10-01-2007, 08:47 AM
Quote:I'm about halfway through with my roman officer impression kit, but I wanted to make it historically accurate as possible. I have painted my loric musculata black with a gold trim aroud it but I've heard black would not have been used nor would the trimming ever be gold/bronze-like colours. Change the color or keep it?
Ave, Dennis! I would lose the black, personally. I do a Tribune's impression, and much of my research was gleaned from Travis Clark's excellent website on the construction and appearance of the officer's musculata. Building on that, I set up a Yahoogroups site with as many pictures and references as I/we could find, which was greatly helped by several other's doing this same impression (esp. Theodosius et Julius).
[url:q0yc61zl]http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ThePraetorianGuard/[/url]
The short of it is that if the musculata was painted, it was most likely painted in flesh tones, framed by pteruges of bright hues. Yes, I know. But that's what the evidence points to. Aside from that, there's a fair amount of literary evidence pertaining to the "bronze cuirass" worn by officers. So, unpainted bronze (brass) would be another authentic option. And one can reasonably assume this would have been highly polished... these were very wealthy men representing the power of the Roman state. The Roman aversion to wearing black as a harbinger of doom is well-known. Unfortunately, I believe Deepeeka's inspiration for the black painted cuirass and Corinthian helmet was Brad Pitt's plastic armor from the movie Troy.
Best of luck with your impression,
Gil Whitley
Tribune Valerius, Legio X Fretensis So Cal
