This helm could be very simply decorated for ordinary legionaries, or highly adorned with fixings for a spectacular coloured horsehair brush to denote senior rank.Īs the Roman Empire reached its greatest expanse, the Legions became stretched increasingly thin, and much of the work of protecting the borders of the Empire was farmed out to contractors – local chiefs, who would provide their own forces with their own equipment. The smiths made helmets with techniques and construction from their own culture, and so the ‘Imperial-Gallic’ Roman helmet – the type that we would all recognise as a ‘Roman’ helmet, with cheek flaps, brass decoration and an exaggerated tail protecting the neck – was born. During the Roman conquests of Gaul, Roman helmets began to look much more ‘Roman’, ironically because they began using local Gallic armorsmiths to outfit the Roman military. These were helmets with a long longitudinal ridge and a rim, somewhat resembling the much later and unrelated ‘Conquistador’ morion. Roman helmet types evolved over the long sweep of Roman history: initially, the early Roman military would have used a Negau helmet – a style influenced by their neighbours the Etruscans, named after the Negau horde where more than 50 complete helms were found in modern-day Slovenia. We know that reinforced leather helmets of similar design would have been used by less wealthy Greek citizens or levied slaves. The curves of the Corinthian-type helmet were designed to turn aside slashing weapons – and this is a requirement which would be significantly addressed by the makers of medieval helmets. The helmet has long cheek-guards with narrow elliptical eyeholes, providing excellent protection to the face and throat, and has a sweeping tail to protect the back of the neck. The Met Museum holds a gorgeous Corinthian helmet with matching greaves (leg-armor), which would have been part of an elite warrior’s panoply, his personal armory.
The ancient Greeks had developed simple prehistorical helmet forms into a more complex construction. Clearly, from the dawn of human civilisation, helmets were already wrapped up in status and power. It is shaped as to depict the wearer’s hair, complete with centre-parting and man-bun, and has been theorised to represent the wearer’s status of the ‘King of Kish’ who ruled over both of the states of Sumer and Akkad. The electrum Helmet of Meskalamdug was found as part of a huge trove of Sumerian burial treasures, and it is likely one of the oldest surviving helmets. Archaeological excavations at the Sumerian city of Ur have turned up simple copper and copper-alloy skullcaps, which seem to be represented pretty faithfully in Sumerian art, such as on the military mosaic known as the Standard of Ur where they are shown as being held on with a chinstrap. Clearly, even the most ancient peoples realised that head injuries had a less-than-ideal effect on people in general, and that they should to be avoided if at all possible.
The earliest helmets that we have historical evidence for date from around the 26 th -century BCE, to the Mesopotamian cities of Sumer in modern-day Iraq. But fear ye not! If we approach the history of the medieval battle helmet from the beginning, building from first principles and charting the differing roles and statuses of various medieval helmets, you’ll be able to quickly narrow down exactly which helmet says what you want your re-enactment or LARP impression to say. Introduction: There is a boggling array of modern reproduction medieval helmets for sale.
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