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477
__.4
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MICHAELB. CHARLES
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479
is that metope XXVIII (6) shows what appears to be a mounted senior officer,
whose face has been badly eroded, riding down a Dacian foe. The equestrian
figure seems to wear a scale cuirass (not mail as one scholar has suggested)"l of
a similar cut to that worn by Trajan on metope XXXVI (32), a double-tiered
skirt of pteryges, and what appears to be a paludamentum trailing behind. This
combination is seen elsewhere.12 Given that the vignette closely resembles
contemporary victory coinage, and the scene of the emperor galloping over his
enemies on the Frieze, it would not be unreasonable to argue, as do Rossi and
others,13 that the officer may be Trajan himself.14
The identity of the emperor's two guards on the metope in question is not so
easy to divine. Let us first examine their appearance. Both men are equipped in
identical fashion. They carry large oval-shaped shields with no device, and
wear the mail cuirass or lorica hamata - the deeply drilled surface which is
usually indicative of this cuirass-style in Roman sculpture can be clearly seen
above the shields. Unfortunately, the size of the shields precludes a view of the
accoutrements worn over the cuirass, and, in particular, it is impossible to
determine the size of the sword. A gladius would suggest that the troops are
infantry, while the appearance of the longer spatha might indicate that they
11 Rossi, Reassessment(as in n. 1) 61-62. Individualscales, stitched in rows to a leather
jerkin, can be clearly seen on this metope. Strobel, Untersuchungen(as in n. 3) 38,
correctlyidentifies this cuirassas "Schuppenpanzer"
ratherthanKettenpanzer.
12 Aside from metope XXXVI (32) and imperialportraitson a handfulof coins, it was not
until the second half of the thirdcenturythatgeneralswere regularlyseen in a versionof
the lorica squamata.Manyof these cuirassesare incrediblytight-fitting,e.g. those on the
Great Ludovisi Sarcophagus,now found in the Museo Nazionale, Rome (see R.B.
Bandinelli, Rome: The Late Empire. Roman Art A.D. 200-400, trans. P. Green [New York
1971] pi. 54). Other examples, however, are of a rathermore expected shape, e.g. a
representationof the emperorBalbinus(A.D. 238) (B. Andreae,Art [as in n. 81 fig. 596),
and representationsof mounted hunterson sarcophagifrom the mid-thirdcentury (B.
Andreae,Art [as in n. 8] figs 588, 590). The cuirassof Balbinusand those of the hunters
are of the same size as the shortercavalryversion of the muscle cuirass.Worthyof note,
too, is thatthe late-Latinpoet Claudianmakesreferenceto Honoriusauro squameusat IV.
Cons. Hon. 523-524. On this theme, see M.B. Charles, "ImperialCuirasses in Latin
Verse: FromAugustusto the Fall of the West",AC 73 (2004) forthcoming.
13 Rossi, Trajan's Column (as in n. 1) 61; and id., "A Synoptic Outlook of Adamklissi
Metopes and Trajan'sColumnFrieze:Factualand FancifulTopics Revisited",Athenaeum 85 (1997) 480. Strobel, Untersuchungen(as in n. 3) 236, concurs. Florescu,Siegesdenkmal(as in n. 1) 490-491, citing earlier literature,calls the mounted figure "Idler
Kaiser".Cf. Richmond,Trajan'sArmy(as in n. 1) 48, who thinks that the figure is not
Trajanbut simply"anofficer".On this metope,see also Strobel,Untersuchungen(as in n.
3) 236 and n. 33.
14 BMC, Trajan833-836, pls. 31.2-31.5; RIC II, pi. 10, no. 183; and M. Kemkes, "Politische Propagandazur Zeit Trajansim Spiegel der Munzenund historischenReliefs", in
Schallmayer(ed.), Traian(as in n. 1) 129, Abb. 1. The emperorwears the infantry-style
muscle cuirasson both the coins and the Frieze.
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MICHAEL
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CHARLES
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481
City (Oxford 2000), 92, see M.B. Charles, "FurtherThoughts on the Flavio-Trajanic
miles: UnarmouredGuardsmenon the Column?",Latomus63 (2004) forthcoming.
