Ancient and Medieval Helmets – Utility and Beauty through the Ages

Mycenaean Boar's Tusk

Some of the very first things that interested me in history as a young boy were weapons and armour.
Boys will be boys, and so it’s no surprise that this is what drew me into the ancient and medieval worlds.

I remember getting a used book called The Art of Chivalry, which I flipped through over and over again. I was mesmerized by the images of broad swords and gothic armour, the shields, the lines, and the hack marks from various weapons.

Over time, I began to look past the shell of that armour, the cool brutality of those weapons, to the reasons behind their creation. I learned more about the warrior code over the ages, the path that lead to the ideal of chivalry that we would come to know so well in medieval romance.

Crested Corinthian helmet replica

Ancient and medieval warfare has always been a focus throughout my studies. I wanted to know why people fought. Warfare, no matter how romanticized, is awful. It’s also a part of human existence that will, sadly, not go away.

However, warfare has produced, to my mind, some of the most interesting, beautiful and utilitarian art that I have ever seen.

In a world of violence, when the threat of battle was very real, warriors needed to protect themselves. Arms and armour have evolved a great deal in design, the metals used, and the weapons they were meant to protect the wearer against.

Today, I wanted to take a look at the helmet over the ages because it, more than most other bits of armour, seems to have changed the most. After all, if you lose your head in battle, well, you’re pretty much finished.

The following helmets are a sample of my personal favourites over time. We’re going to start in the Mycenaean period and work our way into the late Middle Ages.

Marching to Troy

One of the most interesting finds from Mycenaean Greece is the boar’s tusk helmet (pictured above). This isn’t quite what we imagine when reading Homer, but this helmet was what would have been used. And don’t kid yourself, boar’s tusk is hard and could have deflected a glancing bronze blade. It would have taken a lot of dead boar to make these helmets!

Golden Age Head Gear 

Conrinthian Helmet

When it comes to ancient Greece, the helmet that most people imagine is the Corinthian helmet. To me, this is a supremely beautiful helmet, my favourite for looks. It was used for several centuries, sometimes with a crest, sometimes without. These were made of bronze and would have been great at deflecting, spear thrusts, sword swings, and whizzing arrows.

I’ve tried on this helmet at re-enactor fairs and I must say that this is a comfortable helmet that does indeed rest easily on the top of the head. Hey, if it’s good enough for the goddess Athena, it’s good enough for me! The one downside of the Corinthian helmet is that it would have been difficult to hear everything that was going on because there were no holes for the ears. Also, in the Mediterranean heat during the summer campaign season, it would have been hot!

Hellenistic Heroes 

When you get to the time of Alexander the Great and the successors, they begin to add a bit more pizazz to their headgear. Alexander would have had special helmets outfitted just for him, made to look like a lion head which you can see on the coins.

But the regular infantry had a much simpler helmet that had better vision and hearing than the previous age’s Corinthian favourite. There were a few types of helmet from this period, but this one would be my pick for something more utilitarian.

Men of the Roman War Machine

Imperial Gallic with crest

The Romans knew their warfare and their weapons. They also knew how to adapt, and how to adopt when they saw a good thing.

By far, my favourite Roman helmet has to be the Imperial Gallic helmet. If you look closely at the design, it makes perfect sense. They thought of everything – good vision and hearing for the legionary, protection for the back of the neck from downward slashes by those Celts, a visor in the front for the same thing, and massive cheek pieces that protected the side of the face without hindering vision.

This was a warrior’s helmet, and it was worn by tribunes, centurions, optios, and regular troops. A crest could also be attached depending on the rank of the person wearing it. But regular legionaries wore it without decoration and just went at it with the enemy in front of them. This is my pick for most utilitarian!

Centurion's helmet with
transverse crest

Imperial Gallic legionary issue helmet

Gladiator Games

The Romans didn’t just like violence on the battlefield. They also enjoyed it on a Saturday afternoon, just for fun!

Some of the most enduring images of ancient Rome that we have are of gladiatorial combat in the amphitheatre. Gladiators were slaves, but they were also showman, and some reached unprecedented heights of popularity, almost as high as the charioteers of Rome.

