The military belts of the equites. (original) (raw)
Related papers
In: Nosch, M.-L. (ed), Wearing the Cloak. Dressing the Soldier in Roman Times. Ancient Textiles Series vol. 10, Oxford (DressID).
A Theoretical Approach to Roman Military Belts
In: M. Sanader / A. Rendić-Miočević / D. Tončinić / I. Radman-Livaja (eds.), Proceedings of the XVIIth Roman Military Equipment Conference: Weapons and Military Equipment in a Funerary Context (XVII Roman Military Equipment Conference, Zagreb, 24th - 27th May, 2010), Zagreb, 2013, 317-326
In my paper I address the question of how we can define a set of decorated belt mounts as having originally belonged to a military belt. In Roman archaeology, the term military belt is often used for any belt decorated with elaborate metal mounts. But many finds of belt mounts are found without a military connection, e. g. in graves. How do we know if these are really military belts? In the paper, I attempt to define a theoretical model, which will function as a guideline for the allocation of belt mounts to the military.
Sharp dressed men: the Roman military belt as a fashion item. In: JRMES 18, 2017, 85-100
During the first three centuries, the Roman military belt underwent many transformations in its appearance. While it had to comply with some minimal functional requirements, the different belt decorations evolved in a system that had little to do with practicality or fighting techniques and quite a lot with fashion. This paper examines the different fashions in order to answer questions on the motivation for the various choices and whether they mirror social realities and social changes in the Roman army.
"Ringschnallencingulum"-type Belts from Apulum
SCRIPTA CLASSICA. Radu Ardevan sexagenario dedicata., 2011
Depictions of soldiers on 3rd century AD tombstones and sculptural representations reveal – given its predecessors – a different type of belt fashionable especially in the Danube region of the Roman Empire. This is about the so–called “Ringschnallencingulum” – a broad waist-belt fastened by a ring shaped buckle and tapering leather ends held in place by a fungiform stud on each side. This type of belt worn by soldiers and civilians as well seems to be the most common one registered in the 3rd century AD. Nonetheless, archaeological records are not that offering as long as – except the “Ringschnallencingulum” at Intercissa – there are few sets of belts produced by excavations. Systematically and rescue excavations carried out during the last century in the southern but especially in the northern necropolis from Apulum unearthed some burials containing personal military equipment fittings, i.e. the most popular “Ringschnallencingulum”-type. The important presence of the “Ringschnallencingulum”-type belts at Apulum, both in burials or as isolated items deposited to emphasize the relationship of the buried people with the Roman army even after their death, and on sculptural representations lead us to the conclusion that this is the greatest concentration of this type of belt not only in Dacia, but possibly among the other provinces of the Empire.
The Persian wars of the 3rd century and the origin of the ring buckle belt.
L. Vagalinski and N. Sharankov (eds.) Limes XXII. Proceedings of the 22nd International Congress of Roman Frontier Studies Ruse, Bulgaria, September 2012 (= Bulletin of the National Archaeological Institute XLII, 2015). Sofia: NIAM-BAS, 319-326., 2015
The Roman military belt was the distinguishing symbolic object visually setting the soldier apart from civilian men in Roman society and marking him as milites even when not wearing arms and armour. It kept this important function even after the sword was carried on the baldric from the 2nd century onwards. During the 3rd century, belt fashions suddenly introduced a different system of fasting the belt: the ring buckle. This fashion quickly spread to soldiers in all the regions of the Roman Empire and is depicted on a vast number of funerary monuments. The origin of this belt fashion has previously been assumed to lie in the German, Danubian or Sarmatian regions, but some evidence from reliefs in Iran now point towards the a different origin, namely the Persian armies. The emergence of this belt fashion in the 3rd century coincides with the commencement of large armed conflicts between Rome and the Persian Empire. This region was an almost constant theatre of war during the 3rd century, with large Roman armies gathering and coming into contact with the enemy, facilitating the transfer and exchange of belt fashions from the latter and among each other. In my paper, I would like to explore this connection and use it to try and refine the dating of the belt fashion. Another aim is to attempt a theoretical explanation of the process by which belt fashions were introduced and passed on in the Roman army.
ArhIn, 2016
In Romania, the presence of belts in graves dating back to the Middle Ages is currently a less debated subject within the field literature. With the exception of a few comments on the belt items discovered in treasuries and several other found in graves, there are no published studies for the chronologic interval of the 12th–15th centuries. There are only a few paragraphs, as part of larger articles, however referring especially to the previous period, namely 10th–11th centuries. For the period, we are dealing with, the topic of this dress accessory has been approached in some studies published in Southeastern Europe, especially in Hungary, Bulgaria and Serbia. The existence of belts in the graves is generally evidenced by the presence of the simple buckles (comprising a quite varied range of forms), the belt appliqués, the plate buckles and the belt flaps. These were used by various populations without representing a certain specific for any of them. Compared to the previous period when the number of graves containing belts with appliqués was slightly higher, one is able to observe their increasing rarity starting with the 12th century. Their discovery, especially in treasuries, associated with the fact that they were also represented in the iconography of the time, as for example in the mural painting in Crișcior church (depicting knez Bâlea), is proof that these belts began being used especially by the nobility or the boyars and the members of the ruling families. Due to their rarity and decoration by means of appliqués, we are able to demonstrate on one hand a more pronounced social stratification, and on the other hand a refinement in the taste of the elites and their financial means, high enough to acquire such items. While in the previous period, the burial containing belts decorated with appliqués was not unusual during the ritual practices, especially for the nomadic steppe populations, this custom almost disappeared starting with the 12th century and was only revived periodically as a consequence of the penetration of new waves or groups of nomadic populations arrived from the north of the Black Sea, especially the Cumans. The fact that the belts were only rarely deposited inside the graves can mean two things. Firstly, that their price was extremely high to be lost or left in a grave, and secondly, they were also a transferable rank insignia. The medieval documents contain specific information regarding, for example, the case of such a belt along with a tiara being the object of a litigation between two noblemen (namely Peter, son of Pavel de Remetea and Grigore de Chernech) from Caraș county. The litigation was presided by Nicolae Kont, the palatine of Hungary and judge of the Cumans, in 1364. The monetary values mentioned in the document for the tiara demonstrate the value of such an item and indirectly explain why they were not deposited inside the graves, but made the object of hoarding. Overall, we can say that the burial custom with belts with appliqués has at least two directions of penetration, the first from the North-Pontic space carried by the nomadic populations and the second from Central Europe. In both cases, however, their usage within funerary practices was gradually abandoned. So far, their presence inside the graves is observable by means of a few aspects. Firstly, they can be found in almost any type of cemetery, whether they are in the rural or the urban environment, with or without church, or in monastery cemeteries. Secondly, they were found both in children and adult graves. To these aspects, we must also add the fact that valuable items were found deposited inside the graves only in an exceptional manner, while the gold or silver items were generally hoarded.