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MICHAELB. CHARLES
ingly all the combatant citizen infantry on Trajan's Column, some of whom
must surely be Praetorians, carry the familiar tile-shaped scutum, even if this
shield does sometimes appearin the distorted form of a sub-oval.26On the other
hand, undecorated oval shields with a small, round umbo, though usually not
quite so large, are often associated with cavalry figures.27 The shape of the
soldiers' shields, then, offers no real indication of the figures' identity, and the
lack of any distinguishing device on the shield is a source of furtherfrustration.
The curvature or otherwise of the shields is perhaps more important. It is
generally assumed thatTrajaniclegionaries and Praetoriansused convex shields,
while flat shields were the mark of the auxiliary pedes or cavalryman. This
arrangement is preserved on Trajan's Column. Now the shield of the soldier
next to the emperor directly faces the viewer, for the umbo appears in the
middle. From this angle, it is difficult to assess whether the shield was meant to
be curved. Yet, on the shield of his comrade, the umbo appears markedly offcentre, which may indicate that the shield is supposed to be slightly convex. But
this cannot be said with any great certainty, and one cannot be sure if this
feature was intentional or the result of artistic laxity. That the cuirasses are
made of mail also helps us little. If Trajan's Column is used as a guide, we
would have little choice but to assign auxiliary status to the troops in question the oval shield, lorica hamata andfeminalia are all associated with the auxiliary
infantry on the Column's spiral frieze. Bennett seems to have favoured this line
of reasoning,28as does Rossi in one of his articles on the Tropaeum.29But it has
become increasingly clear that the rigid visual dichotomy employed on the
Column between a) legionaries and Praetorians,and b) regular auxiliary infan26
27
28
29
On the distorted appearance of many of the rectangular shields on the Column, see J.C.N.
Coulston, "The Value of Trajan's Column as a Source for Military Equipment", in C. van
Driel-Murray (ed.), Roman Military Equipment: The Sources of Evidence. Proceedings of
the Fifth Roman Military Equipment Conference, BAR International Series 476 (Oxford
1985) 33.
e.g. the shield of a trooper leading his horse, whom Speidel identifies as a "guardsman", is
seen on a Roman gravestone (see Speidel, Riding for Caesar las in n. 5] 64 and pl. 7).
Reconstructions of fragments of shield covers from Valkenburg (the Netherlands) are
oval in shape and have a central hole through which a small, circular umbo could project.
See W. Groenman-van Waateringe, "Valkenburg ZHI: Fabrica or Praetorium?", in V.A.
Maxfield/M.J. Dobson (eds.), Roman Frontier Studies 1989: Proceedings of the XVth
International Congress (Exeter 1991) 181-182 and fig. 29.2; C. van Driel-Murray/M.
Gechter, "Funde aus der fabrica der legio I Minervia am Bonner Berg", Rheinische
Ausgrabungen 23 (1983) 31-32 and fig. 7; and K. Dixon/P. Southern, The Roman
Cavalry: From the First to the Third Century AD (London 1992) 46-47 and figs 15-16.
Of course, it is impossible to tell if the shields protected by such covers belonged to
infantry or cavalry. Shield-covers from Bonner Berg may also have had an oval form. On
this, see van Driel-Murray/Gechter, Funde, 34-35 and fig. 9.
Bennett, Trajan (as in n. I) pi. 8A.
Rossi, Reassessment (as in n. 1) 63: "two ?auxiliaries with oval shields".
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483
try owes more to stylistic and political considerations than to any attempt to
reflect actuality. This is not to say, of course, that the dichotomy was not
broadly representative of the equipment used by some citizen troops and some
auxiliaries.
