Warrior [15] Late Roman Cavalryman AD 236-565
Page 7
limitanei Static frontier troops.
Lorica armour Types used in this period include: segmentata (segmented plate armour); hamata (mail); squamata (scale) and lamellar (small vertical iron plates).
Notitia Dignitatum A list of offices of the late Roman administration; includes a fairly complete listing of army units and shield designs.
palatini Elite troops of the mobile field army.
pentarch Leader of five men, forming the second rank in 6th-century cavalry units.
phalerae Metal discs decorating the horse harness.
pseudocomitatenses limitanei transferred to the field army.
pteruges Leather strips covering the shoulders and thighs. Part of an undergarment worn under armour.
sagittarii Archers.
salgamum The practice of soldiers demanding more of their hosts than was required when soldiers were billeted on the local population.
Scholae The all-cavalry imperial guards formed by Constantine to replace the Praetorians.
spangenhelm A conical segmented helmet of Danubian origin worn throughout this period.
spatha A fairly long sword that was the favoured side arm of the period.
Strategikon A military manual written at the end of the 6th century.
Vegetius Flavius Vegetius Renatus. A 5th century writer who produced a military treatise lamenting the demise of the classical heavy legions and urging improvements in training and equipment.
vexillatio In the 3rd century, a detachment of a larger unit; later a cavalry unit of about 500-600 men.
This spangenhelm from Alsace is typical of the style worn in the 6th century by Romans and Germans. It differs from earlier examples by having a smaller nose guard and no neck guard. Many, however, would have had an attached mail aventail to protect the back of the head, (Musée Archeologique, Strasbourg)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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Flavius Vegetius Renatus,The Art of War
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Hoffman, Dietrich, Das Spaetrömische Bewegungsheer und die Notitia Dignitatum (Dusseldorf, 1970).
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Maenchen-Helfen, Otto J., The World of the Huns (Los Angeles, 1973).
MacDowall, S., Late Roman Infantryman (London, 1994)
Moss, J. R., ‘The Effects of the Policies of Aetius on the History of Western Europe’, Historia LXXII (1973)-
Nauerth, Claudia, Die Koptischen Textilien der Sammlung Wilhelm Rautenstrauch im Städtischen Museum Simeonstift Trier (Trier, 1989).
Ardant du Picq, Battle Studies (Trans., Harrisburg, 1947)-
Robinson, What the Soldiers Wore on Hadrian's Wall (Newcastle-upcm-Tyne, 1976)
Robinson, H.R„ The Armour of Imperial Rome( London,1975)
Taeckholm, Ulf, ‘Aetius and the Battle on the Catalaunian Fields’, Opuscula Romana VII(1969).
Theocharidis, Ploutarchos L., ‘Late Roman and Early Byzantine Helmets’, Proceedings of the 1st International Symposium on Everyday Life in Byzantium (Athens, 1989). With notes from Dimitris Christodoulou.
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Wallace-Hadrill, J. M., The Barbarian West (New York, 1961).
First published in Great Britain in 1995
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Dedication
To my parents with thanks for encouragement at an early stage.
Acknowledgments
Many thanks again to Bernd Lehnhoff for his many contributions and also to Theodore Adamakopolous, Stephen Allen, David Blanchard, Perry Gray, Kent Haryett and Ross Macfarlane who have helped shape my ideas over the years.
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FRONT COVER: Base of the honorary column
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