Roman Shield Symbol

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Originally Posted by Matchlock

I'm much with Kronckew on this.

In my eyes, the symbol may show a stylized symmetrical crab or crayfish, meant as military allusion to both armor and back and forth moving tactics.


Best,
Michael

Salaams Michael, Happy New Year !!! Apparently ~ The design was as below~

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi

From timetrips.co.uk Quote''There were many kinds of Roman shields used by legionaries. Earlier on they were oval and flat, but at the time of the invasion of Britain (AD43) most were rectangular and curved, like part of a cylinder. This shield is called a scutum.

The shields were mostly made of wood - a few layers glued together to make the curved shape. Some extra strips of wood were glued on the back for more strength. The shield was then covered in leather and a sheet of linen cloth added to the front. Designs were usually painted onto the front.

There were many designs, but one of the most famous is the eagle's wings and lightning bolt. The eagle was the symbol of the Roman army, and the lightning bolt was the symbol of Jupiter, the king of the gods (Jupiter was the Roman version of the Greek god Zeus, who threw thunderbolts from the sky).

Only one scutum in good condition has ever been found, at Dura Europos, a Roman fort in Syria. It has pictures of an eagle, a lion, and winged gods. It was made in the 200s AD.

In battle the shield was held with the arm straight, holding a grip in the middle. The grip was across a hole cut from the middle of the shield. This hole was protected by a metal boss, a hemisphere of iron with an iron plate around it. The soldier could push this boss into his enemy to knock him off balance. On the Dura Europos shield below the boss has been lost." Unquote.

[kronckew]

late roman round/oval scutums - they appear to have had more leeway to customizing the paint jobs than earlier eras.





a copy of a pre-constantinian one.

this is mithras, a god similar to christ in that he rose from the dead, he was a favoured military soldier's god.
the beliefs and rituals of mithras were never written down, so we have little info on the religion. it was replaced
of course by christianity which i suspect incorporated parts of it.

shield bosses also were objects of decoration, legionary veterans would either decorate or have decorated their sword scabbards, pugio dagger scabbards, belts, helmets,
and shield bosses. i imaging a centurion had this one:



others of lesser quality have been found. as wood shields would get damaged in battle, and replaced afterwards, i would hazard that these bosses would be treasured possessions transferred from scutum to scutum as the wood part deteriorated and was replaced.

[Matchlock]

Just brilliant, both Ibrahiim and Kronckew,

Thanks a lot!

m

[kronckew]

p.s. - the bronze decorated iron shield boss is marked Legio VIII AVG

that's "Legion 8 - Augusta" Legionary Animal was the Bull.

formed in 65 BC by pompey the great, julius caesar took it over in 49 bc, ocatavian reconstituted it when he was emperor, hence the cognomen 'augusta', it served for 400 years thereafter. LINKY

The Bull was also a mithraic symbol. i can't quite make out the latin scratched into the left border, likely the owner & his assigned cohort, it appears to be marked 'the property of junius dubilitatus'.