*Cough* Well, you did ask ...

Here's an anonymous contribution to #TombstoneTuesday from Bonn (DEU). He's wearing a toga and almost certainly a soldier, given the shields frieze at the top of the stone. Similar stones (like that of P. Clodius) indicate that the inscription was on a separate (now missing) block.

You find military equipment in the strangest places. This armour fastener, belt plate, and buckle came from a cave near Buxton (GBR) in the Peak (currently 'Peaq', thanks to Skoda!) District.

Here's Peter sitting on his saddle during its very first trials in June 1988.

Even though there is no such thing as #CoffinLidMonday, we have added the Cefn on Rudry lead coffin lid, with its surprising little #RomanCavalry rider, to our 2D iconography Gallery. romanmilitaryequipment.co.uk/galleries-of...

I don't think we *know* the name but antenna (in the sense of a yard arm) certainly seems a good analogy. Those straps are terminated with teardrop- or heart-shaped pendants and usually reconstructed with studs (like an apron). TC is of course iffy, but may give an impression.

Revised Ampurias catapult drawing, now bulging in all the right places.

JCNC died two years ago today. You can find a brief bio for him (with a link to download my more detailed obituary from JRMES) here: romanmilitaryequipment.co.uk/home-page/ab...

Found in Strasbourg (FRA), this stone commemorates Comnis (or Comnisca), an eques in the #RomanCavalry serving in the turma of Celta in ala Indiana who lived to 25, only serving for 7 years. His unit later served in Britain (and was based at Cirencester). #TombstoneTuesday

It dates to the Flavian period. Curved oval shields continued in use with legionaries until the early 2nd century AD (at least) and it appears to have reflected individual legion taste (in the cases below with legiones II Adiutrix & XIIII Gemina).

Sometimes, sculptural evidence for Roman military equipment conveys little more than a hint of what once was. Still, here's a chap on one of the Mainz pedestals with a curved oval shield and a short sword. You'll see him much less often than his more famous brethren. #ReliefWednesday

Fragment of a tombstone from Bingen (DEU) from the same school (possibly even the same artist) as the well-known tombstone of Annaius. Unlike Annaius, he has embossed belt plates on the dagger belt, inlaid on the sword belt. He wears a paenula and his belts cover a cummerbund. #TombstoneTuesday

A couple of frescoes from Pompeii depicting muscled cuirasses with pteryges, providing the sort of coloured information that cuirassed statues seldom supply. These have now been added to our galleries romanmilitaryequipment.co.uk/galleries-of...

Here's a reconstruction of the belt (and other items) from a grave near Lyon probably buried with its owner after the Battle of Lugdunum in AD 197.

Here's the standard bearer Pancuius of cohors (III?) Lusitanorum for #TombstoneTuesday, wearing mail with pteryges visible on his arms, and clutching his standard somewhat defensively. Although clearly a signifer, he is only described as a 'miles'. Found in Neuss (DEU).

Personally, would have gone with 'one of the great Pooh Bears', but can't help feeling that this needs to go in one of those lengthy adulatory quote sections at the beginning of B&C3 (along with 'very pointy', 'ouch!', and 'spent hours colouring-in the drawings').

For #ReliefWednesday, let's rest our eyeballs upon Cancelleria Relief A and drink in the gorgeous detail of pila, shields, paenulae, aprons, and caligae.

Something unusual for #StDavidsDay? A lead coffin ?lid found at Cefn On(n) farm near Caerphilly in 1952 with a depiction of a mounted, plumed #RomanCavalry rider (unusually from his left, shielded side) clutching what was thought to be a vexillum (unhelpfully, partially obliterated by plough marks).

But not in that fake jiggerypokery (Robinson thought it was dodgy back in 1975). More likely in something like this.

Here is one of these buckle plates still attached to its (mineralised) leather strap (left), from one of the first complete Kalkriese plates found. The buckle plate was attached to a leather strap riveted to the armour; this system was replaced by the more familiar hinged buckles (right).

Something a little special for #FindsFriday. How long did Kalkriese-type lorica segmentata remain in use? Apparently, long enough to make it up to Stanwick in North Yorkshire. This is one of two strap-mounted fastening buckles from a breast- or backplate, found in the 1845 Stanwick Hoard.

For #TombstoneTuesday, let's take our helmets off so viewers can get a good view of a finely shaped head. Say hello to Avitianus (left) and Ares (right) who have put theirs down. The Croy Hill lads have never even put them on and just slung them somewhere convenient (on shield or around neck).

This is rather delightful. Found at Nether Denton Trajanic fort, just south of #hadrianswall, this belt plate and buckle was old when it was deposited, since it is a Tiberio-Claudian type and matched by examples from the south of England.

And, on a bangs-per-buck/kWh basis, can AI ever match briefing a knowledgeable, fee-paid, coffee-and-snacks-fuelled human artist? So much AI slop draws on outdated web sources that produce a result that looks like something 100 years behind current knowledge.

'Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun.' Douglas Adams

For this #FindsFriday, instead of posting just one artefact, why not take a look at our Galleries of 2D Images of Artefacts? Always being added to, so ever-growing. romanmilitaryequipment.co.uk/2d-images-of...

Firmus' stone also continues reflections on the arming doublet. Robinson thought this relief showed a surcoat (red) worn over mail (blue), in turn over a tunic (green). An alternative interpretation might be armour (red) worn over an arming doublet (blue), over a tunic (green).

For #TombstoneTuesday, here's Firmus of cohors Raetorum from Andernach (now in Bonn LVR). He holds two javelins in his right hand and the horizontal grip of an oval shield in his left. he has similar highly detailed equipment to many early Principate Rhineland tombstones.

There are a (very!) few busts that may show the arming doublet worn over the tunic and under a cloak but without armour, but these are at best ambiguous (like this example of Antoninus Pius).

Most Roman cuirassed statues depict the individual wearing such a garment under their armour. Here's Lucius Verus (from the BM Townley collection) conveniently colour-coded to show this (note that the colours have NOTHING whatsoever to do with any potential original colouring of the bust).