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reconstruction

Imagines rievocatorum. A 2nd-1st century Lepontic warrior 814 483 Mattia Caprioli

Imagines rievocatorum. A 2nd-1st century Lepontic warrior

For our rubric dedicated to reenactors and their impressions, today we present you “Valaunos”, an hypothetical Lepontic warrior from the 2nd-1st century BC, by Enrico Lanzalone of Insubria Gaesata, which we thank for sending us pictures and text.

The Prealpine and Alpine “Insubria”, under the sphere of influence of the Roman Republic during the 2nd century BC, saw in that period a new flourishing of the Celtic culture. Such flourishing was favoured by the trades and the pacts of foedus established with the new superpower, which respected the territorial indipendence of the locals.
This was a new historical phase for the people of the Lepontii, who lived on the northern shore of the lake of Verbano (between Piedmont, Lombardy and Switzerland), a phase that will endure and continue in the Imperial Roman period.

The territory of the Lepontii became a recruiting pool of allies and auxiliaries for the Roman legions. Having studied the necropolises of Giubiasco and Ornavasso and their materials, the group Insubria Gaesata decided to reconstruct one of such allies, a high ranking warrior. Impersonated by Enrico Lanzalone, the noble warrior “Valaunos” sports a number of items connecting him with the Lepontic region, apart from his armour and clothing, reconstructed by comparison with outer Celtic sources.
The conflicts that Valaunos could have seen (from the 2nd to the 1st century BC) are only hypothetical, but plausible: the wars against the Salassi, the Cimbric Wars, the conquest of Gallia Narbonensis, the Social War.
Specialized in Alpine warfare, warriors like Valaunos were then incorporated in the Cohortes Aplinorum, mantaining an ethnic prevalence until Late Antiquity (a signifer of the limitanei called Lepontius is attested in the 4th century AD).

The defensive equipment of this Lepontic warrior is constituted by three main elements: shield, chainmail and helmet.
The shield is a reinforced thyreos, decorated with various symbols from Iron Age engravings from Verbano and Val Grande, and with the famous trident of “Borvius”, representend in a relief from Borvio (5th century BC). The thyreos, even if not always fit for Alpine warfare, is a common mean of protection in Ornavasso and Giubiasco necropolises, maybe even a status symbol.
The lorica hamata, a non-riveted model from the 3rd-2nd century BC, is not directly attested in the Lepontic region. However, written sources, archaeological finds from France and visual sources suggest that chainmail was worn by high ranking Celtic figures, and that was introduced by them in the Italian peninsula.
The helmet, a particular gallo-italic Alpine model dated between 3rd and 2nd century, is a clear ethnic symbol of the warrior. In fact, it comes from the necropolis of Giubiasco, from which this model takes its name. Apart from giving a good protection, such a oblong helmet was probably a status symbol, easily recognizable on the battlefield.

The offensive equipment is made by two main elements: spear and sword.
The spear is based on a great number of finds of spearheads and butts from the Lepontic region, while the sword, a La Tène C type, is based from a find from Cuvio (Varese, Lombardy), the sheath of which, however, was incomplete.
The warrior would have completed its weaponry with pila (found in the Ornavasso necropolis) and other types of javelins, as testified in the deposit/necropolis of Arsago Seprio – the missiles are not present in this reconstruction.
The suspension belt in organic material was widely used in the Lepontic region and in the Italian Alpine area in general. Suspension systems made with chain didn’t have too much success in this area.

Many ornaments complete the panoply: glass bracelets, an element previously imported but produced on the shores of Lago Maggiore since 2nd century BC; an amber bracelet, a symbol of wealth in the ancient world; and a glass necklace, with the eye decoration so appreciated by the Celts.
Valaunos also wears a twisted torque and a necklace with a “latenian” head, based on finds from the Cimbric area. These are clear symbols of the trades of the Lepontii with the Celts from the other side of the Alps.
Last but not least, a brooch type “Ornavasso”: another clear ethnic symbol of the Lepontii.

For the reconstruction, thanks to:

-Res Bellica for the helmet, lorica, belt, sword and shoes;

–Insubria Gaesata, which made the final result possible and the members of which helped in produce some of the elements, such as shield and spear;

-Daniele Giannotti, for the sword handle;

-Serena, my sister, for the pictures.

Dott. Enrico Lanzalone

The reconstruction of an Ostrogothic warrior 819 577 Mattia Caprioli

The reconstruction of an Ostrogothic warrior

The Ostrogoths were amongst the main opponents of the Eastern Romans during the 6th century, particularly during the long Gothic War in Italy (535-553).

Reconstructing the proper equipment of an Ostrogothic warrior is a difficult task. Being the archaeological finds that could be directly linked to the Ostrogoths quite rare, we have to cross various sources (archaeological, visual and written ones) coming from a variety of contexts, in particular from the Eastern Roman Empire.

Clothing and footwear.

Apart from belt fittings and brooches, no archaeological finds of Ostrogothic clothing have ever been found.

