century B.C., and on an archaic vase, decorated with reliefs, from Sparta, but not on later monuments, although both Xenophon and Arrian mention it as part of the equipment of cavalry. A guard for the upper part of the right arm, from Italy, which is more familiar as armour of the later gladiator, dates from the fifth or fourth century B.C. (No. 186). It was fastened to the shoulder of the cuirass. There are two pairs of shin-guards from Italy (No. 187). A pair of ankle-pieces are designed to protect the "Achilles" tendon at the back of the foot (No. 188; fig. 72). These subsidiary pieces of leg-armour were probably worn by the Italians of the fourth century B.C., when the long greave was going out of fashion. Armour of an unusual kind is represented by the pair of bronze shoes, which are also from Ruvo (No. 189; fig. 73). The metal covering is only for the top of the foot, and the toes are on a separate plate, which is hinged at the joint. Part of a single shoe of the same type was found at Olympia, and another, of later date and made of gold and iron, at Koul-Oba, in South Russia. An essential part of the ancient panoply was the shield. As in mediaeval times, the shield and the man were identified in battle, and to be parted from one's shield implied a doubtful courage. Horace avows that he flung away his shield and his 1 Ann. of Brit. School at Athens, XII. pl. 9. martial reputation on the battlefield of Philippi, in imitation of Alkaeos and Archilochos, whom he followed also in poetic art. The armour of Alkaeos was hung up by the Athenians in the temple of Athena at Sigeion, and Alkaeos, in an ode which he addressed to a friend, bade him tell their fellow-townsmen of Mytilene that although Alkaeos survived the war, his arms did not. Archilochos also made light of his misfortune in an epigram. FIG. 72.-BRONZE ANKLE- The shield was emblazoned with the device of the soldier or the mark of the state. The men of Sikyon carried the Doric san, the initial letter of their name, as the Roman soldier was distinguished by the badge of his legion. The manner of holding the shield by straps and a cross-bar is shown in the illustrations (figs. 55, 64, 85). Herodotus ascribes the invention of this shield to the Carians, whom he credits with the introduction of the emblazonment as well. Before that time, he says, the shield was hung round the neck by a leathern strap. It was an unwieldy 1 i. 171. weapon which covered the man from head to foot, and curved round his sides. The use of the smaller shield and that of bodyarmour grew up together. There were several types in use among the Greeks, but the circular variety, which is seen most frequently on the monuments, is the only one represented in this collection. The large specimen is Ionian work of the sixth century B.C., although it was found in Italy. It is decorated with numerous bands of Sphinxes, stars, palmettes, and other conven FIG. 74.-A ROMAN LEGIONARY tional patterns in relief (No. 190). The smaller shield, with a spiked boss, is decorated with rows of dots, and is probably Etruscan of the fourth century B.C. (No. 191). No Roman shields are represented, and none have survived in their entirety, for they were made of wood and leather, and only the central boss and the framework were of metal. The ordinary type is illustrated in the reliefs of the Trajan Column (fig. 74), where the legionaries are perhaps distinguished from the auxiliary soldiers by their oblong shields. These are further differentiated by the badges of the various legions. Legionary badges were also displayed on the standards, and the figure of a boar (No. 192) and perhaps the bronze hand (No. 193) may have belonged to these. A peculiar usage of war among the Greeks, which was afterwards practised by the Romans, was the erection of trophies of the arms captured from a defeated enemy. Soldiers of all ages have celebrated their achievements by the display of armour or similar spoils which they have stripped from their opponents; but the custom of building effigies with the empty armour, to be left for a monument on the battlefield, was a token of victory which belonged properly to the Greeks. Helmet, cuirass and greaves were slung in their respective positions on a tree-trunk, and the shield and other weapons were bound to the arms of a cross-piece. An inscription was affixed, giving an account of the victory and the dedication of the monument to a deity, as other spoils were dedicated in the temples. In the centre of the Wall-Cases 116-117 a suit of armour is set up in this fashion. In Case 111 there are a small bronze model of a Roman trophy (No. 170), and two lamps with designs of the same subject. One of them has a trophy of barbarian arms, a horned helmet and oblong wooden shields, with a man and a woman captive at the foot (No. 194; fig. 75). The other is more fanciful a trophy is borne aloft by a Victory, who is poised FIG. 75.-A TROPHY OF BARBARIAN ARMS, WITH CAPTIVES AT THE FOOT (No. 194). 2:3. with her foot on a globe, to symbolise the subjection of the world (No. 195; fig. 76). The Greeks had established customs in raising trophies, and these were strictly observed. The trophy was an assertion of victory, and was accepted by the vanquished and left inviolate by them. But it was contrary to usage for the victors to repair it, or to make the supports of anything more durable than wood. The native Roman practice was to fix captured armour in the house, like trophies of the chase. The built trophy was borrowed from the Greeks, but it was not necessarily erected on the battlefield. At Rome there were many trophies commemorating provincial victories, and the custom was continued in the repre sentations of spoils on the triumphal arches and other FIG. 77.-ROMAN AND DACIAN ARMOUR (No. 178). 1:10. |