The armor, shields and attire on the Antonine Columns

[Anonymous]

Hey all, long time reader, first time poster.<br>
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The armor and equipment of the soldiers on Truphaeum Trajani and the Trajan’s column has been discussed and analyzed to death on this forum... But what about those on the Antonine Columns, what’s the Segmentata – Hamata -Squamata ratio there? Also, what are the differences in equipment compared to the Trajans Column?<br>
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Decursio scene from Base of the column of Antoninus Pius has figures of what appears to be praetorians in segmentata ( www.bluffton.edu/~sulliva...center.jpg ) , yet on the Column of Marcus Aurelius it's almost nowhere to be found. <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://pub45.ezboard.com/uliquidnitrogod.showPublicProfile?language=EN>LiquidNitroGod</A> at: 10/11/02 3:42:50 pm<br></i>

[Guest]

Salve,<br>
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Segmented armour is in fact used on the column of Marcus Aurelius next to mail and scale.<br>
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Scene from column with soldiers in '<i> segmentata</i>'<br>
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The column seems to have been made by artists loosely following the example set by Trajan's column. While the level of detail does not match the earlier work, it depicts events in a more vivid and dramatic fashion (eg the scenes with the slaughter of prisoners of war, something which back then was to be proudly displayed to the public back home). Roughly the same conventions of representation are followed, with legionary and praetorian infantry depicted in segmented armour and cavalry and auxiliary infantry in mail and scale with officers depicted in muscled cuirasses. Some differences can be noted though, such as regular depiction of crested helmets, rare on Trajan's column, use of oval rather than rectangular shields by troops in segmented armour and depiction of weaponry in stone, rarely done on the earlier work.<br>
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Regards,<br>
<br>
Sander van Dorst <p></p><i></i>

[Goffredo]

Well I be darned if them there aren't the good old segmentata on the base of the Antoninus column (Vatican museums)! To say that the legionaries "appear" to be wearing segmentata is quite an understatement.<br>
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Sad note: The statement that the Marcus column doesn't show segmentata goes to prove that this impressive piece of work isn't known at all to the vast public and is so poorly photgraphically documented that even a roman army fanatic might get the wrong impression. The wonderful and already famous Trajan column gets all the attention. In many ways it is a shame!<br>
<p></p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

Not only that it doesn’t get the attention, but I've seen even in respectable books the column of Marcus Aurelius mislabeled as Trajan's column.<br>
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The depiction of the rain miracle of legion XII Fulminata on the column clearly has legionaries wearing squamata and hamata. ( www.livius.org/le-lh/legio/rain.jpg )<br>
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Do we know what caused the change back to oval shields ?<br>
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What about that rectangular shield from Dura-Europos, that one is from 230, yet rectangular shields look extinct on the column of Aurelius.<br>
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And does anyone take Ludovisi sarcophagus ( www.hp.uab.edu/image_arch...lief10.jpg ) as serious evidence for mid 3rd century military attire? <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://pub45.ezboard.com/uliquidnitrogod.showPublicProfile?language=EN>LiquidNitroGod</A> at: 10/11/02 4:15:16 pm<br></i>