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Hmmm: 'too long to be a Roman cavalry "spatha"' is a problematic phrase, a) because there are spathae with a blade length >80cm (e.g. Illerup-Wyhl types from Ejsbøl, Entringen, & Epöl) and b) infantry as well as cavalry were using them from the middle of the 2nd century AD.

submitted 1 hour ago • 1 comment

This tombstone is a remarkable piece of history, shedding light on life in Britain shortly after the Roman invasion of AD 43. As a centurion of the Twentieth Legion, Facilis was stationed in Colchester (Camulodunum), which was the first Roman capital in Britain.

submitted 3 hours ago • 1 comment

Another publication linked to Roman military equipment has been added to our Downloads page: Istenič and Ragolič's volume Roman Military Decoration Torques. romanmilitaryequipment.co.uk/downloads#Mo...

submitted 1 day ago • 0 comments

Bending a (hinged) knee to #ReliefWednesday, these are #RomanCavalry 'sports' #greaves from Straubing (DEU), depicting images of Hercules, Mars, and Minerva in relief. All bear traces of 'silvering' (?tinning) and in some instances gilding.

submitted 1 day ago • 2 comments

The 1st excavations at the #Roman fort of #Trimontium by James Curle began in February 1905 (120 years ago this month!) and were completed in 1910. In his own words, he did not realise 'how large an undertaking lay before me' - to mark this anniversary - Objects and images from Trimontium.

submitted 2 days ago • 0 comments

Lots of Roman military equipment in Brailsford's catalogue of the Durden Collection (and, with the appendix to Webster's article on Ostorius Scapula, one of the first things to get MCB started on the subject). www.britishmuseum.org/collection/t...

submitted 1 day ago • 0 comments

Since it's #TombstoneTuesday, let's admire Acrabanis of the #RomanCavalry unit ala Augusta Ituraeorum shooting arrows on the move at a target.

submitted 2 days ago • 0 comments

Lots of lovely Roman military equipment in Janka Istenič's exhibition catalogue Roman Stories from the Crossroads and we have now added it to our Downloads page romanmilitaryequipment.co.uk/downloads#Ca...

submitted 2 days ago • 0 comments

Since it's #TombstoneTuesday, let's admire Acrabanis of the #RomanCavalry unit ala Augusta Ituraeorum shooting arrows on the move at a target.

submitted 2 days ago • 0 comments

For #epigraphytuesday a #Roman military belt mount with openwork decoration depicting the Latin word SPES - hope. Found in Biriciana, present-day Weißenburg, Bavaria, dating 2nd/3rd century AD. On display at Römermuseum Weißenburg 📷 by me 🏺AncientBluesky

submitted 3 days ago • 7 comments

Lots of lovely Roman military equipment in Janka Istenič's exhibition catalogue Roman Stories from the Crossroads and we have now added it to our Downloads page romanmilitaryequipment.co.uk/downloads#Ca...

submitted 2 days ago • 0 comments

Just received a Messenger message which alleges we have violated their copyright terms. Looks suspiciously like a scam (we are very careful NOT to violate anybody's copyright) as it provides a non-Meta link. Anyway, if our page disappears, you'll know why!

submitted 4 days ago • 0 comments

Want to play with a 3D #RomanCavalry face mask from Echzell (DEU)? Of course you do. Scroll down to find it & click on the four-arrow cross for a full-screen model. alm-hessen.de/en/mediathek...

submitted 5 days ago • 1 comment

It's #FindsFriday and here are some 2nd-century pseudo-Attic #RomanCavalry battle helmets. These were the successors to the Weyler helmets of the 1st century AD. All images are already in our Galleries.

submitted 6 days ago • 1 comment

We now have over 1200 images in our Galleries, including original artefacts (both 2D and 3D scans), reconstructions (again, both 2D and 3D), and representational evidence in a variety of media. We've come a long way from 8 pages of colour plates in B&C2! romanmilitaryequipment.co.uk/galleries-of...

