caesar novus Posted February 23, 2016 Report Share Posted February 23, 2016 (edited) July 2015 issue of Minerva Magazine had an article by David Sims about decorations in Roman armor and weapons. Especially looked into why nearly throw-away javelins, arrows, and plumbata (cool throwing darts) could have a twisted iron shaft... decoration or functional? Note the nearly 2 twists in the photo below: "A Twist in the Tale" article found they were cold-twisted, and thus increased the rigidity. The usual hot twisting for decoration reduces the rigidity, but up to 2 cold twists helps unless you go 4 more degrees and it will fracture. He determined this by experimentation with replicas. He went on to say that true decoration may or may not compromise functionality. For instance decorative helmets may be fragile, but were meant to intimidate the enemy with your confidence. Not a display of wealth or status among your own troops, because even the lowly paid sometimes got decorations of a cruder nature. He says so called "parade armor" was a myth; it was all for real use. They showed various photos of Roman armor held at the museum where I think the mag is based at. It made me think how even in recent centuries engraved guns have been popular, but not in an intimating way; rather more effeminate to my eye. Edited February 23, 2016 by caesar novus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caldrail Posted February 23, 2016 Report Share Posted February 23, 2016 It looks to me merely decorative. I made similar twists in metalwork classes as a youngster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.