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TheRageConsumed

Roman Armor, Briton, 100-200 AD

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I am penning a book that includes Romans. (Although they die). I have tried to figure out exactly what armor would have been worn when in the stated time. It is a book of historical fiction involving the Picts and the Roman Army just before the wall is built until approximately 148 AD. That's when I plan to kill my protagonist and end the series. I pretty much have the battles down, even the historical ones. I just need to know exactly what they looked like so I can describe it accurately in my books.

 

Thank you for your time and help,

The Rage Consumed

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Hi,

 

It would depend wether your soldier would be of legionary or auxiliary status (the two main types of soldiers at the time), serve in the infantry or the cavalry, be a simple soldier, a centurion or an higher officer, ... So you'll have to give us a bit more detail before we can help you :)

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The wall was built by legionary soldiers, but subsequently manned by auxiliaries. You may need to be quite specific about time/place, as armour varied tremendously.

Also, be careful with your research on Picts, as they were unlikely to have had contact with the Roman military during the time you're talking about.

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The above is assuming you're talking about hadrian's wall.

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At that time ordinary legionaries typically wore the banded cuirass, a curved rectasngular shield, and a flat style helmet with neck guard. Some units had extra armour like thigh and arm protection but in fairness I don't know if such experiments were used in Britain. Other shapes of shield existed but square was most common in the period. Tunics are a matter of debate but more people are coming to the idea that off-white natural colours were used, although weather-cloaks were not restricted in colour.

 

Centurions wore chainmail with a harness to mount deciorations and honours. Their helmet mounted a crest transverse across the head to show rank, and in all likelihood, displayed red clothing for the same purpose.

 

legiionaries mounted the gladius on their right side to avoid conflicting with the shield when preparing for battle. Centurions wore theirs on the left for convenience being not usually encumbered by shields.

 

Auxillary troops were simlar but wore chainmail and nothing other than oval shields.

 

Osprey sell booklets that cover this sort of information very well indeed. Check out...

 

http://www.google.co.uk/products/catalog?hl=en-GB&q=osprey+roman+military+clothing&gbv=2&safe=active&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=316087495265380978#

http://www.ospreypublishing.com/store/The-Roman-Army-from-Caesar-to-Trajan_9780850455281

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