This week the British press announced a discovery from the Roman/Germannic battlefield of Kalkriese in Germany - see blog 40 and the wonderful work done by Tony Clunn.
It was not the discovery itself that rocked my morning coffee, it was the repercussions of it, in a historical cum archaeological sense. In case you have not seen it, the article talks about what is believed to be the first full set of Roman army lorica segmentata ever found.
Lorica segmentata is the body armour that you, quite likely, will picture Roman legionaries wearing. This is a full, complete set of the various metal strips that went to make up the armour of chest, belly and those massive shoulder coverings..
Grisly details were a vicarious extra. Chemical analysis of the severely rusted armour showed the chemical residue of its last wearer. In other words he died in his armour and he was probably an ordinary legionary. The "Tomasius Atkinius" of his day.
The newspaper article speculated that he might have been a post battle sacrifice. The helmet was not to hand so his head may have decorated a nearby tree in true Germanic tribal tradition.
And the point of all this is?
Well just this. Aside from the speculative thought that some poor legionary endured not only three or four days of a running battle through the German forests, and got chopped at the end of it all in a bloody sacrifice, it's the idea that in all of the Roman Empire, throughout the hundreds of years it ruled, only one single set of full body armour has ever been found. Remnants of chain mail and bits of segmentata have been found in Britain but nothing so complete. Cavalry helmets abound, Roman shoes, swords, spear heads, ladies letters from Vindolanda, but the staple bit of kit that defined the Roman army? Just one example.
It's probably me, but by comparison you can visit the Western Front and pick up sobering souvenirs from a hundred years ago. They are relatively cheap and plentiful. No licence required.
Yet hundreds of thousands of Roman soldiers served and died on campaigns and in battles. And there is ( allegedly ) only one complete set of lorica segmentata recovered - in the entire area that comprised the Roman world.
What if it turns out to be the only one "we" ever find? Soil conditions and the passage of time do terrible things to metal artefacts.
"Tomasius Atkinius" left his armour to posterity, He left the last glimpse of more than just a battle.
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