helmet
- Museum number
- 1814,0705.1
- Title
- Object: The Ribchester Helmet
- Description
-
Copper alloy cavalry helmet with face-mask visor. Decorated with a scene of a skirmish between infantry and cavalry. Fittings for a crest-box and a pair of trailing streamers survive on the head-piece.
- Production date
- 1stC(late)-2ndC(early)
- Dimensions
-
Height: 387 millimetres (helmet on mount)
-
Height: 300 millimetres
-
Weight: 1305.60 grammes
-
Width: 260 millimetres
-
Depth: 290 millimetres
- $Inscriptions
-
- Curator's comments
- Cavalry sports helmet
Roman Britain, late 1st or early 2nd century AD
From Ribchester, Lancashire
Helmet worn by élite trooper in the colourful cavalry sports events
In 1796 a clogmaker's son, playing behind his father's house in Ribchester, Lancashire, discovered a mass of corroded metalwork. This proved to be a hoard of Roman military equipment, mainly cavalry sports equipment and military awards.
Cavalry sports (hippika gymnasia) were flamboyant displays of military horsemanship and weapons drill. They served both as training sessions and to entertain the troopers. The most colourful events were mock battles among the élite riders of the unit, often in the guise of Greeks and Amazons. Both men and horses wore elaborate suites of equipment on these occasions. The helmet, decorated with a scene of a skirmish between infantry and cavalry, is the most spectacular piece. When used, the head-piece and face mask of embossed bronze would be held together by a leather strap. A crest-box and a pair of trailing streamers or 'manes' would have been attached to the head-piece.
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
-
Exhibited:
2014 7 July - 31 Oct, Ribchester Roman Museum, Spotlight: The Ribchester Helmet
2008 24 Jul-26 Aug, London, BM, Hadrian: Empire and Conflict
2007 15 Sep-2 Dec, London, Royal Academy of Arts, Making History: Antiquaries in Britain, 1707-2007
2002 16 Sep-1 Dec, Leeds, Henry Moore Institute, Changing Faces
- Acquisition date
- 1814
- Department
- Britain, Europe and Prehistory
- Registration number
- 1814,0705.1
