Sketch of the day
An itty bitty drawing I doodled during quick breaks from the freelancing.
I think he’s wearing 1950s movie armour, so since it’s just made out of papier-mâché, it doesn’t have to be too accurate….
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Looks pretty good to me. We talked about the whole “Eastern legiones didn’t get the lorica segmentata” thing but, hey, nothing says “Roman soldier” like good old hoop armor, right?
The strips at the waist and shoulders (pteruges“) seem to be something of a mystery. Good article here (http://legionsix.org/equipment/basic-gear/pteruges-and-the-lorica-segmentata/) discussing where they appear – or don’t – in the statuary depictions. They seem to have been the mark of an officer, at least at first, and Felix as a signifier and duplicarius would have certainly qualified in the early Imperial period.
Plus, it’s just a great little sketch; I wish I had the gift you do of conveying emotion through image. Just looking at Felix here you can sense his solidity – he’s a tough guy – but also both his wariness and his burden. He’s seen way too much for someone so young, and he really doesn’t want to see any more. His whole posture shouts “Well…come on, if you’re hard enough. But I hope like hell you aren’t.”
I very much like your perspective and interpretations of the character(s) and always appreciate the practical historical info!
One interesting bit of trivial about the segmentata, by the way. Modern re-enactors say that the thing has a truly annoying tendency of gaping when you move in certain ways and allowing (or forcing) bits of your clothing and flesh to stick out between the hoops…and then when you shift position snapping shut on the sticky-out bits in an amazingly painful fashion.
The theory that the pteruges are the flappy bits at the top and bottom of a leather “arming doublet” may come from the report of that sort of armor biting
As a sometime reenactor myself–though not Roman era–I can’t imagine wearing any form of armour without padding, and assumed it was there. I do like the theory that it’s represented in the flappy bits.
Hail Caesar!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMqeoW3XRa0
Perhaps I shared this before…but I can’t remember.
If he’s a 50’s movie Roman, I miss the bracers!
That movie looks amazing. I must try not to get my expectations up so high that no movie can live up to them.
And, aw, man, arm bracers! I forgot the arm bracers! 😀