Clipeus
Clipeus or Clipeum is the Latin term for a large, metal round or oval shield.
etymology
Clipeus from ancient Latin clupeus is etymologically related to ancient Greek καλύπτω ("to cover something, to cover").
description
In the early days of the Roman army , the clipeus was led by the soldiers of the first two members of the phalanx . It was the standard shield of the heavy Roman infantry, covered the left side of the soldier and corresponded in shape and style to the Greek aspis . According to Diodorus , the Romans borrowed this type of shield from the Etruscans . According to Livy , it was replaced by the oval scutum during the first Samnite War .
In a second meaning, the term stands for a round portrait of a deceased on his sarcophagus . Such an imago clipeata can also be carved in stone. In a broader sense, the term is generally applied to round, shield-shaped decorative motifs.
In the Middle Ages and the Renaissance it was taken up as a half-length portrait in the form of a medallion and often attached to the frame of a picture or used as an architectural ornament .
Clipeus virtutis
The clipeus virtutis (lat: shield of bravery) was an award given by a Roman legionnaire when he distinguished himself through bravery in a battle.
literature
- August Demmin : The weapons of war and their historical developments. Friesenhahn, Leipzig 1893, pp. 46, 189, 213, 225, 227, 251, 261, 262, 263, 309, 552, 553, archive.org , (encyclopedia, scan version / full version, German).
- Otto Fiebiger : Clipeus. In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume IV, 1, Stuttgart 1900, Col. 55 f.