Clypeus ( lat. Clipeus, clipeum ) - an oval or round shield used in the army of Ancient Rome . The name of the shield, presumably, is associated with other Greek. καλύπτω - “cover up”.
In the early Roman army, the word clipeus was used to call a large round shield (a bronze round shield, known to the Greeks as a hoplon ), although there is a statement about the use of the term " Parma " in this meaning. Subsequently, among the legionnaires on foot, a curved rectangular scutum spread, round parmas remained in the cavalry, as well as among standard-bearers and buglers.
After the scutum went out of use in the III century. n e. the Roman army switched to the use of an oval (less often round) shield, which was previously used by auxiliary troops ( Auxilia ), from the Romans it received the name "Clypeus". On the basis of finds in Dura Europos and Nida Mos, they managed to establish its design. The shield consisted of vertical strips glued together, was covered with painted leather on the outer and inner sides. The circumference of the edge of the shield was covered with raw materials : when dry, it tightened the straps tightly, and ensured a reliable connection. The use of rawhide reduced the weight of the shield in comparison with copper alloys used previously for suturing edges.
Content
Weapon Armament
The Gastatians were armed with two darts ( piloms ) up to 1.2 m long and a piercing-chopping short sword, gladiom / gladius . The gastastes used for protection a large oval scutum , 1.2 m high and about 75 cm wide. According to Polybius, scutums were made of two glued wooden plates covered with cloth and calfskin, and they were also reinforced with an iron edge. The Romans began to use such large shields instead of round clypeuses around the beginning of the 4th century BC. e. [1] .
Other
- Emperor Augustus received a reward from the Senate clipeus virtutis ("shield of valor") - for "courage, mercy, justice and piety." The shield was exposed in the Curia Julia .
- According to Pliny the Elder, it was customary to place relief portraits of ancestors inside the image of a round shield (a special type of relief known as imago clipeata ).
- From clipeus comes clypeus , the Latin name for the clypeus , part of the head in insects.
See also
- Umbon
Notes
- ↑ Connolly, 2000 , p. 127.
Literature
- Connolly P. Greece and Rome. Encyclopedia of military history. - M .: EKSMO-Press , 2000 .-- 320 p. - 10,000 copies. - ISBN 5-04-005183-2 .