does anyone have strong feelings about what the Romans used to cover shields with? <p></p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

I recently setup a page on just this topic. Go to:<br>
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www.geocities.com/romanle...ction.html<br>
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[John M McDermott]

The Fayum shield seems to have been covered in felt. Why leather, linen or felt?<br>
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My reasoning goes that the purpose must have had something to do with strengthening the shield. A wooden shield is easily shattered. Covering it in a fabric imparts additional strength way out of proportion to the fabric itself. The addition of rawhide rims adds even more strength.<br>
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Rawhide covering makes a shield of astonishing strength. Linen was used as armor. Would its properties have added strength to a shield as well? Felt comes in "hard" varieties. Would felt also have functioned this way?<br>
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By the way, the shield in my picture is covered in rawhide. You could drive my car over it and it wouldn't break. <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p200.ezboard.com/bromanarmytalk.showUserPublicProfile?gid=johnmmcdermott>JOHN M MCDERMOTT</A> <IMG HEIGHT=10 WIDTH=10 SRC="http://photobucket.com/albums/v488/JohnMcDermott/th_DSC00144.jpg" BORDER=0> at: 2/26/05 1:24 am<br></i>

[Anonymous]

Rawhide is great, so long as you can keep it dry. In the Dura reports the ambiguous word "hide" is frequently used. Rawhide makes a great rim, when kept dry it's hard as a rock, but it's difficult to paint. Tanned leather used as a facing makes much more sense. <p></p><i></i>

[Tarbicus]

Felt is apparently a fantastic armour. There is a 'felt' version of Kevlar. Shock absorption and resistance to penetration are supposed to be major properties of felt while it also retains plenty of flexibility.<br>
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With rawhide, surely the bonding properties of the skin give extra strength to the structure under pressure. It actually takes a lot to 'burst' skin, as opposed to 'puncturing' it with a sharp blade. <p></p><i></i>

[John M McDermott]

Ah! Perhaps this is why we find felt on the Fayum shield. It's so easy to think of it as a warm, cozy material, not an armor.<br>
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The tests on a hide covered shield also showed it was highly resistant to arrows, except at the closest range. <p></p><i></i>

[Tarbicus]

Here's an interesting page with info on ancient uses of felt:<br>
Felted Paths<br>
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Quote:</em></strong><hr>The felt armor that the Roman soldiers wore was dipped in vinegar to make it resistant to both fire and iron weapons. ( New directions for felt an ancient craft, Sjoberg, Gunilla Paetau, pg.12) One instance in which this felt armor was used, would be when Caesar’s armies fought against the Picts in Britain. (Weaving: A hand bood of the fiber arts, shirley E. Held, pg.79)<hr><br>
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Not sure on the accuracy, but there must be some opinions out there<br>
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Here's another interesting reference to felt in Roman times. The text hidden behind one of the images is:<br>
Quote:</em></strong><hr>He appears to be wearing a hat, perhaps the felt kamelaukion, a "thick cap which covered the back of the neck and ears"(1) prescribed in Byzantine military manuals to be worn by lighter armed troops.<hr><br>
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Hidden Soldiers<img src="http://www.geocities.com/egfrothos/lorikion.jpg" style="border:0;"/><br>
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Someone on another forum describes the following:<br>
Quote:</em></strong><hr>One citation is from a battle is 622, when the Emperor Heraklios was fighting the Persians. His horse "took a lance-thrust in the flank and received many sword-blows to the face, but because he was wearing armor of layered felt (katathrakta neurika?) he was unharmed". Now horse armor is not necessarily human armor, but if it was good enough for the imperial horse, it might have been used for common soldiers.<hr><br>
Netsword.com<br>
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Jim/Tarbicus <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p200.ezboard.com/bromanarmytalk.showUserPublicProfile?gid=tarbicus>Tarbicus</A> at: 2/26/05 10:55 pm<br></i>