Dura-Europos shield cover

[Dan Diffendale]

Here's an update... now that I'm back at Penn I have a much better library at my disposal. I've taken a look at all the references Patrick listed (aside from Dilke, who's checked out).

I photographed (once I have borrowing privileges I can scan) these illustrations from a fold-out accompanying Cumont's article 'Un extrait d'une carte romaine d'etat-major' in La Geographie XLIII, 1925, 1-5, which is a briefer version of his article ‘Fragment de bouclier portant une liste d’étapes’, Syria 6 (1925) 1-15. The fold-out is identical in both, but it was better preserved here in La Geographie.

This fragment measures 45 cm by 18 cm, and Cumont estimates that the full width would be about 65 cm. The shield would seem to belong to a soldier of the Cohors XX Palmyrenorum who were stationed at Dura.

I'll post more details once I've had a chance to wade through the French and German...