Ancient Times, Roman. - 017 - Costumes of All Nations (1882).
Military of the
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Kingd ...
and
Empire
An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
wore loosely regulated dress and armour. The contemporary concept of uniforms was not part of Roman culture and there were considerable differences in detail. Armour was not standardized and even that produced in state factories varied according to the province of origin. Likewise the Romans had no concept of obsolescence. Provided it remained serviceable, soldiers were free to use armour handed down by family money, buy armour from soldiers who had completed their service, or wear discontinued styles of armour if they preferred it to (or could not afford) the latest issue. Thus, it was common for legions to wear a mix of various styles that could cover a considerable time period.
Fragments of surviving clothing and wall paintings indicate that the basic tunic of the Roman soldier was of red or undyed (off-white) wool.
Senior commanders are known to have worn white cloaks and plumes. The
centurion
A centurion (; la, centurio , . la, centuriones, label=none; grc-gre, κεντυρίων, kentyríōn, or ) was a position in the Roman army during classical antiquity, nominally the commander of a century (), a military unit of around 80 le ...
s, who made up the long serving backbone of the legions, were distinguished by transverse crests on their helmets, chest ornaments corresponding to modern medals, and the long
cudgels
A club (also known as a cudgel, baton, bludgeon, truncheon, cosh, nightstick, or impact weapon) is a short staff or stick, usually made of wood, wielded as a weapon since prehistoric times. There are several examples of blunt-force trauma caused ...
that they carried.
Examples of items of Roman military personal armour included:
* ''
Galea'' or soldier's helmet. Variant forms included the
Coolus helmet
The Coolus helmet (named for Coolus, France) was a type of ancient Celtic and Roman helmet. It was typically made in bronze or brass and, like the Montefortino type with which it co-existed, was a descendant of Celtic helmet types. The e ...
,
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