A (; ) was a

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 ...

soldier's metal helmet, most famously worn by the heavy infantry of the legions. Some

gladiator A gladiator ( , ) was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gladiators were volunteers who risked their ...

s, specifically ''

murmillo The murmillo (also sometimes spelled "mirmillo", "myrmillo", or "mirmillones" pl. murmillones) was a type of gladiator during the Roman Empire, Roman Imperial age. The murmillo-class gladiator developed in the early Imperial period to repl ...

'' ('' myrmillo''), also wore bronze ''galeae'' with face masks and decorations, often a fish on its crest. While details varied over time, all Roman galeas from the

Republic A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...

era through the

Principate The Principate was the form of imperial government of the Roman Empire from the beginning of the reign of Augustus in 27 BC to the end of the Crisis of the Third Century in AD 284, after which it evolved into the Dominate. The principate was ch ...

featured the same basic design - a bowl to protect the skull, a neck guard (which grew larger over time), a deflector band to protect the forehead and cheek plates to protect the face. The exact form, type of metal, and design of the helmet varied over time, between differing unit types, and also between individual examples – pre-industrial production was by hand – so it is not certain to what degree there was any standardization even under the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

. Originally, Roman helmets were influenced by the neighboring

Etruscans The Etruscan civilization ( ) was an ancient civilization created by the Etruscans, a people who inhabited Etruria in List of ancient peoples of Italy, ancient Italy, with a common language and culture, and formed a federation of city-states. Af ...

, people who utilised the "Nasua" type helmets. The Greeks in the south also influenced Roman design in its early history. The primary evidence is scattered archaeological finds, which are often damaged or incomplete; secondary evidence includes period depictions of ''galeae'', generally in bas-relief sculpture and mosaic.

Helmet types

H. Russell Robinson in his book ''The Armour of Imperial Rome'', published in 1975, classified into broad divisions the various forms of helmets that were found. He classified four main types of helmets for heavy infantry (with subcategories named with letters) and thirty different types of cheek guards. Helmets used by gladiators were quite different from military versions.

Legionary infantry helmets

* Montefortino helmet (4th century BC – 1st century AD) * Coolus helmet (3rd century BC – at least 79 AD) * Imperial Gallic helmet (late 1st century BC – early 2nd century AD) * Imperial Italic helmet (late 1st BC – early 3rd century AD) * Ridge helmet, first depicted on coins of 4th-century AD emperor

Constantine I Constantine I (27 February 27222 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was a Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337 and the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. He played a Constantine the Great and Christianity, pivotal ro ...

Galea (helmet)

Some of the helmets used by

legionaries The ancient Rome, Roman legionary (in Latin ''legionarius''; : ''legionarii'') was a citizen soldier of the Roman army. These soldiers would conquer and defend the territories of ancient Rome during the Crisis of the Roman Republic, Republic and ...

had a crest holder.Kelsy, Francis. "C. Iulii Caesaris Commentarii Rerum Gestarum: Caesar's Commentaries: The Gallic War, Books I-IV, with Selections from Books V-VII and from The Civil War". Allyn and Bacon, 1918, p. 622 The crests were usually made of plumes or horse hair. While the fur is usually red, the crests possibly occurred in other colors, like yellow, purple and black, and possibly in combinations of these colors such as alternating yellow and black. Gladiators such as the ''samnis'' and the '' hoplomachus'' also probably wore large feathered crests. There is some evidence (

Vegetius Publius (or Flavius) Vegetius Renatus, known as Vegetius (), was a writer of the Later Roman Empire (late 4th century). Nothing is known of his life or station beyond what is contained in his two surviving works: ''Epitoma rei militaris'' (also r ...

' writings and some sculptures) that legionaries had their crests mounted longitudinally and

centurion In the Roman army during classical antiquity, a centurion (; , . ; , or ), was a commander, nominally of a century (), a military unit originally consisting of 100 legionaries. The size of the century changed over time; from the 1st century BC ...

s had them mounted transversely. Crests may have been worn at all times by centurions in the early empire, including during battle, but legionaries, and centurions during other periods, probably wore crests only occasionally.

Citations

General and cited references

External links

LEGIO XX ONLINE HANDBOOK HELMETS
{{Authority control Ancient Greek helmets Ancient Greek military equipment Ancient Roman helmets

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 ...