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LATE ROMAN SHIELD BLAZONS

I have a few drawings bellow, but really for this subject I must defer to Luke Ueda-Sarson’s website. He has excellent scans of the Notitia Dignatum housed at the Bodleian library in the UK.

Starting sometime around the 3rd century, the Roman Legion ceased being purely "Roman" in that the soldiers were primarily recruited from foreign tribes. The names of the legions from this time bear out this fact. Though, the title Cornuti, for instance, did not mean that only Carnutes were in that legion. Men from different tribes found themselves mixed together.

Due to logistical reasons, the soldiers were not issued standard uniforms. The men were given an allowance to buy their own clothing and armor. To give uniformity, the troops of a particular legion probably all had the same color helmet crests and shields. The shield patterns shown here correspond to the senior western infantry units. These were recorded in a document used by Roman administrtors called the Notitia Dignitatum. An original of this scroll does not exist. It was, however, copied by monks in medeival times. As a result the colors may not be exact.

PetulantesCeltae SenioJoumianiHerculiani
DinitensesTongraceaniPannonicianiMorsicianci
Armigeri SeniorSabariensesOciananiThebei
CimbrianiiArmigeri JunioCornutiBrachiati
Heruli SenioBataniMattiaciAscarii Senio
Ascarii JunioJoumi Senio