Roman Weapons and Armor

The Roman Army had a very defined series of weapons and armor for their soldiers. These are well documented. Here I have a listing of some of the more popular items and have included pictures.

Armor:

• Imperial Helmet - Helmet for the head
• Lorica Segmentata - Segmented Chest plate, upper body armor
• Lorica Hamata - Chainmail tunic with shoulder pieces
• Scutum - A Rectangular shield with a curve
• Manica - Armor for the Arms, segmented Iron or Bronze

Weapons:

• Spatha - A Sword , longer than the Gladius
• Gladius - A short Sword
• Kopis - A curved sword with a single edge
• Pugio - A dagger
• Plumbata - A throwing dart with feathers
• Pilum - Spear or Javelin

Reenactments can be a lot of fun. Here are pictures from an event that happened at Binchester Fort in the U.K. The fort is one of the largest and one of the best preserved Roman Forts in Europe.

For the event they had authentically dressed roman soldiers and lots of weapons and armor on display. They even had a working Roman Ballista. I also have a video of firing the ballista at the bottom of the page.

This roman soldier is wearing an Imperial Gallic Helmet and Lorica Hamata (The chainmail and harness). Notice the shoulder flaps on the armor. It is one of the distinctive parts of the Lorica Hamata.

This soldier is wearing a Cassis Helmet, a cloth tunic and lorica segmentata.

This next picture shows the Lorica Segmentata which is segmented plate armor.

A Roman Scutum Shield.

Roman Swords, Knives and a Helmet

The Small bladed weapon in the sheath, on the left, is a Pugio Dagger. The white handled weapon on the right is a Bone handled Gladiator Dolch. The two swords are a Gladius and a Spatha. The longer one being the Spatha. The sword in the foreground, in a brown sheath is a Kopis. That was a curved sword with an edge only on one side.

The Armguard is a Manica. Generally they are made of segmented Iron or Bronze.

A Ballista: