I took a school trip to the British Museum today for a very successful and enjoyable visit to the Life and Death in Pompeii and Herculaneum exhibition. I was a
little surprised to find that one group had obviously found this blog (via an older brother's friend who I've gamed with in the past) and referred to their small group as "Team Goblinquest".
Anyway, quite apart from the glories of a fallen civilisation and the various other wonders of the Museum, there were some great gladiator pieces in the general Roman collection.
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| Murmillo's helmet - look at the detachable grille as well as the catch holding the two halves together |
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| Description label of the helm above. Golden sheen and feathers, eh? Snazzy! |
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| A detachable visor... detached |
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| Solid bronze shield for a hoplomachus |
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| thraex versus hoplomachus - note that the hoplomachus has lost his spear and is closing in with a pugio |
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| Gladiator decorations! Notice the thraex begging for mission by dropping his shield and raising his index finger. |
Amazing!! Thanks for posting these.
ReplyDeleteFrank
http://adventuresinlead.blogspot.com.au/
I was pretty excited when I found the case with them in - very happy to share :)
DeleteThere was also a pottery sherd with a murmillo vs. murmillo bout which I've posted on the "Gladiator pairings" thread on LAF.
The fight is not thraex vs hoplomachus but between two different kinds of thraeces
ReplyDeleteFrom your avatar I'm guessing you're quite the gladiator enthusiast, so I'm happy to learn more but what makes you so sure? I understood that the hoplomachus was a derivation of the the thraex, wearing the same body armour, with a possible slight difference to the crest of the helmet (griffon/no griffon) and that the round, solid parma was the way to differentiate a hoplomachus from a thraex in images such as this where the helmet detail is a little crude and there is no obvious spear.
DeleteI'm genuinely interested in getting my definitions a little sharper, so please do explain!
I too would be interested in hearing your theory on your comment leadaddicted. It looks like a hoplomachus weilding a pugio (after having lost his spear?) vs a thraex to me. Although neither wear ocrea, the parma do look correct for those types.
DeleteFrank
http://adventuresinlead.blogspot.com.au/
Great collections. what is the visor used for?
ReplyDeleteHi Catherine. The visor is listed as being from a murmillo's helmet and, going from the complete helmet at the top of the post, I'd say that seems correct. I suspect that the visor is removable because techniques of metalwork were not advanced enough to get that complex shaping and perforation from the same piece as the helmet proper (the bit on top of the head). But I'm no real expert, so that's just my guess.
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