As the Adamklissi metopes demonstrate, legionaries, i.e. those soldiers
with convex scuta, could wear both mail and scale cuirasses. Thus we are
presented with a furtherimpasse. Finally, the paragnathides or cheek-pieces of
the badly weathered helmets, in addition to the shields, do not appear to carry
the scorpio emblem. Not a few scholars have seen the scorpion as a Praetorian
motif on other sculptural works (especially the Great TrajanicFrieze),30 though
this association, as Leander Touati points out, should not be beyond question.31
Other notable examples of the scorpio's appearance in a military context are a
private funeraryrelief from Puteoli (modem Pozzuoli),32 an example of Caligulan adlocutio coinage,33 and a coin depicting an adlocutio scene from the brief
reign of Galba.34Other blazons that can be associated with the Praetorians
include swirling vine-tendril motifs,35 and the familiar winged-thunderbolt
design with crescent moons and stars.36Still, even if the motifs discussed above
31 On the associationof the scorpio motif with the Guard,see J.C.N. Coulston,"'Armedand
Belted Men"' (as in n. 25) 92; P. Couissin, Armes romaines (as in n. 23) 448; Durry,
Cohortespretoriennes(as in n. 22) 205, 213; H. Kahler,"Der Trajansbogenin Puteoli",
in G.E. Mylona (ed.), Studies Presented to David Moore Robinson on his Seventieth
Birthday I (St. Louis 1951) 432; L. Keppie, "The Praetorian Guard before Sejanus",
Athenaeum 84 (1996) 122-123; G.M. Koeppel, Reliefs III (as in n. 8) 152; Leander
Touati, Frieze (as in n. 8) 55-56; B. Rankov, The Praetorian Guard (London 1994) 26-
27, 55. Accordingto Suetonius(Tib. 5), the emperorTiberius,the second founderof the
32
33
34
35
Guard, was born under the zodiacal sign of Scorpio. A. Passerini, Le coorti pretorie
(Rome 1939), does not appear to comment on the scorpio emblem.
Kahler, "Trajansbogen" (as in n. 31) 432, writes that "[n]ach dem Skorpion im Rankenschmuck des Metallschildes durften die Soldaten Pratorianer sein".
For a clear reproduction of this coin (now in the Cabinet des Medailles, Paris), see Durry,
Cohortes pretoriennes (as in n. 22) planche III.A.
L. Breglia, Roman Imperial Coins. Their Art & Technique (London 1968) no. 26 (Museo
Nazionale, Naples). This is an excellent reproduction of the coin and the scorpio device
can be seen clearly on the shield of the soldier closest to the emperor.
This distinctive blazon can be seen on one of shields of the Louvre relief (that of the
soldier on the far right), the Puteoli relief, the shield of a Praetorianeques on the Great
36
Trajanic Frieze (Leander Touati, Frieze [as in n. 8] pl. 16), the Guardsmen's shields on
the base of the Antonine Column, and a funerary representation of a shield of a cavalry
trooper from the Eighth Cohort of the Guard (see CIL VI 2672).
This is seen on two of the shields of the Cancelleria Relief A, see F. Magi, I relieviflavi
del Palazzo della Cancellaria (Rome 1945). Astral devices also accompany private
funerary sculpture of members of the Sixth (CIL VI 2602) and Tenth cohorts (CIL VI
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MICHAELB. CHARLES
did appear on the metope, they would hardly provide definite proof that the
soldiers were PraetorianGuardsmen.
M.P. Speidel presents the most surprising solution to the problem: he
identifies the troops of metope XXXVI (32) as "Bataui horsemen of Trajan's
Guard",37i.e. the equites singulares Augusti, most of whom were recruited in
Lower Germany. If this is so, they may even be hastiliarii, picked members of
the horse guard who perhaps began to provide the imperial field-escort from
some point in Trajan's reign (this duty had previously been the task of the
speculatores).38Thoughts offered by a military scholar of the calibre of Speidel
can never be lightly dismissed, and he defends his belief by stating that their
horses "must be nearby, for in the field the emperor always rode on horseback".39 Instead of directing his attention to the equipment of the men, he
focuses on the size of the two soldiers, which he thinks must point to a
Germanic origin. Caesar, for one, referred to the mirifica corpora of his
German horse (the equites Germani).40Tacitus expresses similar thoughts, as
does Strabo, who asserts that the Germans are even larger than the Gauls.41But
the artistic merit of the metopes of the Tropaeum Traiani is slight, and the
unusual form of the soldiers in question may not necessarily be intentional.42
Roman art does not always accord with the laws of perspective, and the
Adamklissi metopes, it must be admitted, do represent the ruderend of provin-
2742). The significanceof this is debatable,especially as the convex scuutaof two soldiers
on metope XXXII (28) of the TropaeumTraianishow both thunderbolts(withoutwings)
and five-pointed stars. Some have tentatively assumed, presumablyfrom the shieldblazons, thatthese men, too, are Praetorians:e.g. Rossi, "Reassessment"(as in n. 1) 63:
"Praetorians,probably";Strobel,Untersuchungen(as in n. 3) 235, n. 23: "Pratorianer?".
