lunedì 12 marzo 2012

When In Rome

When I was in Rome there were a ton of Roman soldiers in front of the Coliseum. The photogenic soldiers were dressed in red and gold outfits that comprised of a breast place, pleated skirt, helmet, and shield. This had me wondering what the actual dress of the Roman soldier was.
The Roman Army, at the peak of its power, conquered what we now call England/Wales, Spain, France, most of Germany, the northern coast of Africa, the Middle East and Greece. The lowest level of soldier in the Roman Army was the legionnaire. Between 5000 and 6000 legionaries made up a legion that was commanded by a legatus. Legionnaires were trained to fight in a disciplined and well coordinated manner. A whole legion could be punished for failing to fight well in battle even if they won the battle.
There were 3 main weapons that a legionnaire took into battle; the pilum, the galdius, and the pugio. The pilum was similar to the javelin today. This weapon was meant to be thrown at the enemy to disrupt their line of defense. The gladius was the main weapon during battle. The gladius was a very sharp blade sword. Lastly the pugio was a small dagger which was used a last resort. The legionnaire also carried a shield known as a scutum.
The basic clothing including the tunic or cloaks of the Roman soldier was either red dyed with madder or undyed material giving an off-white color. Braccae is the Latin term for trousers, a style of pants, made from wool, which became popular with soldiers in the colder climates of the Empire. The Military Tunic (Tunica) was a wide, shirt-like, undergarment made of a long piece of rectangular cloth usually made of wool, cotton or linen depending on the climate. The tunic was made with great care to the exact length considered correct for the rank of the wearer. Pteruges, (aka pteryges) from Greek word meaning feathers, refers to the decorative strips of leather (lappets) which hung below the waist and from the shoulders of Roman legionaries. The skirt or apron was made up of leather strips and heavily studded with metal. Offering little protection, the apron would have been used as a display and as a source of noise. The Roman Soldiers also used the apron / skirt as decoration by attaching tokens and discs to signify the campaigns he had fought in. The protective armor covered the clothes of the soldier and consisted of the helmet (galea) was made of metal (usually iron), shoulder, arm and leg guards. The socks (udones) were quite common apparel sometimes worn without a toe or heel. Leg wrappings or leg bindings (puttees) were strips of material wrapped from the ankle up to the calf of the leg.
While the costumes of the Roman soldiers outside the Coliseum are clearly not perfect replicas they definitely show elements of the true Roman soldier attire.
By: Marisa Silber

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