Roman Infantry Helmets

PRINCIPATE INFANTRY HELMETS IN USE

The helical frieze on Trajan’s Column depicts soldiers involved in construction work stacking some of their equipment (notably the pieces that would get in the way while working) nearby. The use of the curved, rectangular scutum made it possible to do this in a stable way that was not possible with oval shields. Placing the pilum behind the shield and then looping the helmet tie lace over this produced a convenient means of stacking equipment that also made for easy access in the event of an emergency. Presumably the tie lace was run from the loops under the neck guard and down to the hand grip of the shield where it could be secured with a slip knot. Cheek pieces seem to have been folded inside the helmet bowl in every case. Presumably, in high winds, the shield would be lain down with the helmet on top to keep it in place.

During the Early Principate, as neck guards grew larger, helmet carrying handles began to be attached. These were of a fairly uniform size, but were never large enough to fit an entire adult hand through. By inserting the three middle fingers through the loop and using the little finger and thumb resting against the neck guard, however, it was possible to steady the helmet while carrying it.

Tying the helmet to the shield hand grip is also suggested by the relief of three legionaries from Croy Hill, in which two of the three men have their helmets draped over the front of their shields, which rest by the left foot in each case. The third man wears his helmet on his chest, presumably having tied the lace around his neck. Again, in each case, the cheek pieces appear to have been folded within the helmet bowl. All three men wear paenulae over their mail armour, but only the centre man has a beard (fashionable in the Antonine period), which has sometimes led to suggestion that this man was the father of the two clean-shaven men on either side of him.