Weisenau (helmet)
The imperial - Gallic Weisenau - helmet type , named after the place where it was found in Mainz-Weisenau , which splits into various forms in the course of its development, is the most famous Roman helmet design.
development
The Weisenau did not appear in the finds until late Republican times and slowly supplanted its predecessors, including the simply constructed bronze Montefortino helmet , which had been worn for centuries during the Claudian - Neronian rule . During the internal and external turmoil of the 3rd century, the development of the last heavily armored Weisenau helmets came to a standstill and was replaced by Der-el-Medineh type helmets from around 260 AD . Research today assumes that the Weisenau was initially a typical infantry helmet that was used in more elaborate forms by the legions and in simple designs by the auxiliary troops . The iron of the helmet was tin-plated at least in the officer's helmets for reasons of rust protection and then polished to give it the desired shine.
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The historian and experimental archaeologist Marcus Junkelmann assumed that the first specimens of the Weisenau, which in its mature form from the 1st century AD is considered to be the most beautifully crafted Roman legionnaire's helmet, may only have been worn by officers . As an early example, remains of the helmet and its predecessor of the Hagenau type could be detected on the battlefield near Kalkriese (9 AD). In the middle of the 1st century AD, the Weisenau became the standard helmet of the Roman army. In the late 1st century, neck protectors were worn shorter and more in a horizontal position for reasons that were previously unknown. In the 2nd century the Weisenau was still very similar to its predecessors from the middle of the 1st century, but now it has been equipped with two crossed reinforcing rails over the dome. It is believed that this measure is related to the Dacian Wars in order to better protect the legionnaire against the large two-handed sickle swords of these peoples. The helmet was apparently now worn by the teams without a bush. During this time the Weisenau began to be drawn deeper and in the 3rd century it was given a steeply sloping neck protection. The differences between equestrian helmets and legionnaires' helmets began to blur, the classic image of the Roman legionnaire changed significantly. Late Weisenau specimens enclose the wearer's face almost as tightly as medieval helmets. An essential distinguishing feature of all Weisenau helmets, however, always remained the forehead stirrup riveted to the left and right of the calotte, which was intended to soften frontal blows.
Manufacturing
Since the discovery of a helmet of the Niederbieber type , which apparently ended up as a semi-finished product in a well in the camp village of Rainau-Buch , research has also gained knowledge about the course of a manufacturing process. This bronze helmet, a late form of the Weisenau helmet, is missing various individual parts that would have had to be applied in further work steps. For example, the carrying handle on the wide, sloping neck shield, for which the two eyelets were already attached, the crossed brass bracket on the dome and the very pronounced, wide-spreading horizontal front ledge that tapers towards the center of the forehead in the Niederbieber type. The holes in the calotte necessary for attaching these individual parts were also not yet available.
Classifications of the Weisenau type
At the beginning of the 1970s, new, groundbreaking research into the equipment of the Roman army began in English-speaking countries. The fundamental work of the British weapons expert H. Russell Robinson (1975) on the helmet typology and the practical evaluations in the form of reconstructions that Michael Simkins carried out should be emphasized. In the Anglo-American region in particular, the terminology created at the time has established itself since then. According to this, a distinction is made between the "Imperial Gallic" type formed from iron and the bronze and iron "Imperial Italian" type. The designation "Imperial Gallic" indicates that this helmet was developed in Celtic-Roman workshops, because the Celts had a long tradition of making iron helmets at that time. The forerunners of the "Imperial Gallic" helmet were the Celtic Agen / Port types, which were introduced in the middle of the 1st century BC. To be dated. Clear signs of this Celtic origin were the stylized eyebrows on the forehead, heavily incised cheek flaps and the transverse fluting above the neck protection that was initially horizontal, then later lowered and sloping downwards . Overall, the protective effect is far superior to that of its predecessor.
| Classification according to H. Russell Robinson | ||||||||||||
| Imperial Gallic | A. | B. | C. | D. | E. | F. | G | H | I. | J | K | |
| Surname | Type Nijmegen | Worms type | Augsburg type | Aquincum type | ||||||||
| Imperial Italian | A. | B. | C. | D. | E. | F. | G | H | ||||
| Surname | Cremona type | Mainz type | Hebron type | Type Niedermörmter | ||||||||
Headgear that Robinson classifies as auxiliary helmets, but which also belong to the Weisenau type:
- Auxiliary Infantry A.
- Auxiliary Infantry B
- Auxiliary Infantry C
- Auxiliary Infantry D.