But Florescu,Siegesdenkmal(as in n. 1) 493, merely identifies them as "zwei Romer".
Thatstarsare also foundon the shields of some segmentata-wearerson Trajan'sColumn,
wherewe are generallyunableto tell which troopsare meantto be Guardsmenandwhich
are legionaries,also complicatesthe matter.
37
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MICHAEL
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CHARLES
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487
is extant, and it would appearthat both men are about to plunge or hurl weapons
of indeterminatenature (hastae?) into, or against, the enemy. While the metope
is too badly damaged to draw firm conclusions, there is no evidence to suggest
that the two hamata-wearers are not infantry.
Pertinent, too, is a brief survey of the equipment worn by equestrian troops
on the metopes at Adamklissi. Metope V (7) need not be considered, for the
eques wears the lorica squamata. Metopes III (3), IV (4), VI (5) and VII (30)
are very badly worn, and one hesitates to deduce much from such poor material.
Still, that the shields of the cavalrymen in metopes IV (4) and VI (5) - in
addition to those on the ratherbetter preserved metopes I (1) and II (2) - have
markedly square ends is of signal importance (fig. 4).45 Although the weapons
depicted in some of the cavalry metopes are difficult if not impossible to
discern, the offensive arms in the two better preserved examples are of hasta
size. Note that the length of the weapons in metopes I (1) and 11 (2) can be
judged from the remnants of the badly eroded spear-tips in front of the horses'
chests. Shafted cavalry weapons of the age, which were often dual-purpose and
took the form of hastae and lanceae,46 are never particularly long. They
certainly do not approach the size of the contus used by heavy shock-cavalry
(i.e. the cataphractarii and later the clibanarii)47 from the reign of Hadrian
otheca Teubneriana,ed. M.P.J.van den Hout ILeipzig 1988] 128, lines 15-16). Finally,
the elder Pliny was supposedto have writtena one-volumeessay entitledDe laculatione
Equestri (Plin. Ep. 3.5.3).
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MICHAELB. CHARLES
-.-
..
Fig. 4. MetopeII (2). A Romancavalryman.
onwards.Whatmay addsome slightsupportto Speidel'sview, then,is thatthe
shaftedweaponscarriedby the equites in metopes I (1) and II (2) are of a
similarsize to those employedby the unmountedhamata-wearersdiscussed
above.Forthe purposeof comparison,one shouldnotethe lengthof the spearif it is indeeda spear- carriedby the soldiernextto Trajan.Whatmaybe the tip
appearsto the immediaterightof the carrier'shead,while the buttappearsat
calf-lengthbetweenthe emperor'slegs. Such a length suggeststhe dual-purpose hasta that is of a comparablesize to the weaponsseen in some of the
equestrianmetopes.48Of course,the crudenatureof the metopesmakessuch
analysisa hazardousexercise.
What,then, can one deduce from the above?A wealth of speculationis
rarelyconduciveto firm conclusions.And, in any case, it cannotbe assumed
automaticallythat the artisan(or artisans)who createdthis particularmetope
wantedto portraymembersof any specific unit in companywith the emperor.
Onceagain,it is pertinentto notethatthereappearsto be no attemptto associate
the two men with any particularcohors, legio or ala via shield blazons or
48 Bishop/Coulston,RomanMilitaryEquipment(as in n. 3) 69, commenton the difficulty
involved in interpretingterminologysuch as hasta, lancea, uerutumandspiculum,which
are often used "interchangeably"
by Romanwriters.
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489
Michael B. Charles
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