Female facemask from helmet

[Tarbicus]

Stumbled across this, so I thought I'd post it (after I picked up my jaw off the desk, or am I being naive?):

Embossed inscriptions name two different owners of the helmet: on the outside of the right cheek as well as on the inside of the left: T(urma) PII PRISCI helmet of Priscus, who serves in the turma (cavalry unit) of Pius; beneath the chin: VITALIS T(urma) CRISPINI - helmet of Vitalis from the unit of Crispinus.

From the collection at the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna

[TraderTrey9785]

Well...I'm rather speechless if that helps, kind of a shock I guess, that's completely new to me and goes against everything I was ever schooled in. That's still really interesting though, was there a time range given with the face mask that might shed more light on the circumstances?

[TFLAVIUSAMBIORIX]

hmm, it does look more female, especially the hairstyle, but I wouldnt say it really proves anything beyond a reasonable doubt, there were probably feminine looking men back then. :lol:

[Virilis]

Salve!

I think this is the quite common "amazonian" impression used in the Hippika Gymnasia (roman army horse shows)....

[Comerus Gallus]

Yes she is one of some female mask helmet wich appear in Robinson's book in p. 125 fig. 363.. I knew I saw her some where does she is beautiful he? :wink: ...Yes Amazonian or classical female as the book dicribe her...
cheers..

[Peroni]

A great deal of the "Resca" type masked helmets portray female faces.


A couple from the museum in Straubing...



Regards,

[Tarbicus]

Aaaahhh, thanks Peronis. For some reason I'd never made the connection that those faces and hairstyles were female.

Has anyone got any theory of why these cavalrymen would use female masks, not male? Are they depictions of a deity, perhaps?

[Virilis]

The female masks are interpreted as representing the "amazons" against the greeks...

[Caballo]

"The female masks are interpreted as representing the "amazons" against the greeks..."
I think it was the Amazons v the Trojans? Suetonius mentions the Troy games several times, as does Dio as an equestrian exercise for the sons of the nobility (some things don't change ). Graham Webster traces this back to the Lusus Troiae in the early years of Rome which took place each year at the Spring festival on March 1st .

Cheers

Caballo

[Tarbicus]

Right, now it makes sense, thanks guys. So it was a very traditional thing to see, when in an equestrian context.