yup i heard that alot, but you guys are smarter than me
so the only evidence of any color roman shield, is from ONE actual find, and you believ that it isnt even a battle shield?!?!?!
arent their any paintings, or LITERARY evidence of the romans army shield.?
How come reenacators copyed something from pretty much a hollywood assumption?
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Quote:How come reenacators copyed something from pretty much a hollywood assumption?
It's not really a Hollywood assumption, it's more transplanting something that is definitely known from a found shield of a later date, and red is also the colour of the god Mars who was very important to Rome and its army. I don't buy the theory of red tunics hiding blood (they'd have actually
wanted to show the blood rather than not, imho), but I do buy the religious association with Mars.
Bear in mind that not all legionary re-enactors use red for their scuta and tunics either.
TARBICvS/Jim Bowers
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I think it was more of a recognition thing- Hollywood made all the Roman soldiers red, and that's what we recognize. Since reenactment hasn't been around that long, it makes sense that the early folks would have gone with what they knew- which was red. And this is only what I read- not what I know to be true
Sure there is circumstantial supporting evidence for it too- Mars, etc. but nothing direct. I believe there are some depictions that show shields (but I don't immediately recall the time period or whether they are even classic scuta) and I think none was red- I recall green and pink being mentioned. This is probably mentioned in the emblem thread.
There's no literaty mention of the color that I know of- hence my suggestion that such a find would be very significant.
And not all reenactors use red NOW- luckily people are branching out as ideas change
But the main choice is still red probably for the same reasons the Gallic G is the most common helmet- it's been the most common and thus is the most recognizable.
See FABRICA ROMANORVM Recreations in the Marketplace for custom helmets, armour, swords and more!
where is this emblem board?
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Here's the most recent one:
link from old RAT
And I just realized that this is getting completely off-topic- perhaps further postings about scuta should go in an established scutum thread...
See FABRICA ROMANORVM Recreations in the Marketplace for custom helmets, armour, swords and more!
ok we will stop, I dont want this to end up like the last one
So lets talk about the helmets
does anyone have a pic of a reenactor wearing one