The reconstruction of the clothing has to be based on those iconographical sources, of Byzantine production, in which there are figures of Barbarians which had been identified generally as “Germanic”.

The two main visual sources are the Ivory Barberini (to be dated between the reigns of Anastasius and Justinian) and the silver plate of Isola Rizza (first half of the 6th century). Both sources features Barbarians wearing tunics and large trousers sporting decorative stripes with lozenges motifs.

Both the typology of clothing and of decoration, probably of Eastern origin, were widespread in the Mediterranean basin between 6th and 7th century.

The model of the tunic is copied from specimens found in the Egyptian necropolis of Antinoe, which feature tassels under the sleeves and on the sides. The typical “T shaped” decoration is taken from archaeological sources too, and confirmed by various iconographical sources.

The trousers are partially taken from finds from both Germanic and Egyptian areas which, although being afar, sports the very same features and shape. However, in line with the iconographical sources, we decided not to have the bottom cut and laces which were present on the archaeological examples, apparently being totally absent from the visual sources.

Lozenge decoration are widely supported by archaeological finds, almost exclusively coming from Byzantine Egypt, that are in museums all around the world.

To choose the belt, which is almost invisible in our iconographical sources, we could rely on various archaeological specimens both Ostrogothic and Byzantine, coming from Italy, in particular from Emilia Romagna and Rome. In the first half of the 6th century, the typical belt worn by the Ostrogoths usually featured a simple buckle with a rectangular belt plate. The plate, as confirmed by various archaeological finds – such plates have been also found in Rome –, could either be plain or richly decorated. Another typology of buckle, widespread from the second quarter of the 6th century and that could either feature the belt plate or not, was the type with solid ring and shield-shaped barb, a model that will be still used during the 7th century.

For our reconstruction, we did choose the first type of buckle. We also added a simple strap end, without any decoration.

Finally, a last, difficult element to reconstruct are the shoes, since we don’t have any archaeological finds and since from our two main visual sources, they aren’t represented very clearly. However, we luckily can gain some information from an Eastern Roman written source, the Strategikon, a famous military treatise probably written by emperor Maurice Tiberius (582-602). In the chapter dedicated to infantry, the author describes describes shoes of Gothic typology, “with thick soles, broad toes, plain stitching, and fastened with no more than two clasps”. Low, simple shoes with no or simple fastening were widely used by the Eastern Romans: in particular, such types of shoes, that could be linked with the ones described in the Strategikon, were found in great numbers in Egypt. For our reconstruction, we opted for shoes copied from a pair found in the necropolis of Antinoe.

In our reconstruction of Ostrogothic warrior, we didn’t have any cloak. This would have probably been very similar to a Roman sagum, fastened on the right shoulder by a crossbow fibula.

 

Defensive equipment

Amongst the Germanic peoples, during the Late Antique period, a complete defensive panoply could be afforded only by the richest persons (i.e. aristocrats). In particular, the armour was probably one of the most expensive pieces of military equipment.

The presence of armours amongst the Ostrogoths is well testified by Procopius of Caesarea – Ostrogothic noble warriors and “champions” wearing armours, although the typology is never specified, are mentioned in a number of occasions in the “Gothic War” –, and the famous medallion of Senigallia shows king Theoderic wearing a scale armour with pteryges, derived from Roman models.

However, armours were probably something that could have been hardly seen in an Ostrogothic army of the period, and in fact also the two warriors on the Isola Rizza silver plate don’t wear any body defence. So, for our reconstruction we opted not to use any armour.

Probably, helmets were a more affordable piece. The iron spangenhelm was the most widespread kind of helmet in the Mediterranean world during the 6th century CE, used by both Ostrogoth and Eastern Romans.

This typology of helmets features a usually quite oblong skull, composed by four or six segments, linked one to the other by the means of vertical riveted bands, a top plate and a brow band.

For our reconstruction, we chose a replica of a spangenhelm coming from Sinj, in Croatia, dated to the 6th century and probably a Byzantine production.

Finally, to complete our reconstruction of the Ostrogothic warrior defensive equipment we chose a shield – which actually was the main component of the Ostrogothic armament, alongside the spear.

The shield was round in shape – and maybe also oval, as the Isola Rizza silver dish seems to indicate –, and had a pointed shield boss to protect the hand. The pointed shield boss typology, in various forms, was the most widespread during the 6th century, but it was already in use at least from the 4th century CE.

 

Weapons

Like the majority of the warriors of the Late Antique period, the main weapon of the Ostrogothic warriors was the spear. Not having nor archaeological finds neither visual sources, we chose a simple leaf shaped spear head, a typology quite widespread both amongst the Eastern Romans and the Lombards.

As a side weapon for our Ostrogothic warrior, we opted for a spatha. During the 6th century, both spathae with totally organic hilts and with hilts made in horn or wood and metallic fittings were widespread. The spatha was a weapon used also by the Ostrogoths, as confirmed by the descriptions of Procopius of Caesarea, the iconographical evidence of the plate of Isola Rizza and some archaeological finds from Italy.