Roman helmets (?) from Constanta

[Caballo]

Hi,

Saw these helmets on http://www.dirtyredcommie.com/gallery/a ... 75190005_G (where if you double click you can double the size, and really examine the fine detail). I think they are from the Constanta Museum in Romania- does anyone have any more info?


Btw, the site also has some great pictures of the Adamklissi metopes- thanks to whoever put these on the web!

Cheers

Britannicus

[mcbishop]

Time for a plug for Armamentarium's section on the Adamclisi metopes, I feel...

I didn't see any helmets in Constanţa when I was there in 1987... in fact, the only good things there were hot jam donuts (honest!) and the statue of Ovid.

Mike Bishop

[Caballo]

Thanks Mike- though Constanta is a long way to go for a doughnut!

I'd really value your professional opinion- are the helmets shown in the photo Roman? I can see some parallels, but some clear differences as well.

Cheers

Britannicus

PS I'd strongly advise double clicking on the photo to get more detail- unless your eyes are much better than mine.....

[Nathan Ross]

Yet more examples of Roman good taste and elegance :roll: These three look to be varieties of the so-called 'Cavalry Sports' type helmet. The one on the lower left appears to be the rear part of a 'Cavalry Sports G' (Robinson's designation, IIRC). Here's a Nix recreation of a similar helmet:



AS you can see, the dished rear section was originally fitted with a face-plate of some sort. The crest of the above is also similar to the chicken-esque 'eagle' crest in the upper of the three Constanta helmets - neither this one or the lower right-hand one resemble anything much I've seen, although they certainly look 'Roman'

These 'sports' helmets turn up all over the place - it would seem from the records on the Armamentarium site (although I don't know how complete this record is) that the majority of found Roman helmets are actually 'cavalry sports' - most of them, I believe, hard to classify. Nobody seems sure whether any of them represent a design in wider use, or whether they're all one-offs, made for an individual - perhaps a cavalry officer - to his own design. As very decorative items, they could have been 'ceremonial' - this, I think, is the usual explanation for why so many of them have been found by archeologists. Or, given the Roman love of (to us) excessive and gaudy decoration, they could have been thought just the thing for intimidating ones enemies on the battlefield... I'd be interested to know if any new theories have been advanced on the matter!

[mcbishop]

The top helmet is the example from Ostrova (Robinson 1975, Pls.407-10), somewhat restored from its original form as discovered, the reconstruction being influenced by the Heddernheim eagle helmet (I'm not sure I would have been so certain of its form, but that's just me...).

The right-hand one is very similar to the Pfrondorf helmet (Robinson 1975, Pls.367-9; his Cavalry Sports F, but you all know my feelings on typologies...), but differs in the details of the decoration.

The left-hand one is similar to the Antinöopolis bowl (Robinson 1975, Pls.352-4; his Cavalry Sports D).

For all I know, the last two could be ingenious fakes. Without inspecting the objects themselves it is difficult to tell from a grainy photo.

The doughnuts were the only decent food we could find in Romania in 1987.

Mike Bishop

[Caballo]

Thanks Mike!

"The top helmet is the example from Ostrova (Robinson 1975, Pls.407-10), somewhat restored from its original form as discovered, the reconstruction being influenced by the Heddernheim eagle helmet (I'm not sure I would have been so certain of its form, but that's just me...). " Having gone back to Robinson, and realised why I didn't recognise it, I think that "somewhat restored" is being kind- I am hoping that the original still exists and that this is a constructed replica rather than the complete rebuild that it appears...


Cheers

Britannicus