[379] It may also be omitted on the reliefs from considerations of space, which are also probably the cause of the frequent omission of the helmet.
[380] J. R. S. ii. (1912) Fig. 8. As it was found at Hexham, and probably comes from Corbridge, it cannot well have been erected before about 85.
[381] See Tac. Ann. xii. 35 (describing an engagement with Caratacus) ‘et si auxiliaribus resisterent, gladiis ac pilis legionariorum, si huc verterent, spathis et hastis auxiliarium sternebantur’.
[382] Professor Baldwin Brown considers it to be a development of the iron broadsword of the La Tène period (Arts and Crafts of our Teutonic Forefathers, p. 118).
[383] Josephus, Bell. Iud. iii. 5, 6.
[384] The best representation of cavalry is Cichorius, Pl. 28.
[385] I do not mean to imply that the details are correctly represented in every case. The swords, for instance, are often omitted, particularly in the earlier scenes. Doubtless several artists were employed, and all were not equally conscientious.
[386] Arrian, Tactica, 4 θώρακα πεπλεγμένον, 41 θώραξι σιδηροῖς.
[387] B. J. B. lxxxi. 104. The soldier’s name, T. Flavius Bassus, gives a terminus post quem for the dating of the relief.
[388] Cichorius, Pl. 65 (equites singulares).