07-18-2007, 11:15 PM
Quote:Sometimes Basil is quoted fighting with an helmet.
As is Alexios I in the Alexiad, when fighting against the Normans after the battle of Dyrrakhion. In fact Alexios' helmet had a "visor" (whatever that means) which enabled him to hide his face.
Raf, do you have the Alexiad in the ortiginal Greek? I'd be very interested to find out what word was actually used, and what the most appropriate translation would be. In English, the word "visor" has a very specific meaning - a sheet metal face covering on a pivot - like this:
I doubt very much that this is what Anna meant. The only face coverings I know of in Byzantine pictorial sources are one in the "Greek Romance of Alexander" with what appears to be scale armour across the face (with eyeholes), plus some which might be face coverings folded back on top of the helmet (perhaps held with a hook? Who knows?), in the Madrid Skylitzes Chronicle.
"It is safer and more advantageous to overcome the enemy by planning and generalship than by sheer force"
The Strategikon of Emperor Maurice
Steven Lowe
Australia
The Strategikon of Emperor Maurice
Steven Lowe
Australia