The Coolus helmet (named for

Coolus Coolus () is a commune in the Marne department in north-eastern France. It gave its name to the Coolus helmet, a type of ancient Celtic and Roman helmet. See also *Communes of the Marne department The following is a list of the 610 commu ...

, France) was a type of ancient

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

and

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

helmet A helmet is a form of protective gear worn to protect the head. More specifically, a helmet complements the skull in protecting the human brain. Ceremonial or symbolic helmets (e.g., a policeman's helmet in the United Kingdom) without protecti ...

popular in the 1st century BCE. It was typically made in

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

brass Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, in proportions which can be varied to achieve different colours and mechanical, electrical, acoustic and chemical properties, but copper typically has the larger proportion, generally copper and zinc. I ...

and, like the Montefortino type with which it co-existed, was a descendant of Celtic helmet types. The explanation of the choice to use bronze can be attributed to the type of warfare that the helmet was used for; also the cultural affinities have influence on why the helmet was made the way that it was. Within a long process of evolution, Roman military armor for the head developed from early pre-Roman helmets. Rome itself had no proper tradition of such objects, as most of the soldiers of the Early Republic made use of helmets produced by the Etruscans, whose craftsmen were known for their ability to make vessels. It was a fairly plain globular or

hemispherical A sphere (from Ancient Greek, Greek , ) is a surface (mathematics), surface analogous to the circle, a curve. In solid geometry, a sphere is the Locus (mathematics), set of points that are all at the same distance from a given point in three ...

helmet with a brow guard, a ribbed neck guard, and large hinged cheek guards. The cheek guards and neck guards projected outwards across the jaw and the cheeks although they did not impair the vision of the wearer. Another common feature was a turned or cast soldered- or riveted-on crest knob. The cheek guards were manufactured separately from the helmet and riveted onto it. The Coolus helmet has become a well known and recognizable part of historical warfare. The Coolus was replaced by the

Imperial helmet The Imperial helmet-type was a type of helmet worn by Roman legionaries. Prior to the Empire, Roman Republican soldiers often provided their own equipment, which was passed down from father to son. Thus, a variety of equipment, from different ...

type, a more developed form also derived from a Celtic original.

Examples

* Canterbury helmet *Thames Coolus helmet. This helmet was dug out of the River Thames in England; the helmet has been in the British Museum since 1950.

Sources

Legio II AugustaLegio XXIV

References

Ancient Roman helmets {{armour-stub