Galea (helmet)
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| Development of the legionary helmet or galea |
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| Montefortino - Coolus – Imperial (Imperial Gallic / Imperial Italic) |
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A galea was a Roman soldier's helmet. Some gladiators, myrmillos, also wore a bronze galea with a face mask and a decoration, often a fish on its crest. The exact form or design of the helmet varied significantly over time, between differing unit types, and also between individual examples - ancient military equipment was not produced in assembly lines, but made by hand, so it is not certain to what degree there was any standardization even under the Roman Empire.
The primary evidence is scattered archaeological finds, which are often damaged or incomplete. There are similarities of form and function between them.
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[edit] Helmet types
H. Russell Robinson in his book The Armour of Imperial Rome, published in 1975, classified into broad divisions the various forms of helmets that were found. He classified four main types of helmets for heavy infantry (with subcategories named with letters) and 30 different types of cheek guards.
[edit] Legionary infantry helmets
- Montefortino helmet (4th century BC - 1st century BC)
- Coolus helmet (3rd century BC - at least 79)
- Imperial Gallic helmet (late 1st century BC - early 2nd century)
- Imperial Italic helmet (late 1st BC - early 3rd century)
[edit] Other helmet types
- Auxiliary infantry helmets
- Auxiliary cavalry helmets
- Late imperial helmets
- Gladiatorial helmets
[edit] Helmet crests
Most of the helmets used by legionaries had a crest holder. The crests were usually made of plumes or horse hair.
There is some evidence (Vegetius writings and some sculptures) that legionaries had their crests mounted longitudinally and centurions had them mounted transversally.
There is evidence that crests were not used in combat but only in parades[citation needed].
[edit] External links
- http://www.roman-empire.net/articles/article-006.html
- http://museums.ncl.ac.uk/archive/arma/contents/artefax/armour/helmet/helmets.htm
- http://www.freewebtown.com/italica/italic_military/general_italic/armor/helmets/helmets.html
- http://www.larp.com/legioxx/helmets.html
- http://www.legionsix.org/helmet.htm
