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Roman helmet turns history on its head
Telegraph (UK) ^ | Wednesday, January 11, 2012 | Anita Singh

Posted on 01/11/2012 8:44:20 PM PST by SunkenCiv

Every school child used to learn how the British defended their land during the Roman Conquest.

But the discovery of a 2,000-year-old Roman helmet beneath a Leicestershire hillside suggests a different story. Rather than repel the invaders, some Britons fought in the Roman ranks.

The ornate helmet was awarded to high-ranking cavalry officers and was found at the burial site of a British tribal leader. According to experts, it transforms our understanding of the Roman Conquest...

The treasure, known as the Hallaton Helmet after the area where it was found, dates to around the time of the Roman invasion in AD43. A Roman goddess flanked by lions adorns the brow, while the cheek pieces feature a Roman emperor trampling a barbarian beneath his horse's hooves...

It was first unearthed in 2000 by Ken Wallace, a retired design and technology teacher who was out testing his £260 second-hand metal detector near his Leicestershire home...

The site yielded 5,500 coins -- the largest Iron Age hoard ever found in Britain -- and the helmet, which had been broken into nearly 1,000 pieces... The helmet was unveiled at the British Museum yesterday after a decade of restoration work paid for by a £650,000 Heritage Lottery Fund grant.

The identity of the Briton commemorated at the burial site is unknown but the artefacts show that he was an important figure.

It is difficult to put a price on the helmet, but in 2010 a bronze Roman helmet with face mask was sold for £2.3 million at Christie's.

(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...


TOPICS: History; Science; Travel
KEYWORDS: godsgravesglyphs; romanempire; romaneseuntdomus; unitedkingdom
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The Hallaton helmet will go on permanent display at Harborough Museum later this month Photo: Christopher Pledger

CAPTION

1 posted on 01/11/2012 8:44:23 PM PST by SunkenCiv
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To: Renfield; StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach; decimon; 1010RD; 21twelve; 24Karet; ...

 GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother & Ernest_at_the_Beach
Thanks Renfield.

To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list.


2 posted on 01/11/2012 8:50:28 PM PST by SunkenCiv (Merry Christmas, Happy New Year! May 2013 be even Happier!)
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To: SunkenCiv

Why couldn’t it be the helmet of a Roman Top Dog that the Briton had brought down in battle and they buried the trophy with him?


3 posted on 01/11/2012 8:55:13 PM PST by abigkahuna
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To: SunkenCiv

And they’re 100% sure that this was a presentation to this tribal chief, and not one of his particularly prized trophies from the field of battle?


4 posted on 01/11/2012 8:56:57 PM PST by Little Pig (Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus Vici.)
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To: SunkenCiv

It`s a War trophy.

The Indians in Massachusetts during the New England Indian Wars wore captured/killed British 3-pointed hats and braided gold jackets.

During the 1690`s & 1709 up until 1753, the French, in skirmishes with Dutch-English combined forces out of Fort Edward and Schuylerville, wore Spanish chest armor captured from the Dutch, still to be seen in Fort Ticonderoga Museum glass case.


5 posted on 01/11/2012 8:57:18 PM PST by bunkerhill7 (Spanish armor in New York? Who knew?)
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To: SunkenCiv
It was a fancy decorative helmet, not a combat helmet. That would leave the question whether it was a fancy gift to show appreciation to tribal allies or actually a sign that this chieftain was a member of the Roman Army. In this country fancy things like decorative tomahawks, medals, pipes, hats, clothes and assorted doodads and were given to various Indian leaders to try and get them to cooperate.
6 posted on 01/11/2012 8:59:08 PM PST by dog breath
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To: SunkenCiv

save for later


7 posted on 01/11/2012 9:00:16 PM PST by submarinerswife (Insanity is doing the same thing over and over, while expecting different results~Einstein)
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To: SunkenCiv

Thought it was common knowledge that some of the Celtic tribes aligned with the Romans.


8 posted on 01/11/2012 9:03:12 PM PST by justa-hairyape
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To: justa-hairyape

Me too.


9 posted on 01/11/2012 9:06:12 PM PST by vladimir998
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To: SunkenCiv

So what has changed exactly? My 1991 edition of “The Oxford History of Britain” discusses the Claudian invasion of 43AD and reads....

“The invasion met with fierce resistance from some of the British tribes. Others, no doubt not sorry to see the Catuvellaunian hegemony in southern Britain destroyed, surrendered easily or joined the Romans.”


10 posted on 01/11/2012 9:07:52 PM PST by JoeDetweiler
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To: bunkerhill7

I agree.


11 posted on 01/11/2012 9:08:38 PM PST by Inyo-Mono (My greatest fear is that when I'm gone my wife will sell my guns for what I told her I paid for them)
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To: justa-hairyape

———————Thought it was common knowledge that some of the Celtic tribes aligned with the Romans.-———————

*SHRUG*

Some Americans sided with the communists too.

Reagan spoke about this in his Rendezvous with Destiny speech. “Better red than dead”, or, “I’d rather live on my knees than die on my feet”.


12 posted on 01/11/2012 9:09:14 PM PST by Halfmanhalfamazing ( Media doesn't report, It advertises. So that last advertisement you just read, what was it worth?)
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To: vladimir998

Wonder how many banquets the chief had to throw to get rewarded with that.


13 posted on 01/11/2012 9:13:52 PM PST by Ciexyz
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To: SunkenCiv

Booty taken from a dead Roman or dead Romans, then lost somehow seems as likely an explanation.


14 posted on 01/11/2012 9:16:11 PM PST by righttackle44 (I may not be much, but I raised a United States Marine)
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To: SunkenCiv

British soldier to another British soldier, after capturing a Roman: Now let ME wear the helmet:)!


15 posted on 01/11/2012 9:22:38 PM PST by Beowulf9
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To: abigkahuna; Little Pig

The picture of pre-Claudian Britain has changed in the last generation or so.
16 posted on 01/11/2012 9:33:03 PM PST by SunkenCiv (Merry Christmas, Happy New Year! May 2013 be even Happier!)
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To: justa-hairyape

Absolutely. There were rebel tribes and others that aligned with Rome. It’s common knowledge to all but newspaper reporters, apparently.

Then again, that could be said of many topics.


17 posted on 01/11/2012 9:34:10 PM PST by Kiss Me Hardy
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To: dog breath

And the Romans had a policy of doing just those kinds of things, while maintaining order and rule over an empire of 50 million people with thousands of miles of frontier, using an army of 140,000, and up to another 140,000 or so (probably much less) auxiliaries.


18 posted on 01/11/2012 9:44:45 PM PST by SunkenCiv (Merry Christmas, Happy New Year! May 2013 be even Happier!)
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To: justa-hairyape; vladimir998; JoeDetweiler; Ciexyz; Kiss Me Hardy

:’) Thanks!

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2831818/posts?page=16#16


19 posted on 01/11/2012 9:45:42 PM PST by SunkenCiv (Merry Christmas, Happy New Year! May 2013 be even Happier!)
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To: Beowulf9

LOL!


20 posted on 01/11/2012 9:45:59 PM PST by SunkenCiv (Merry Christmas, Happy New Year! May 2013 be even Happier!)
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