Montefortino (helmet)
Montefortino is a Roman type of helmet . The name is derived from a specimen found in the Celtic necropolis of Montefortino ( Marche ). There is probably no other helmet model of the Roman army that has been in use as long as this one.
history
From the era of the Punic Wars to the time of the first Roman emperor Augustus , it was the legionnaire's standard helmet . Its origin is probably to be found in the Celtic culture, where it was worn parallel to the Roman army : This helmet creation, made from 1.5 to 2 millimeters thick bronze sheet, can claim to have been the most successful of antiquity . A real mass product that has been repeatedly improved over the course of its history and adapted to current conditions. If the Celtic products were made of iron from the 3rd century onwards, excavators always find bronze helmet remains at Roman sites and if the Montefortino helmets were still decorated with fine decorative elements in the 4th to 2nd centuries, they become more and more actual with the army reform of Marius at the latest cheap, unadorned mass-produced goods. The Roman civil war with its high wear and tear on people and materials did the rest of this development.
Form and structure
The polished helmet had a golden sheen. Sometimes it was coated with white metal (tin-plated), which gave it a silver sheen.
The Montefortino helmet, which weighs around two kilograms, has a largely hemispherical- shaped dome that tapers towards the top in a slightly conically tapered pommel. This pommel, driven from one piece with the dome, was used to hold a helmet bush. The lower edge of the helmet is completely horizontal at the level of the eyebrows. The narrow neck shield, which is also driven from one piece with the dome, is attached to it. Only in the case of later finds this neck shield can be offset or beveled a little downwards.
Like all Roman helmets, the Montefortino has a very modern-looking helmet strap so that you don't get knocked backwards in the face in a battle, but always sit tight. On the underside of the neck protector there are two riveted eyelets through which the leather helmet strap runs in the neck. The strap is then pulled through two more eyelets, one each - located at chin level on the two cheek flaps ( bucculae ). There it can then be knotted under the wearer's chin. At the time of Emperor Augustus, instead of eyelets, tapered buttons were often riveted into the cheek flaps, which eliminated the need for tying, as slits could now be cut in the leather straps through which the buttons could be pushed - a kind of antique quick-release fastener.
The curved, hinged cheek flaps are wide and, at least in older specimens, not anatomically adapted to the shape of the human face. The hinges are riveted to the temples. Originally, a helmet lining made of linen cushions or felt filled with horsehair was glued into the dome. The name of the helmet owner with details of his centurion and legion is often hallmarked on the short neck shield . Sometimes several names can be found, since the helmets were state property and remained in use for a long time. During the march, the Montefortino was worn on a breast hook that was attached to the chain mail.
Artist's impression
The depictions of Roman helmets carved in stone always show much too narrow cheek flaps. Because of these models, there have always been misrepresentations of Roman helmets. Baroque paintings manifested these narrow cheek flaps as well as a myriad of various 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. Real Roman cheek flaps cover a large part of the human face and would have made it very difficult for ancient artists to reproduce individual traits and moments of movement. With this and other idealizing artifacts the people of antiquity also manifested a completely false, apparently ineradicable Roman helmet image up to our time.
Helmet plume / feathers
In the Montefortino of the 1st century BC ( Marius , Caesar , Augustus) the crista consisted of long, drooping horsehair that was fastened with a needle in the lead-filled hole in the helmet button. As contemporary texts and Pompeian paintings show, the horsehair was dyed red. This crest was only used for parades and in combat; He was not to be found in everyday work.
At the time of Polybius in the 2nd century BC there were still black or purple colored feathers in the place of the later helmet bush.
Versions
The Montefortino helmet is divided into subgroups called Montefortino / Canosa, Montefortino / Rieti and Montefortino / Buggenum. The differences are minor and primarily concern the shape of the helmet bowl or the structure. (Pictures of the different types under web links). The differences are:
- Montefortino / Canosa type: Round, hemispherical helmet bell, cast helmet.
- Montefortino / Rieti type: Slightly flattened on the top of the helmet bowl, transitional form to the Buggenum type.
- Montefortino / Buggenum type: helmet first cast and then driven, helmet pommel made hollow.
literature
- Marcus Junkelmann : The Legions of Augustus. The Roman soldier in an archaeological experiment (= cultural history of the ancient world 33). Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 1986, ISBN 3-8053-0886-8 , 14th edition. Philipp von Zabern, Darmstadt 2012, ISBN 978-3-8053-4472-2 .
- Daniel Peterson: The Roman Legions. Barett Verlag, Solingen 1994, ISBN 3-924753-54-7 .
- Nick Seconda, Simon Northwood: Early Roman armies (= Osprey Military. Men-at-arms Series 283). Reprinted edition. Color Plates by Richard Hook. Osprey, London et al. 1997, ISBN 1-85532-513-6 .
