Batavian Helmet

Finished my Batavian helmet today!

This helmet is based on one dated to the Batavian Rebellion, which occurred in 69AD when a germanic tribe known as the Batavi revolted against their Roman overlords. Tacitus recalls this conflict in-depth, giving us a lot of good information on those invovled. The helmet itself was discovered in the 1970s at Gelduba and is currently displayed at the Museum Burg Linn, along with an archeological reconstruction.

Many of the Batavi operated as Roman auxiliary units, having access to some pieces of Roman equipment-- such as this helmet. While I'm uncertain of the class of helmet-- probably a Montefortino or Weisenau?-- what we do know is that the owner, probably Batavian, hacked it up and made it "barbaric." Removing the neck guard, cheek plates, and brow crest, the bottom was trimmed with leather and decorated with leather trim and fur overtop.

So, like the original, I started off with a Roman helmet and hacked it up. I lined the inside with sheep's hair and edged it in deer leather, then decorated it with ermine skins, and pheasant and duck feathers. All of these animals would have been native or accessible to the area in the 1st century.

You'll notice mine deviates a little from the original reconstruction-- that is because several people in my group are using this design, and we don't all want to look alike! I think that defies the ramshackle, customized nature of this piece. Overall I feel like this is still very true to the original without being identical.

As you can see, my workshop helpers seem to approve.

Can't wait for more 1st century events!