Since a large number of new Weisenau variants, subgroups and hybrid forms have been known since 1975 - helmets such as a cavalry mask helmet of the Weisenau / Kalkriese type that allegedly came from a Bulgarian grave are missing from Robinson's list - the differentiated letter numbering is sometimes dispensed with today has never really been able to establish itself so specialized in Germany. Here, the helmets are traditionally classified according to their first described place of discovery (e.g. "Type Weisenau / Mainz"). In Anglo-American countries, numbers are sometimes added to the letters today, which form the subclasses of the respective helmet type (e.g. "Kaiserlich-Gallisch A 4, Guttmann type"). In addition, the generic term “Weisenau”, which is common in German research, is gaining ground in Great Britain and the USA, alongside the generic term “Imperial helmet”. Since Robinson, for example, classified the Heddernheim type helmet as "Auxiliary Cavalry E", it is not clear that this model belongs to the late Weisenau models and was also worn by the infantry. Another helmet defined by Robinson as a rider's helmet ( Niederbieber type ; also called Rainau-Buch / Niederbieber type ), which dates to the first half of the 3rd century, is referred to by Junkelmann as an infantry helmet and, with the Niedermörmter type, also belongs to the later phase of the Weisenau helmet.
Crest ("crista")
Helmet of the Weisenau type include crest holders, which were used to hold and attach the bush made of horsehair. This fork-shaped crest holder was pushed with his foot into a bronze or iron grommet riveted on horizontally , which is located on the helmet. The massive buttons known from earlier Roman helmets for holding the bush no longer exist at the Weisenau. The helmets found have one or two grommets. The bush itself, which looks like a large cockscomb , was attached to two eyelets , which were riveted to the front and back of the calotte on team helmets and can be found on the side of centurions because they carried the comb across. The helmet plume was only put on on special occasions. He was not part of normal everyday work. From the first half of the 2nd century onwards, bushes were no longer worn.
Modern representations
Most modern reenactment groups wear the Weisenau helmet and Hollywood has chosen it as the Roman helmet par excellence. It is especially good enough for filmmakers for every age of Roman history, whether this film is set in Hannibal's time or is about Attila .
Despite the excellent archaeological documentation, the Weisenau is mostly alienated or even falsified in these films, to which the ancient stonemasons also unconsciously contributed.
The depictions of Roman helmets carved in stone always show much too narrow cheek flaps . Since time immemorial, false representations of Roman helmets have taken place on the basis of these templates. Baroque paintings manifested these narrow cheek flaps, as did a myriad of sandal films from Hollywood and Italy . However, a helmet with such cheek flaps has never been archaeologically proven. The too narrow cheek flaps are actually to be understood as a trick by ancient artists. A seriously narrower representation of the cheek flaps made it possible to make the face of the person to be depicted clearly visible. Genuine Roman cheek pieces cover a large part of the face and would have made it very difficult for ancient artists to reproduce individual features and facial expressions.
With this and other idealizing artifices people have of antiquity but also manifested a completely wrong, apparently not ausrottbares Roman helmet image to the present day.
literature
- H. Russell Robinson : The armor of imperial Rome. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York NY 1975, ISBN 0-684-13956-1 .
- Daniel Peterson: The Roman Legions. Barett Verlag, Solingen 1994, ISBN 3-924753-54-7 .
- Michael Simkins: The Roman Army from Caesar to Trajan (= Men-at-Arms Series. No. 46). Color plates by Ronald Embleton. 19th edition. Osprey Publishing, Elms Court (Great Britain) 2000, ISBN 0-85045-528-6 .
- Marcus Junkelmann : The Legions of Augustus. The Roman soldier in an archaeological experiment (= cultural history of the ancient world . Volume 33). 9th expanded edition. Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 2003, ISBN 3-8053-0886-8 .
- Marcus Junkelmann: Hollywood's Dream of Rome. “Gladiator” and the tradition of the monumental film (= cultural history of the ancient world. Volume 94). Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 2004, ISBN 3-8053-2905-9 .
Web links
Antique originals can be seen on the page Roman Military Equipment (English) * [1] .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Marcus Junkelmann: The riders of Rome. Volume 3: Accessories, riding style, armament (= cultural history of the ancient world. Volume 53). Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 1992, ISBN 3-8053-1288-1 , pp. 200f.
- ↑ a b Marcus Junkelmann: The legions of Augustus. The Roman soldier in an archaeological experiment (= cultural history of the ancient world. Volume 33). 1st edition. Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 1986, ISBN 3-8053-0886-8 , p. 173.
- ^ Germania. Bulletin of the Roman-Germanic Commission of the German Archaeological Institute. Vol. 75, 1997, ISSN 0016-8874 , p. 615.
- ↑ Michael Simkins: The Roman Army from Caesar to Trajan. 18th edition. Osprey Publishing, Oxford 2000, ISBN 0-85045-528-6 ; Michael Simkins: The Roman Army from Hadrian to Constantine. Osprey Publishing, Oxford 2000, ISBN 0-85045-333-X (in English).
- ^ Henry Russell Robinson: The armor of imperial Rome. Arms and Armor Press, London 1975, ISBN 0-85368-219-4 .
- ↑ Marcus Junkelmann: Horsemen like statues made of ore (= Ancient World . 27, special edition 1 = Zabern's illustrated books on archeology ). Verlag Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 1996, ISBN 3-8053-1821-9 , p. 54.
Remarks
- ↑ Common name in international research