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Lot Essay
The shimmering golden hue of this magnificent helmet indicates that it is formed from a type of Roman brass known as orichalcum. It features a domed form with a wide, flaring neck-guard, small ear protectors and a ridged browband attached to the perimeter with rivets. Three attachment slots, perhaps plume holders, are secured to the dome above the ears and neck-guard. Winged repoussé ornamentation, or eyebrows, adorn the front part of the dome. A similar winged motif is also present on the neck-guard, which features further hammered ridges at the nape of the neck, a carrying handle and several punched Latin inscriptions.
According to J. Pollini (op. cit., 2000, p. 169), this helmet is “of great interest and importance not only because it is a high-quality piece of armour, but also because of the several inscriptions on the neck-guard, which make it an important historical document. Although inscriptions can be found on various legionnaires’ helmets, this helmet is unique…because it mentions the names of four or five different owners as well as the names of four different centurions under whom these legionnaires served.” The punched inscriptions read: "Lucius Iunius Sabinus [serving in the centuria] of the Centurion Titus Sario [owns this helmet]"; "Gaius Iulius Pro...[serving in the centuria] of the Centurion Pollio [owns this helmet]"; "Marcus Antonius and Aturi(anus?) [both serving in the centuria] of the Centurion Titus Maximus [own this helmet]" and "Lucius Iunius [serving in the centuria] of the Centurion Calventius" [owns this helmet]."
As Pollini notes in his update of the chapter written for the Axel Guttmann volume (see “Römischer Legionärshelm, English Synopsis and Update,” academia.edu), there were at least two separate owners of this helmet because of the two different nomia, Iulius and Iunius, mentioned in the inscription. Pollini posits that if the first owner was a member of the Iulius clan, then at some point L. Iunius Sabinus came into possession of the helmet. “The new owner then added his own name and that of his commanding centurion. Later, when his commanding officer changed, he recorded the new centurion’s name and added his own name below. When his commanding centurion changed a third time, L. Iunius Sabinus merely repeated the process. Presumably, he recorded his name three times to avoid confusion with the helmet’s former owner, whose abbreviated name reads G. Iulius Pro and whose name had already been inscribed below that of his own centurion” (op. cit.).
Typologically, this helmet falls into the broad Weisenau categorization, popular during the 1st and 2nd centuries A.D., although the hinged handle is an element only added during the Flavian Period (for a discussion of the type, see pp. 114-121 in R. D’Amato, Arms and Armour of the Roman Imperial Soldier). More specifically, the helmet can be placed in H.R. Robinson's "Imperial Gallic" Type I, a rare classification dated more narrowly to the second half of the 1st century A.D., based on the presence of the repoussé eyebrows and attachment slots (see The Armour of Imperial Rome, p. 58 and Pollini, op. cit., 2000, p. 178). For a closely related helmet, perhaps from the same workshop, see fig 5.12 in J. Nicolay, Armed Batavians: Use and Significance of Weaponry and Horse Gear from Non-military Contexts in the Rhine Delta (50 BC to AD 450).
Determining the origin of this helmet is difficult. While the name Calventius is recorded a few times in northern Italy, the majority of examples come from the Balkans and surrounding areas of the Roman Empire (see Pollini, op. cit., 2000, pp. 177, 180). Given the dating of the type and the possible Balkan origin of this helmet, Pollini speculates that it was fabricated in the last quarter of the 1st century A.D., and that its first owner could have served during the reign of Emperor Domitian (81-96 A.D.). At this time, battles were fought against the Dacians and Pannonians near the Black Sea. The final victory over the Dacians did not come until Emperor Trajan’s campaigns of the early 2nd century, as commemorated on Trajan’s Column in Rome, erected between 107-113 A.D. Soldiers wearing helmets similar to the present example can be seen on that triumphal column (see A. Negin, "Roman helmets with a browband shaped as a vertical fronton," Historia i Świat, no. 4, 2015, p. 38).
According to J. Pollini (op. cit., 2000, p. 169), this helmet is “of great interest and importance not only because it is a high-quality piece of armour, but also because of the several inscriptions on the neck-guard, which make it an important historical document. Although inscriptions can be found on various legionnaires’ helmets, this helmet is unique…because it mentions the names of four or five different owners as well as the names of four different centurions under whom these legionnaires served.” The punched inscriptions read: "Lucius Iunius Sabinus [serving in the centuria] of the Centurion Titus Sario [owns this helmet]"; "Gaius Iulius Pro...[serving in the centuria] of the Centurion Pollio [owns this helmet]"; "Marcus Antonius and Aturi(anus?) [both serving in the centuria] of the Centurion Titus Maximus [own this helmet]" and "Lucius Iunius [serving in the centuria] of the Centurion Calventius" [owns this helmet]."
As Pollini notes in his update of the chapter written for the Axel Guttmann volume (see “Römischer Legionärshelm, English Synopsis and Update,” academia.edu), there were at least two separate owners of this helmet because of the two different nomia, Iulius and Iunius, mentioned in the inscription. Pollini posits that if the first owner was a member of the Iulius clan, then at some point L. Iunius Sabinus came into possession of the helmet. “The new owner then added his own name and that of his commanding centurion. Later, when his commanding officer changed, he recorded the new centurion’s name and added his own name below. When his commanding centurion changed a third time, L. Iunius Sabinus merely repeated the process. Presumably, he recorded his name three times to avoid confusion with the helmet’s former owner, whose abbreviated name reads G. Iulius Pro and whose name had already been inscribed below that of his own centurion” (op. cit.).
Typologically, this helmet falls into the broad Weisenau categorization, popular during the 1st and 2nd centuries A.D., although the hinged handle is an element only added during the Flavian Period (for a discussion of the type, see pp. 114-121 in R. D’Amato, Arms and Armour of the Roman Imperial Soldier). More specifically, the helmet can be placed in H.R. Robinson's "Imperial Gallic" Type I, a rare classification dated more narrowly to the second half of the 1st century A.D., based on the presence of the repoussé eyebrows and attachment slots (see The Armour of Imperial Rome, p. 58 and Pollini, op. cit., 2000, p. 178). For a closely related helmet, perhaps from the same workshop, see fig 5.12 in J. Nicolay, Armed Batavians: Use and Significance of Weaponry and Horse Gear from Non-military Contexts in the Rhine Delta (50 BC to AD 450).
Determining the origin of this helmet is difficult. While the name Calventius is recorded a few times in northern Italy, the majority of examples come from the Balkans and surrounding areas of the Roman Empire (see Pollini, op. cit., 2000, pp. 177, 180). Given the dating of the type and the possible Balkan origin of this helmet, Pollini speculates that it was fabricated in the last quarter of the 1st century A.D., and that its first owner could have served during the reign of Emperor Domitian (81-96 A.D.). At this time, battles were fought against the Dacians and Pannonians near the Black Sea. The final victory over the Dacians did not come until Emperor Trajan’s campaigns of the early 2nd century, as commemorated on Trajan’s Column in Rome, erected between 107-113 A.D. Soldiers wearing helmets similar to the present example can be seen on that triumphal column (see A. Negin, "Roman helmets with a browband shaped as a vertical fronton," Historia i Świat, no. 4, 2015, p. 38).