Wednesday saw Anna off to the V&A and me to the British museum with a plan for her to meet me at the BM after our respective exhibition going.
I was there particularly to see the exhibition on life in the Roman Army. It was even better than I had hoped for. Now the pictures-
I find late Roman paintings like this fascinating and recalled the beautiful examples l had seen at the Flinders Petrie museum in London on a previous trip.
This was the item I was awaiting with excitement, the shield from Dura Europos . It certainly was the star item for me. I have seen pictures of it so often in books and it was terrific at last to see in the flesh, wood.
A shield boss showing great workmanship.
Armour and and articulated sleeve armour, adding to the Legionary’s protection.
The enigmatic, exotic crocodile armour. Ritual or practical use, no one is certain. I for one like to imagine it used as armour by some soldiers of the time…
Mounted archer carving. A lovely piece of carving, so animated.
Horse armour from Dura Europos. Again great to see in real life. I recall pictures in books showing a photo of the armour being put on a live horse to show how it sat on one. Another iconic piece.
Close up of the previous piece showing the scales.
That shield again , kept drawing me back…
Proof that Roman Auxiliaries used mobile phones, adds a new meaning to signalling in the Roman army.
Moving memorial to a woman featuring a child with pet.
An illustration of the person whose story we had followed throughout the expedition through his letters. This was painted on the temporary walls and one of a number of such illustrations.
Finally a document granting citizenship found in Pompei. Another evocative and moving item.
Terrific exhibition, don’t miss it if you get a chance. Finally something I was unable to get to but might interest others-
P.s finding it increasingly difficult to leave comments on blogs , including my own! I really miss leaving commenting on other blog and enthusing about posts.
It sounds like a wonderful exhibition. I'm glad you got to go.
ReplyDeleteStephen
I went last week and can thoroughly recommend it. Hurry if you want to go as it finishes on 23 June.
ReplyDeleteI'm going next week.... looks great.
ReplyDeleteI think that photo with the auxiliary with the iPhone is a fake. He has the shield on his right arm. They wouldn't have had lefties in those days, messing up the shield wall ;-)
ReplyDeleteThose Roman shields are very interesting and inovative. Must be nice to take a closer look on an original one. What is it made of?
ReplyDeleteLooks smashing! Trying to work out a way to get a trip to London in time to catch it.
ReplyDeleteI probably won’t get to see this in London, so thank you for sharing the photos. Fascinating details, although all Romans should ideally look like the Airfix ones or the Asterix ones?
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