![]() ![]() The Anglo-Saxons were fantastic artists and there is no better example of their armourers’ skill than the famous Sutton Hoo helmet. Now we move into the medieval period and Anglo-Saxon England. If the gladiators died too quickly, the crowd would not be satisfied! These helmets are works of art intended to dazzle, but also to protect. When they clashed, you can bet the crowd was baying for blood! During the early Empire, these two were the most common pairing in combat. Both helmets are big and could be very elaborate with scenes embossed on them. ![]() Two of my favourite gladiatorial helmets are the murmillo (a sort of sea creature) and the thraex (or Thracian). But they didn’t wear masks, they wore elaborate helmets. Gladiators were slaves, but they were also showman, and some reached unprecedented heights of popularity, almost as high as the charioteers of Rome.īecause it was a show, the gladiators played the roles of mythological beasts or ferocious, long-defeated enemies from past campaigns. Some of the most enduring images of ancient Rome that we have are of gladiatorial combat in the amphitheatre. They also enjoyed it on a Saturday afternoon, just for fun! ![]() The Romans didn’t just like violence on the battlefield. Also, in the Mediterranean heat during the summer campaign season, it would have been hot! 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. 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. These were made of bronze and would have been great at deflecting, spear thrusts, sword swings, and whizzing arrows. It was used for several centuries, sometimes with a crest, sometimes without. To me, this is a supremely beautiful helmet, my favourite for looks. When it comes to ancient Greece, the helmet that most people imagine is the Corinthian helmet. It would have taken a lot of dead boar to make these helmets! And don’t kid yourself, boar’s tusk is hard and could have deflected a glancing bronze blade. This isn’t quite what we imagine when reading Homer, but this helmet was what would have been used. One of the most interesting finds from Mycenaean Greece is the boar’s tusk helmet (pictured above). We’re going to start in the Mycenaean period and work our way into the late Middle Ages. The following helmets are a sample of my personal favourites over time. After all, if you lose your head in battle, well, you’re pretty much finished. 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. Arms and armour have evolved a great deal in design, the metals used, and the weapons they were meant to protect the wearer against. In a world of violence, when the threat of battle was very real, warriors needed to protect themselves. However, warfare has produced, to my mind, some of the most interesting, beautiful and utilitarian art that I have ever seen. It’s also a part of human existence that will, sadly, not go away. Warfare, no matter how romanticized, is awful. 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.Īncient and medieval warfare has always been a focus throughout my studies. 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 was mesmerized by the images of broad swords and gothic armour, the shields, the lines, and the hack marks from various weapons. I remember getting a used book called The Art of Chivalry, which I flipped through over and over again. Some of the very first things that interested me in history as a young boy were weapons and armour.īoys will be boys, and so it’s no surprise that this is what drew me into the ancient and medieval worlds. ![]()
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