Ancient Stories of The Roman Shield - Real History of the Scutum

The Roman shield is one of the most iconic pieces of kit issued to Roman legionaries across the empire. We can all imagine soldiers bracing behind shield walls as arrows rain down on them or using it to block attacks from rampaging barbarians. But was this really the case? What do our ancient sources have to say about the Roman shield and how do our soldiers feel about their trusty shields? The Roman shield was called a scutum. A typical scutum was made from three sheets of wood glued together and covered with canvas and leather. Later versions also had metal edges to make the scutum less likely to splinter and break while being hacked away by enemies. One of the best ancient sources on the construction of the Roman shield comes from Greek historian Pelobius who said of an early 2nd century BC shield. The Roman panoply consists firstly of a shield called a scutum, the convex surface of which measures two and a half feet in width and four feet in length, the thickness at the rim being a palm's breadth. It is made of two planks glued together, the outer surface being then covered first with canvas and then with calfskin. Its upper and lower rims are strengthened by an iron edging that protects it from descending blows and from injury when rested on the ground. It also has an iron shield boss fixed to it called an umbo, which turns aside the most formidable blows of stones, pikes, and heavy missiles in general. The front of the Roman shield was sometimes decorated with paintings and symbols. Modern theories for the purpose of this vary and ancient sources are unlimited. According to the 5th century writer Vegiitis, the decorations on the scuta helped in identification. Lest the soldiers in the confusion of battle should be separated from their comrades, every cohort had its shields painted in a manner peculiar to itself. The name of each soldier was also written on his shield, together with the number of the cohort and sanctuary to which he belonged. However, since Vegiitis was not a military man and many of his works mixed the present with the dim and distant past, we must take his descriptions with a grain of salt. Shields in Vegiitis' days were used to distinguish between units, but, contrary to his claim here, there is little evidence that this was true of the early empire. Modern historians believe that in the beginning, the decor on the shield's face was simple and meant to show the Roman prestige to the uncivilized barbarians. Many ancient paintings from the middle empire depict the shields as being white. This is theorized to be the result of a mix of plaster and clay that would give the shield some extra rigidity. Personally, I doubt that the shields would stay white for long in the campaign, but maybe Roman camps were tidier than I realized. If any of you know more about the decorative aspects of Roman shields, I would love to learn from you in the comments below. I always read and respond to all comments, and while you're down there, feel free to leave a like and subscribe. The shape of the scutum allowed packed formations of legionaries to overlap their shields to provide an effective barrier against missiles. The most novel use of this was the testudo, or in Latin, portus. This tactic had soldiers lift their shields over their heads to protect against descending arrows from archers or objects thrown by defenders on walls. In some cases, they added additional legionaries to the sides with the scutum facing outward to further increase their protection. When most people picture a testudo, they picture a group of men marching forwards using their shield box for cover. One of the most interesting finds of our research was a trap that the Romans would set using their impenetrable testudo as bait to get their frustrated enemies to move closer. Dio gives an account of the exact use by Mark Antony's men while on a campaign in Armenia. One day, when they fell into an ambush and were being struck by dense showers of arrows, the legionaries suddenly formed the testudo by joining their shields and rested their left knees on the ground. The barbarians threw aside their bows, leaped from their horses, and drawing their daggers, came up close to put an end to them. At this, the Romans sprang to their feet, extended their battle line, and confronting the foe face to face, fell upon them, cutting them down in great numbers. The shield proved to be especially resilient to arrow fire. The Roman writer, Synonius, recorded an antidote of the heroic centurion Cassius Scevaea, who fought under Caesar in the Battle of Dyrracharium. With one eye gone, his thigh and shoulder wounded, and his shield bored through with arrows in a hundred and twenty places, he continued to guard the gate of a fortress put in his charge. He boarded the ship and drove the enemy before him with the boss of his shield. Pompey used a special strategy using his scutum. He had his soldiers lay their shield upright in a field and hide behind them. His approaching enemy had no way of telling whether there were actually soldiers behind the shields or if they were using them as bait and had to move closer. Cassius Dio describes the following. Now Pompey was anxious to lead Oroeses into conflict before he should find out the number of the Romans, for fear that when he learned it he might retreat. He kept his men in a kneeling position and covered with their shields, causing them to remain motionless, so that Oroeses should not ascertain their presence until he came to close quarters. The scutum could also be used as a tool for psychological warfare. Another quote from Dio explains how this was used to great effect in the capture of Syracuse. Some of the gates were opened by legionaries, and as soon as a few others had entered, all, both inside and outside, at a given signal, raised a shout and struck their spears upon their shields, and the trumpeters blew a blast, with the result that utter panic overwhelmed the Syracusans. As the Roman Empire declined, so did the scutum. From what I can tell, there were no real issues with the scutum that contributed to its decline more than its cost. The process to make these shields was very time consuming and expensive. Additionally, the main strength of the scutum was in the training of the men wielding it. While a shield wall is very effective, an untrained soldier creating a small gaffe in the line would lead to dire consequences for his comrades. As the Empire moved towards hiring more and more auxiliary troops, the use of the scutum declined, and soldiers chose to use their own culture's weapons and fighting styles. On this channel, we try and create interesting content on parts of history that most people have never heard about. Liking this video and subscribing helps us grow tremendously, and if you have any comments, please leave them below. We always read and respond to all of them. Thanks for watching, and we hope you click back soon.