Thraex helmet

Because it was a show, the gladiators played the roles of mythological beasts or ferocious, long-defeated enemies from past campaigns. But they didn’t wear masks, they wore elaborate helmets. Two of my favourite gladiatorial helmets are the murmillo (a sort of sea creature) and the thraex (or Thracian). Both helmets are big and could be very elaborate with scenes embossed on them. During the early Empire, these two were the most common pairing in combat. When they clashed, you can bet the crowd was baying for blood!

Murmillo helmet

These helmets are works of art intended to dazzle, but also to protect. If the gladiators died too quickly, the crowd would not be satisfied!







Horse Warriors

Whereas the men of the Legions had solid functional helmets when they went into battle, the cavalry alae of the Empire went in for something a bit more dashing and terrifying.

There is a lot of differentiation among the auxiliary units attached to the Legions because many of them were not Roman, and brought their own cultural style to the mix.

However, my favourite cavalry helmets are those with masks attached. They're ornate on top, often with mythological scenes or beasts, and then have a mask of the same metal protecting the wearer but also striking fear into the enemies they were riding down.

There is some debate as to whether or not the actual masks were used only for demonstrations or parade, that they were perhaps removed for actual battle. But it's not entirely unlikely that they were not worn into battle. After all, some medieval helmets, as we shall see, provided much less visibility than a masked Roman cavalry helmet.

Getting Medieval 

The Sutton Hoo helmet

Now we move into the medieval period and Anglo-Saxon England. The Anglo-Saxons were fantastic artists and there is no better example of their armourers’ skill than the famous Sutton Hoo helmet.

In the late 1930s, archaeologists excavated two sixth and seventh century ship burials which contained some wonderful artefacts that have come to define the height of Anglo-Saxon artwork. The helmet that was discovered at Sutton Hoo possibly belonged to Raedwald, the ruler of the Kingdom of East Anglia.

We can see similarities with the Roman helmets in that it has cheek pieces and a neck guard at the back, as well as a face mask. But this helmet is much more ornate with various beasts displayed on it, with gold and gemstones. Whether Raedwald, or another, wore this in battle is doubtful, but it was meant to make a statement that the wearer stood out from the rest.

This was the king’s helmet!

Sutton Hoo Helmet recreation
Anglo-Saxon art at its best

Those Norman Invaders 

Bayeux Tapestry

1066 is a year that many of you will be familiar with. This is the year that William the Conqueror and his Norman army invaded England and killed the last Saxon King, Harold, at the Battle of Hastings. The Normans changed the face of England, some might say not for the best.

But they were a fighting force to be reckoned with. And their arms and armour reflect a more functional, militaristic culture that is immortalized in the Bayeux Tapestry.

When I think of the Normans, I think of kite shields, chain mail, and the conical helmet. This may not be the most dashing or even protective of warlike head gear, but its silhouette is unmistakably Norman. It was basically two bits of steel held together by a spine with a big nose guard. That’s it. There was no neck protection unless chain mail was attached to the lower rim, and the face was exposed apart from the nose. It would have had great visibility and some deflective traits because of it pointed shape. It would not be my pick for personal use, but I’ve included it because there’s just something about it.

The Cross and the Crescent 

The Crusades figured largely in my study of medieval warfare, and so it is no surprise that the one helmet from the time that should be included here is the medieval ‘Great Helm’.

This cylindrical helmet would have been worn over a chain mail headpiece, or coif, and was the standard for most knights going on Crusade to the Holy Land. Designs by way of the puncture holes for breathing varied, but they were all big with narrow eye slits and cross-like seems on the face.

I really like the look of this helmet but I can imagine that in the heat of Palestine, it would have felt like being in an oven. Furthermore, because the ears were covered, and because of the box-like structure of the Great Helm, the echo inside must have been insane in the thick of battle.

When I see this helmet, I also tend to think of Monty Python and the Search for the Holy Grail. ‘None shall pass!’



I’ll see you in the Lists! 

If gladiators were the entertainment of the Roman world, jousting was the equivalent of the Middle Ages.

From the time I was a boy, this is what I was drawn to. Two knights in armour careening toward each other with their lances couched. I could see their horses’ trappings fluttering as they came closer and closer and then the tremendous impact of splintered lances and shattered shields.

Fantastic! But wow, so dangerous. Tourney knights may have donned colourful ribbons and head dresses for the tilt, but there were certainly not wussies. These guys were tough as nails!

And they did this with little to no visibility! The tourney helms were thick and heavy and were intended to deflect a lance point at speed. It must have been absolutely suffocating inside one of those.