submitted 6 days ago • 0 comments

Large clump of mail from the civilian settlement (vicus) near the legionary fortress of Bonn 🇩🇪 #RomanFortThursday Its discovery outside the fortress indicates there was a close relationship between Roman military installations and nearby settlements. 🆓 https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2024.178

submitted 7 days ago • 0 comments

AI-generated images of Roman soldiers remain in Nutrimatic Machine territory (H2G2, if you don't get the reference): almost, but not quite, completely unlike the real thing. 😉

submitted 7 days ago • 0 comments

My review of Lawrence Keppie's Slingers and Sling Bullets is out at BMCR (bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2025/2025.02...) It's always nice to be able to review something that one can easily give a very positive review to; this is a topic that was in need of a compact, focused treatment and now it has one.

submitted 7 days ago • 3 comments

On #ReliefWednesday, let's consider some rule-breaking on the Tropaeum Traiani at #Adamclisi in the Dobruja (ROM). These metopes are weathered and damaged, but the way each legionary is holding his weighted #pilum by his side (thumb forward) rather than raised (thumb back) is plainly visible.

submitted 9 days ago • 1 comment

Part of a Thracian hoard, these are two phalerae - horse ornaments. The first is a horseman, a cloaked rider wearing four torcs on his elongated neck. The second is the bust of a woman or goddess wearing eight torcs, denoting high status. 🏺 1/ 125-50 BCE, Galiche, Bulgaria. 📸 me

submitted 10 days ago • 1 comment

A short video about the original Weyler (aka Weiler) #RomanCavalry helmet. The place is Weyler (in the province of Luxembourg, somewhat confusingly) in Belgium, but like Köln/Cologne and Mainz/Mayence is called different things in different languages. www.tvlux.be/video/info/a...

submitted 11 days ago • 1 comment

#Roman helmets with face masks found at various sites in southwestern Germany. They were worn by cavalry soldiers during parades and tournaments. 📷 @almbawue.bsky.social 🏺 AncientBluesky #archaeology

submitted 11 days ago • 5 comments

Idly grazing in PAN, this is rather interesting. It looks like it might be another stamp for segmentata/I-G helmet washers like the Oulton example, but this time secured into something (a wooden base or handle?). One thing it is not is 'paardentuig'! www.portable-antiquities.nl/pan/#/object...

submitted 12 days ago • 1 comment

This is rather nice. If your Dutch is not up to scratch, then use the translate option in your browser or paste the link into Google Translate. www.utrechtaltijd.nl/20984

submitted 12 days ago • 0 comments

Don't we all 😬 tinyurl.com/cnxrsz7e

submitted 13 days ago • 0 comments

Nice to see the Sword of Tiberius (which the BM acquired in 1866) playing a starring role in this piece.

submitted 13 days ago • 0 comments

OTD in 1893 Ludwig Lindenschmit (the Elder) died. He wrote the first serious study of Roman arms & armour, Tracht und Bewaffnung des römischen Heeres, as well as founding the RGZM. tinyurl.com/yxmj53jz

submitted 14 days ago • 0 comments

The Shoe Event Horizon? 🤔

submitted 14 days ago • 0 comments

Nice to see some new stuff from the Przeworsk Culture, but it is difficult to shake that ' #spatha used by #RomanCavalry ' thing (particularly since, by the 3rd/4th century, everybody was waving them around).

submitted 14 days ago • 0 comments

Remember the #CrosbyGarrettHelmet? the final report is available at a reduced price for those who do not already have it. Full details here: cumbriapast.com/cgi-bin/cumb...

submitted 14 days ago • 0 comments

Why the three-bladed design for rams? Well, they’re designed to penetrate the hulls of warships built using pegged mortise-and-tenon joinery. The vertical ramming head creates a hole in the planks, while the blades create horizontal separation—effectively dislocating the planking tenons.

submitted 15 days ago • 3 comments

👀

submitted 16 days ago • 1 comment

Both out in time for you-know-what (and, as with all of their predecessors by MCB, feeding new ideas into B&C3) 👀

submitted 17 days ago • 1 comment

Richmond claimed that the (rather crude) balls (no, missus, titter ye not!!!) were artillery shot related to the ballistarium recorded from the fort – but note RIB's caution over the interpretation of that word (romaninscriptionsofbritain.org/inscriptions...).

submitted 17 days ago • 1 comment

Odd shield question for @bretdevereaux.bsky.social and @drmichaeljtaylor.bsky.social and anyone who wants to play along. If said these symbols represented some type of Roman shield (ritual function? definitely not butterflies!) would you believe me? Why?

submitted 19 days ago • 5 comments