Did Signifier etc carry shields

by **steve** » Wed Jan 21, 2009 8:54 am

I am trying to find out which of the following would carry a shield (i presume a round shield)1. Signifier2. Aquilifer3. Vexilliarius4. Cornicen5. Imagifierthankssteve

by **Phil** » Wed Jan 21, 2009 10:05 am

Maybe!

The whole business of the history and archaeology of ancient Rome is rather like trying to do a 500 piece jigsaw, of which you have only 50 pieces, and only 10 pieces of those 50 fit each other. Therefore trying to come up with hard and fast answers to questions like the above is next to impossible.

None of the written sources I've seen go into the sort of detail you're after, so you're left with archaeological, mainly epigraphic, evidence - tombstones and the like - on which to base your guesses. There are a few tombstones of standard bearers of one sort or another, and some of them do show round shields. Trajans' column also shows a few. So, all we can say is that some may have had, and others may not have. We have no written evidence to suggest why, or why not.

Sorry this isn't more helpful - but there are no definitive answers - just guesses of varying degrees of uncertainty. What that does mean though, is that you have a fairly free rein to do what you think seems right, or fun, or sensible.

Phil

by **Guest** » Wed Jan 21, 2009 1:51 pm

I was planning to sculpt a tiger skin on one of my Roman standard bearers (maybe using the Praetorian lion skin as the basis). Is that credible or attested?

I couldn’t find any pictures on the net – but then my online research is generally as sophisticated as a quick wiki search

by **Germanicus** » Thu Jan 22, 2009 4:13 am

Phil said:
Maybe!
The whole business of the history and archaeology of ancient Rome is rather like trying to do a 500 piece jigsaw, of which you have only 50 pieces, and only 10 pieces of those 50 fit each other. Therefore trying to come up with hard and fast answers to questions like the above is next to impossible.
None of the written sources I've seen go into the sort of detail you're after, so you're left with archaeological, mainly epigraphic, evidence - tombstones and the like - on which to base your guesses. There are a few tombstones of standard bearers of one sort or another, and some of them do show round shields. Trajans' column also shows a few. So, all we can say is that some may have had, and others may not have. We have no written evidence to suggest why, or why not.
Sorry this isn't more helpful - but there are no definitive answers - just guesses of varying degrees of uncertainty. What that does mean though, is that you have a fairly free rein to do what you think seems right, or fun, or sensible.
Phil

Thats the reallity! Phil is absolutly right. Only the number 500 should be 10000 ;)

I would like to write so much to this theme, but I dont know all correct words in english

by **johnm** » Thu Jan 22, 2009 2:27 pm

When you look at what we know about Romans, there are more questions than answers. So I would say if you are happy adding shields go for it. I have!@ Maximus Decimus Germanicus, Your English is very good, it’s better than my German

John