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Lot Essay
PUBLISHED:
H. Pflug, 'Italische Helme mit Stirnkehle', in A. Botini (et al.), Antike Helme. Sammlung Lipperheide und andere Bestande des Antikenmuseums Berlin, Mainz, 1988, p. 277; 282 ff.
The Samnites, native to the Apennine mountains of central and southern Italy, posed an enduring threat to the burgeoning Roman Republic during the 4th and 3rd centuries B.C. Over the course of more than fifty years, a total of three wars were waged between the Samnites and Romans, which eventually resulted in significant Roman expansion in the Italian peninsula. The fierce reputation of the Samnite warriors continued to thrive in the gladiatorial games of early Imperial Rome, with some fighters wearing such helmets with a short sword and long shield (scutum), cf. M. Junkelmann, 'Familia Gladiatoria: The Heroes of the Amphitheatre', in Gladiators and Caesars: The Power of Spectacle in Ancient Rome, Berkeley, 2000, p. 37.
H. Pflug, 'Italische Helme mit Stirnkehle', in A. Botini (et al.), Antike Helme. Sammlung Lipperheide und andere Bestande des Antikenmuseums Berlin, Mainz, 1988, p. 277; 282 ff.
The Samnites, native to the Apennine mountains of central and southern Italy, posed an enduring threat to the burgeoning Roman Republic during the 4th and 3rd centuries B.C. Over the course of more than fifty years, a total of three wars were waged between the Samnites and Romans, which eventually resulted in significant Roman expansion in the Italian peninsula. The fierce reputation of the Samnite warriors continued to thrive in the gladiatorial games of early Imperial Rome, with some fighters wearing such helmets with a short sword and long shield (scutum), cf. M. Junkelmann, 'Familia Gladiatoria: The Heroes of the Amphitheatre', in Gladiators and Caesars: The Power of Spectacle in Ancient Rome, Berkeley, 2000, p. 37.