But how imposing they looked, how fantastic with the colourful tourney crests affixed on the top. I think of the knights who took the tourney circuit, and the ladies, by storm. Men such as William Marshall or Ulrich von Lichtenstein (not Heath Ledger, the real one!), made a name for themselves in the European lists and helped to shape the chivalric ideals we see in art and story.

Ulrich von Lichtenstein

Re-enactor with crested tourney helm.

Going out with a Gothic Bang 

Some of the most complete and beautiful armour ever comes from the late middle ages and was, in large part, a reaction to new weapons technology, namely firearms.

This was really the last hurrah for full armour and helmets that matched beauty with defensive intent. We know it as Gothic armour, and there are plenty of well-preserved examples in museums and castles around the world where you can get up close and personal with it.

There are many styles but they all share one thing in common: they seek to encase the wearer as much as possible against sword, mace, axe, arrow, and of course firearm shots.

Early firearms were notoriously inaccurate, but knights would have been extremely vulnerable when charging into spray from a bunch of arm cannons. The English longbows at Agincourt and Crécy destroyed the French knights, and this just took things one unfortunate step further.

The Gothic age of helmets and armour in general is a bit of a swan song.

Warfare had changed and the sight of fully armed knights tilting on battlefields such as Bosworth was soon to become a thing of the past, a thing of romance. Perhaps it is fitting that this was some of the most beautiful, functional armour all rolled into one. It was indeed the end of an age.

Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth 1485

End of an Age 

This was by no means an exhaustive list of each era in history. These were just a few of my favourite pieces, and there were likely variations on each of them.

I have always felt very strongly that the invention of gun powder was a low point in human and military history. It meant that any coward could pick up a gun and, from a distance, take down the most skilled, well-trained warrior without breaking a sweat. It meant that the scale of casualties would increase. It is something we feel painfully to this day.

A lot of people might disagree with that. They might say that guns are the great leveller.

But somehow, in an age of cold black steel and bullets, I don’t really think we’ll hear about heroes like Hector or Achilles meeting face to face. Alexander won’t be charging King Porus’ elephant on Bucephalas any time soon. The Spartan shield wall is lost to history and the lists of medieval Europe are long silent but for a few scattered bands of Renaissance Festival enthusiasts.

But the art of war does remain, and it serves of a reminder of the past and the reasons for it.

Next time you are at a replica shop, re-enactor fair, or Renaissance festival, be sure to slip an ancient or medieval helmet replica over your head. You’ll be taking one step closer to understanding and feeling the past.

Thank you for reading.

Londinium Resurrected

Londinium - Artist's Impression

This has been a truly exciting week. 

In my off time I’m constantly scouring the web for articles and videos on the latest archaeological and historical discoveries and theories. When I stumbled upon the news from London on the BBC website, I was totally blown away.

Our knowledge of Roman London, or Londinium, has increased exponentially of late with excavations at a site along Queen Victoria Street. This was the heart of Roman Londinium. The site has been dubbed the ‘Pompeii of the North’ due to the fantastic preservation of the finds.

How many finds? Ten thousand, to be precise. At least that’s the number that’s being given out. It could be more.

But Roman London wasn’t always the massive metropolis we know it as today. In fact, after Emperor Claudius’ invasion c. 43 A.D. Camulodunum (modern Colchester) was the administrative capital of the province.

Londinium was established roughly about the same year and by about 50 A.D. was a civitas, a civilian settlement.

Artist's Impression of Queen Boudicca

Then came Boudicca, Queen of the Iceni, who destroyed a Roman legion sent against her from Lincoln and set Camulodunum and Londinium aflame around 60 A.D. As many of the structures were likely made of wattle and daub, the fires would have been devastating. Here is a video on how structures in Roman London were made.

In the wake of the bloody Boudiccan revolt and the defeat of the tribes by General Paulinus, Londinium was rebuilt as a proper, planned Roman town and in a short time became bigger than Camulodunum.

At its peak in the early 2^nd century A.D., Londinium covered over 350 acres of land. Much of the buildings of this period were constructed for the Emperor Hadrian’s visit to the province and the town which was now the administrative capital of Britannia.

