:wink: Hi everyone! I'm new to this site, but not to archaeology... I am the field illustrator for excavations at a Roman border fortress in southern Israel. I have recently run into a snag with a historical illustration that I am doing. The auxilia unit that was posted at my site was a camelry unit (the site dates to the Tetrarchic Period and was founded by Diocletian) My illustration contains an image of one of these camel riding cavalry soldiers but I cannot find much info on the weaponry or armour of dromedaria units. Can someone help?!
Thanks!
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Hello Illustrator.
Quote:I cannot find much info on the weaponry or armour of dromedaria units. Can someone help?!
Welcome to RAT. As a fellow archaeological illustrator I appreciate your problem. I think the simple answer to your question is that there is probably no direct evidence for the armour and equipment of Roman Dromedarii.
You could nevertheless base any reconstructions of such troops on other sources such as the sculptural evidence from Petra and Palmyra perhaps amalgamated with the evidence for contemporary Roman cavalry equipment and armour.
My own reconstruction of a Roman Dromedarii from a slightly earlier period from what you want can be found in the Off Topic section under the "most interesting troop type" thread.
If you are interested I could send you a copy of my article on the Roman Camel Corps from Military Illustrated magazine if you post your address or contact details in my mailbox. However you are in one of the best parts of the world to illustrate such a subject but believe it or not I was actually able to photograph a re-enactor from the Ermine Street Guard mounted on a camel here in Britain!
In anycase I would be interested myself in seeing the final results of your work.
Graham.
"Is all that we see or seem but a dream within a dream" Edgar Allan Poe.
"Every brush-stroke is torn from my body" The Rebel, Tony Hancock.
"..I sweated in that damn dirty armor....TWENTY YEARS!', Charlton Heston, The Warlord.
we're happy to have you if you'd like to stick around, but you'll need to post your real name in your signature as per the forum rules...)
