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Message:: [QUOTE="Ocatarinetabellatchitchix, post: 4040726, member: 99554"]SHIELDS. That’s what we’re talking about. A vital element of all soldier’s equipment. Could you imagine a man going at war without it? It was a humiliation for a soldier to return from combat without his shield. According to the Roman historian Tacitus, giving up his shield during the combat was the worst dishonour. It is also a very common iconographic object on Greek and Roman coinage. If you enter the word “shield” in the section “ancient coins “ of acsearch, it will give you more than 110,000 results...Originally, the rich Roman fighters used as a shield the wooden Clipeus covered with cowhide or bronze, the less wealthy soldier wore a flat, oval shield made of wooden planks covered with leather. It is this second type of shield which is the ancestor of the Scutum, a long shield behind which the Roman soldier protects himself and which becomes the emblem of the Roman's legion. It is in fact adopted in Roman manipulation and borrowed from the shield of Samnite units: covered with rawhide glued, sewn and painted, it is initially oval and curved and has the advantage of marrying the body of the soldier. In the second and third centuries BC,  the Scutum has a hardwood central edge (the spina) which strengthens its resistance and deflects the blows received. Subsequently at the beginning of the Empire, the scutum became shorter and more square, it is equipped with a central boss  allowing to deflects the strikes and protecting the hand. <img src="http://www.livius.org/site/assets/files/9231/lacus_curtius1.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" />Relief of the Roman hero Curtius with a clipeus. <img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6b/Altar_Domitius_Ahenobarbus_Louvre_n3bis.jpg/1920px-Altar_Domitius_Ahenobarbus_Louvre_n3bis.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" />Altar Domitius Ahenorbarbus with Scotum (Le Louvre) Many historians believe that the change of shields occurs in the Roman army when the fighting techniques evolved; the phalanx formation wasn't use anymore, being replaced by the maniples formation. It was a more flexible manipular system, famously referred to as "a phalanx with joints". Scutums were also very practical for the Tortoise formation, where men would align their shields to form a packed formation covered with shields on the front and top. <img src="http://www.romancoins.info/DuraEuroposScutum.JPG" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" />This is the only known surviving complete Scutum. Found flattened, in thirteen pieces, and missing its umbo (central boss), it was discovered in Dura-Europos (Syria) in 1930,  was 105.5 centimetres (41.5 in) high, 41 centimetres (16 in) across, and 30 centimetres (12 in) deep (due to its semicylindrical nature), with an unknown thickness. Its weight was 10 kg (22 lb), and the painted decoration reflects Roman iconography of victory, including an eagle with a laurel wreath, winged Victories, and a lion. It is today in display at Yale University Art Gallery. On coinage, it is most of the time very difficult to distinguish if the characters are holding a clipeus or a scutum. But they are exceptions ; for example the famous clipeus virtutis of Augustus depicted on many of the coin's emperor. The Senate and people of Rome dedicated this votive shield  to Augustus on account of the virtues of bravery, clemency, justice and pietas which he held, all of which were highly important in Roman society. Thus, he proudly displays the clipeus as a reverse type on his coinage.<img src="https://www.numisbids.com/sales/hosted/roma/e33/image00419.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" />From Roma Numismatics Ltd About the scutum, both Caligula and later Commodus used a similar reverse showing them standing on a platform, haranguing soldiers, each of them holding clearly the rectangle shaped shield. <img src="https://www.numisbids.com/sales/hosted/nac/098/image01063.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" />From Numismatica Ars Classica Now your time to show off. You know how it works : please search in your collection and show us your nicest shields examples ! [/QUOTE]

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