Londinium was later rendered more defensible between 190 and 255 A.D. when the Romans built the ‘London Wall’. This defensive work was 20 feet high, 8 feet thick and stretched for 3 miles. Some believe that it was begun by the Governor Clodius Albinus at the end of the 2^nd century when civil war broke out between him and the future emperor, Septimius Severus.

Excavations in London

These most recent excavations have yielded some pretty amazing finds that will expand upon our knowledge of Londinium and the picture we have of it.

This is exciting for the historic novelist as well. These are the sorts of things that can add detail to the world of a novel. The finds include writing tablets with the ink still legible, charms and talismans, a wooden door, the remains of timber buildings and yards, clothing, an ornate dish set, and ornate pieces of leather work. BBC has posted a slide show of some of the more beautiful finds HERE.

Also uncovered were part of a lost Londinium riverbed, entire streets of with complex Roman drainage systems, and part of a previously unexcavated section of a temple of Mithras. Part of this temple was discovered in 2010 during a previous dig. You can read that article HERE.

Find from the site

It will be interesting to see how and if the finds change the current maps we have of Roman Londinium and I, for one, am looking forward to getting up close to some of the finds. Someday at least.

London is one of those fantastic places where one can walk upon layers of civilization. Thank goodness there are strict laws in place that allow for excavations to be completed before building projects are allowed to continue. If these laws were not in place our historical record would be much the poorer.

Sadly, when Rome left the British to their own defences in the early 5^th century A.D. Londinium went  into decline. By the end of the 5^th century there were almost no residents.

Amber charm in the shape of
a gladiator's helmet

That’s why excavations and the finds that come out of them are so important. They can fill the gaps in our knowledge and preserve the historical record. These can also inform fiction which is, in my opinion, one of the best ways to resurrect and ancient city. 

Up for a bit of fun? Try the Museum of London's online game: LONDINIUM

IMMORTUI – Fighting the Undead: Roman Weapons

Salve!

This is the first post in a short series that will be looking at some aspects of the world of IMMORTUI, Part I in the Carpathian Interlude series of novellas.

When Optio Gaius Justus Vitalis and his men set out to confront legions of zombies in a dark valley of the Carpathian mountains, there is one thing that really enables the Romans to hold their own: weapons.

The Roman army was one of the most disciplined, well-organized and well-armed fighting forces of the ancient world and their weaponry evolved over time as they adopted the best from each nation they conquered.

In IMMORTUI, I have tried to use the Latin names for all the weapons and articles of clothing. After all, this is a story, not a history lesson! However, for those of you who may not be familiar with the world and weapons of ancient Rome, here is a crash course in case you ever find yourself facing down legions of undead.

Pompeii style Gladius

First, and most importantly, is the gladius. This is the Roman soldier’s (legionary’s) sword. The word ‘gladiator’ is derived from this word. This weapon has been called the ‘meat-cleaver’ of the ancient world because of its brutal efficiency. It was primarily a stabbing weapon, worn on the soldier’s right side. The style varied slightly from the Republic to the Empire but the effect for each was the same. The gladius was indeed an extremely deadly weapon.

In the ancient world, shields were of primary importance for defending the bearer against all manner of attacks from arrows and sling stones, to cavalry charges and a rush of roaring Celts. The Roman legionary’s shield was called a scutum. This was a very large, heavy rectangular or oblong shield with a large boss in the middle that could be used to smash the face of an attacker. It would protect more than half of a soldier standing up, and was used to great effect in military formations such as the tustudo, or tortoise formation.

Scutum

Pila

What ancient warrior’s kit would be complete without a spear? The Roman solider’s spear was called a pilum. This differed from the spears of the ancient Greek hoplite in that it was much lighter and could be used only once. It was however, very effective at piercing armour and flesh because of its fine point. A hail of these was truly deadly and was the Romans’ first offensive weapon after artillery. And, once thrown, it could not be picked up by the enemy and thrown back due to the special design that ensured the tip broke off or bent upon impact making it useless. 

For an optio, like Gaius Justus Vitalis in IMMORTUI, a hastile was carried instead of a pilum. The hastile was a staff carried by that particular rank of officer and though it was symbolic of his rank it could also be used as a weapon if need be.

Optio carrying hastile

When the fighting inevitably came to close quarter combat, and pila and gladii were spent or lost, the Roman dagger called a pugio was what was called for. This blade, apart from having practical uses such as cutting meat or sharpening a stake, this could be thrust into the side of an enemy when he came too close for comfort. The pugio was worn at the soldier’s left side, secured tightly at the waist for a quick and easy draw.

