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the emperor to the centurions, the cuirass is worn by chiefs alone; and as it is worn by them it has undergone a decided and marked change, since, instead of entirely covering the body, and having the form of the human frame, as at earlier periods was the case, here it is seen to stop short at the waist, after the old Greek fashion; the jagged border also has disappeared, and there only remain two rows of the lambrequinstraps, one above the other, and they both descend much lower than was the earlier Roman usage."

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The cuirass of the private soldier, such as it appears in the bas-reliefs of both the Trajan and the Antonine columns, is composed of three perfectly distinct parts, the cuirass proper, and the two shoulder-pieces. The cuirass itself is a garment of leather or linen, upon which are sewn circular plates of iron. Each of these circles or discs is made of two half-circles, joined at the back by a hinge, and closing in front by a clasp. The shoulder-pieces, formed of four plates, and smaller than those of the cuirass, to which they are fixed at their extremities, pass over the shoulders like straps. Sometimes, from the bottom of the cuirass there fell four small oblong plates adjusted vertically, which cover the middle of the body below the waist. This armour left the upper part of the chest without any protection. Some indications, which are by no means so clear and satisfactory as we should have desired, in the Trajan column, lead to the supposition that the part of the chest otherwise unprotected was covered with a piece of stout leather, or with an iron plate. The cuirass, as it is here described, was not the appointment of the private soldiers, but only of the élite of their rank, the regular legionaries.

As it is so well known, there were in the Roman army three distinct orders or classes of soldiers: first, and in their dignified rank in a manner resembling the knights of the feudal ages, the equites, whom we style by the medieval title of knights, who formed the cavalry; second, the legionarii, the

soldiers of the legions; and third, the velites, or light infantry, whose entire equipment was in exact conformity with their distinctive denomination. The arms, armour, and appointments of the legionarii we have already considered.

The velites did not wear any corslet or cuirass, but their tunic appears to have been formed of leather, which would account for the rigid aspect which it presents in representations; it was generally escalloped at the bottom. It is possible also that the velites sometimes wore, instead of leather, a tunic of quilted linen.

The knights sometimes are depicted equipped with scalearmour (the squammata), consisting of a tunic of leather or of linen, upon which are sewn scales of steel which overlap so as to cover the entire surface; or, sometimes, their cuirass, instead of scale-work, is covered with a species of mail formed of metal chains (hamata). Very commonly, also, the knight appears, habited like one of the velites, in that flaxen cuirass of which mention was made (page 51) when we were giving descriptions of the armour of both the Egyptians and the Greeks. This same military defensive garment was also unquestionably well known to the Romans, and habitually used by them; and, though on the monuments, as would naturally be the case, we may not be able to distinguish this from other defensive garments that were made of woven fabrics, the linen cuirass we may feel sure has its place amongst the appointments that are represented.

Polybius speaks of short boots of metal, ocrea, which were worn by the Roman soldiers of his time; but on the monuments of later times no vestige of them is visible, except only in the statues of the emperors.

The Trajan column, to which we always must recur whenever we desire to obtain exact and minutely accurate information upon Roman armour, gives us examples of two varieties of shields. In its form, one of these shields is an

elongated and convex oblong, somewhat resembling a hollowed water-course tile; many soldiers are seen holding this shield uplifted, to cover their heads, and when in that position it is exactly the length of the left arm which is carrying it. As it evidently was narrow in order to prevent its being oppressively heavy or cumbersome, by the dexterity of their movements the soldiers would have to make good for their own defence whatever deficiency might otherwise have arisen from the small proportions of their shields. Moreover, we know in what manner this shield was constructed. It was made of two plates of metal dovetailed together; and both at the head and the base of the shield an iron border was fixed, in the one case that the shield might be stronger to resist blows, and in the other

Fig. 13.-ROMAN SOLDIERS: from the Column of Trajan, A.D. 114.

that it might not suffer any
injury from resting (as fre-
quently it would have to rest)
upon the ground. As its only
ornament this shield bore on
its outer face the insignia of
the legion; so, for example,
the soldiers on the column of
Trajan, whose legion bore the
title of "the thundering," dis-
play upon
their shields a thun-
derbolt, of the same familiar
form that is represented in his
statues held in the right hand
of Jupiter.28 This variety of

[graphic]

shield is peculiar to the legionaries.

The other variety of Roman shield, now to be described, in shape is an elongated oval, and its convexity is considerably less than in the former shield. Its decoration varies. The ornament of most frequent occurrence is a device somewhat

resembling a vine-branch entwined about a rod or staff. This shield was carried by both the knights and the velites. Here and there, besides, but always upon the same monument with the two varieties of shields that have been described, some hexagonal bucklers may be seen; but this piece of armour, which certainly is not Roman, belongs to some auxiliary corps of barbarians. In Fig. 13, a group of three Roman soldiers is shown, as they are represented upon the column of Trajan.

When we direct our attention to monuments of an age later than that of the Trajan column, we no longer find the rectangular shield; but, in its stead, the shield of oval contour is found to have been assumed by the legionaries themselves. The dimensions of this oval shield are also seen to have been enlarged, at the same time that the Roman sword became a considerably longer weapon than of old it had been. Hence it is evident that as their former high discipline. gradually relaxed, the soldiers of the Roman legions abandoned the small shield and the short sword, which required in the men who were armed with them consummate coolness and admirable dexterity, and inclined to the adoption of the arms of the barbarians.

The Roman helm is distinguished at once from the Greek by its remarkable want of depth. It is, in fact, an iron for steel) skull-cap, strengthened by two cross-bands, furnished with a hollowed neck-guard at the back, and in front finished with a narrow band, or having a small bar (bagnette) acting as a visor. Cheek-pieces of iron fastened this helm under the chin; and a ring, placed at the crossing of the two strengthening bands, took the place of a crest. Such was the helm of the legionaries in the time of Trajan. On the march the soldiers slung their helms by the clasped cheek-pieces from their right shoulders, and they advanced bare-headed. The helm that was worn by both the equites and the velites

was considerably widened at its base and also much flattened in its contour. The chiefs always appear having their heads uncovered, nor in any single instance do we see them wearing any helm. [See Fig. 15, Nos. 2 and 3.]

In the declining days of the empire the Roman helm conforms in many particulars to the early Greek type. The head-piece itself is deeper, and it is furnished with a long lowered visor or nasal. In all other respects this is the era in which uniformity and precision appear to have ceased to exist. Swords very long in the blade were in use at the same time, and apparently by the same corps, with others that were very short; small shields, some of them circular, and others hexagonal, were intermixed with other circular shields of such extravagant size, that their counterparts can be found only in the old Homeric descriptions of heroic equipment; and so, in like manner, similar incongruities and inconsistencies were universally prevalent. All these things declared but too significantly the character and the tendencies of those times. And of those times there exist but a very few monuments, nor is the number of the written records either greater or more richly stored with graphic information. Thus, it is not possible for us to determine the precise period of particular pieces of of armour or of certain weapons, nor are we able with more decided certainty to fix the corps to which they ought to be assigned. The good old Roman traditions then had passed away; and the fine discipline and the strict order of earlier and better days, having fallen into contempt, speedily passed with them.2

away

SECTION II.

Offensive Weapons.

The Pilum, that most formidable spear, which, according to Montesquieu, subdued the world, of which Polybius has given an elaborate description, and which might have been

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