parma

[jbd_29349]

Nice work on the leafs!!

[Chris B]

Thanks, but to give credit where it is due....I used Peroni's overall design for the leaves and personally think his paint job is better.

[Marcus Mummius]

I was wondering: how do you hold a parma? Holding the grip horizantal like a scutum or verticaly?
This is important to know before you paint the design.

I think holding the handle verticaly might be easier to hold the parma and signum/vexillum at the same time.

Vale,

[M. Demetrius]

It would certainly make it easier to hold a handfull of javelins, too. Or, maybe they didn't worry about that in the battle environment, but on parade or guard, they wouldn't have the shaft in the same hand as the parma.

I don't know. the one I'm making will have a horizontal grip, and paint to match. Arbitrary decision on my part.

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

Being a small, round shield, I would imagine you couldhold it in either fashion?

[Marcus Mummius]

Being a small, round shield, I would imagine you couldhold it in either fashion?

Indeed, that's true, but your shield design would be in the wrong direction then.... I don't know if this would have mattered to them....

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

Yes that occured to me as well....possibly not too much as you were harassing the enemy, it's just a thought anyway!

[Robert]

Any evidence of the parma being around for early second century auxilary archers or guys bearing the small throwing spears (velites)? Just wondering, as a small round shield would serve to offer some protection to an archer against cavalry riding in on the flanks.
By the way, any info on the size of velites spearheads and shaftsize and length?? Were they around in 160 ad?

[Paullus Scipio]

Robert said:-

By the way, any info on the size of velites spearheads and shaftsize and length?? Were they around in 160 ad?

....velites disappeared from the Roman Army some time around the end of the second century B.C, having been in existence less than 150 years.

The veles was a javelin, something like a'mini-pilum'. It had a socketed head some 250-260 mm long with a small leaf -shaped point, this was fastened to a wooden shaft, and the whole was around 1200 mm long. The diameter of the shaft was around 24mm, or 'thumb-sized'.

Some heads were found at Numantia.

[M. Demetrius]

If you have to carry the shield for very far, my experience is that the vertical grip is much less comfortable after a while, because it takes muscular strength in the thumb side of the wrist and forearm to keep it vertical to the ground. A horizontal grip lets you just sort of hook your fingers in a sort of relaxed position and march on.

[Marcus Mummius]

I agree, David, but the parma would be carried by a sling on the back or to the side most of the time, wouldn't it?

Vale,

[M. Demetrius]

Odds are, yes you would, Mummius.

[Marcus Mummius]

One of the plus sides of holding the parma horizontaly like a scutum is that you can bash the rim of the shield into the face of an enemy much easier than when holding it verticaly.

Vale,

[M. Demetrius]

Ow! hock:

[Gaius]

One question about the parma: it is known the curvature that this type of shield had? were they dished or flat?

valete