So there you have it! These are the main weapons of a Roman legionary which they would carry with themselves on the march and into battle. They would never leave his side whether he was sleeping or digging ditches and ramparts at the end of the day.

Roman Pugio

The question you have to ask yourself is whether these weapons, honed and perfected over centuries of use, would be enough to defeat an enemy that feels neither pain nor fear, an enemy that will keep coming at you until you do one thing…

Well, you will have to read IMMORTUI to find out.

Tune in next week for the second post on the world if IMMORTUI in which we will look at Roman armour and clothing.

Legionaries in 'Testudo' formation

Sterling - Gateway to the Highlands

Stirling Castle

It has been some time since I have written a post that focuses on a particular site and so I shall now remedy that with a little bit on Sterling, Scotland. 

When I first moved to Scotland for graduate work several years ago, one of my first foray without the walls of St. Andrews was to Stirling, just a few miles to the west of Edinburgh. It was some time in early November, the hills having gone from green and heather-clad to gold and brown with a smattering of deep green. For those who like history, this is a place well worth the visit. 

Stirling has been a settlement since the Stone Age but really took on its strategic importance from the time of the first Roman incursions into the area in the late first century A.D. It was a part of the Antonine Wall, which predated Hadrian's Wall, and was Rome's first major frontier in Britannia. Indeed, Sterling was the closest crossing point of the River Forth near the mouth of the river. For the Romans, it also anchored the south western end of the Gask Ridge which consisted of a string of Roman forts that ran roughly Northeast of Sterling all the way to modern Perth which lay south of the legionary fortress of Inchtuthill. 

Wallace Monument with the Highlands beyond

For this post however, I wanted to look beyond the classical period to a couple sites that are tied more to the Medieval era. In popular culture the mention of Stirling conjures images of the movie Braveheart in which Mel Gibson's William Wallace smashes Edward I's armies until the Scot is eventually captured. Despite some historical inaccuracies in the film, it was still a fantastic retelling of the story. Always good to see an historical epic win the Oscar!

But Stirling was indeed a place of battle, as portrayed in the movie, due to its strategic importance as the gateway to the Highlands; whoever controlled Stirling's castle rock controlled the flow of traffic. If you visit, Stirling Castle should be your first destination. It is extremely well-preserved, the great hall having undergone a restoration shortly before I visited there myself. When standing upon the walls of Stirling Castle one really has a magnificent view of the entire region in all directions. One of the most stunning views is of the 19th century Wallace Monument with the backdrop of the Highlands behind. This Victorian era folly rises dramatically to pierce the sky and if you have the legs for its spiraling staircase, you will have the benefit of yet another magnificent view. If you are a Mel Gibson fan, you will have a chuckle at the statue of William Wallace bearing the actor's visage. Why not?

Robert the Bruce - Bannockburn

After you visit the castle and Wallace Monument you should definitely head to the museum and field of Bannockburn. Here you will be treated to a wonderful interpretive display where you can even try on a bit of armour before you head out onto a supposed part of the battlefield where Robert the Bruce led the Scots to victory against the English in the year 1314. There is a wonderfully dramatic equestrian statue of Robert the Bruce on the battle field which you can check out, battle axe and all. Actually, Bannockburn has been in the headlines lately due to new archaeological excavations that have been underway to determine the precise location of the fighting which may have ranged over a wide area. You can read more here.

Stirling Bridge is there as well, the place where Wallace fought one of his major battles in the first war of Scottish independence, on September 11, 1297. Though the current bridge is made of stone, the fourteenth century crossing would have been made of wood. The bridge was only wide enough to allow two horseman to cross abreast at a time and the English, on the day, made slow progress. When part of the English army had crossed, the Scots swept down from their high ground near the area of Wallace Monument and utterly crushed the English. It was a battle to send shock waves throughout both realms. 

Stirling Bridge

Modern Stirling has a current population of no more than ninety thousand people. However, this was a place where history was made, where kingdoms rose and where they fell. In one day, you can walk from the Stone Age to the Roman Empire, relive major battles of the medieval world, visit Renaissance palaces and gardens and top it off with a visit to a Victorian jail. If ever you do have the opportunity, a visit to Sterling is definitely worth the journey.