08-19-2006, 01:01 PM
(This is reposted from a reply in the topic "Roman Shield Emblem Database," put here to be more on topic and for greater visibility...)
From a very brief source on a leather shield cover from Dura-Europos:
"One of the objects discovered by Cumont, during the second season of excavation in 1923, was the remains of the leather covering for a shield, now in the Louvre. Like many shields from Dura, it was painted, but not with the usual emblems or mythological scenes. Instead, it shows a map of the eastern Mediterranean... Indicated on this map are the names of a number of towns written in Greek. It is the itinerary of a soldier who has traced his course, station by station, from the Black Sea and the Danube frontier to the Mediterranean and ultimately to Dura." (p. 6)
C. McClendon, "Introductory Remarks: The Legacy of Dura-Europos," in Rome and the Provinces: Studies in the Transformation of Art and Architecture in the Mediterranean World, 1986, New Haven Society of the AIA.
The original publication reference (as seen in the scanned image) is Franz Cumont, Fouilles de Dura-Europos (1922-1923), (Paris, 1926), vol. 1 pp 323-327, vol. 2 plate CIX. I do not have access to this original publication.
I'd never heard of this before. Does anyone have more information or a more recent reference?
As Crispvs asked in the other thread, How do we know it comes from a shield cover? Are there still rolled edges present?
From a very brief source on a leather shield cover from Dura-Europos:
"One of the objects discovered by Cumont, during the second season of excavation in 1923, was the remains of the leather covering for a shield, now in the Louvre. Like many shields from Dura, it was painted, but not with the usual emblems or mythological scenes. Instead, it shows a map of the eastern Mediterranean... Indicated on this map are the names of a number of towns written in Greek. It is the itinerary of a soldier who has traced his course, station by station, from the Black Sea and the Danube frontier to the Mediterranean and ultimately to Dura." (p. 6)
C. McClendon, "Introductory Remarks: The Legacy of Dura-Europos," in Rome and the Provinces: Studies in the Transformation of Art and Architecture in the Mediterranean World, 1986, New Haven Society of the AIA.
The original publication reference (as seen in the scanned image) is Franz Cumont, Fouilles de Dura-Europos (1922-1923), (Paris, 1926), vol. 1 pp 323-327, vol. 2 plate CIX. I do not have access to this original publication.
I'd never heard of this before. Does anyone have more information or a more recent reference?
As Crispvs asked in the other thread, How do we know it comes from a shield cover? Are there still rolled edges present?
Dan Diffendale
Ph.D. candidate, University of Michigan
Ph.D. candidate, University of Michigan