A ''parma'' or ''parmula'' (the diminutive of ''parma'') was a type of round shield used by the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

, especially during the later period of imperial history since

3rd century The 3rd century was the period from 201 ( CCI) to 300 (CCC) Anno Domini (AD) or Common Era (CE) in the Julian calendar.. In this century, the Roman Empire saw a crisis, starting with the assassination of the Roman Emperor Severus Alexander ...

Characteristics

The ''parma'' was about 36 inches (91 cm) across (or less) and had iron in its frame, making it a very effective piece of armour. ''Parmae'' had handles and

shield boss A shield boss, or umbo, is a round, convex or conical piece of material at the centre of a shield. Shield bosses (or sometimes, just "bosses") are usually made of thick metal but could also be made of wood. The boss was originally designed to de ...

es (''umbones''). The ''parma'' was used by legionnaires in the early republican period of Rome's history, by the lowest class division of the army— the ''

velites ''Velites'' (singular: ) were a class of infantry in the Roman army of the mid-Republic from 211 to 107 BC. ''Velites'' were light infantry and skirmishers armed with javelins ( la, hastae velitares), each with a 75cm (30 inch) wooden shaft the ...

''. Their equipment consisted of a ''parma'', javelin, sword and helmet. Later, the ''parma'' was replaced by the body-length ''

scutum The ''scutum'' (; plural ''scuta'') was a type of shield used among Italic peoples in antiquity, most notably by the army of ancient Rome starting about the fourth century BC. The Romans adopted it when they switched from the military formati ...

'' as ''velites'' were phased out with the

Marian reforms The Marian reforms were reforms of the ancient Roman army implemented in 107 BC by the statesman Gaius Marius, for whom they were later named. The reforms originated as a reaction to the military and logistical stagnation of the Roman Republic in ...

War use

It was used mainly by

auxiliary Auxiliary may refer to: * A backup site or system In language * Auxiliary language (disambiguation) * Auxiliary verb In military and law enforcement * Auxiliary police * Auxiliaries, civilians or quasi-military personnel who provide support of ...

infantry and cavalry, with the

legionaries The Roman legionary (in Latin ''legionarius'', plural ''legionarii'') was a professional heavy infantryman of the Roman army after the Marian reforms. These soldiers would conquer and defend the territories of ancient Rome during the late Republi ...

preferring the heavier but more protective ''scutum'', during earlier periods. It was used also by ''

signifer A ''signifer'' () was a standard bearer of the Roman legions. He carried a ''signum'' (standard) for a cohort or century. Each century had a ''signifer'' so there were 59 in a legion. Within each cohort, the first century's ''signifer'' would b ...

i'' (standard bearers). In

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: t ...

's ''

Aeneid The ''Aeneid'' ( ; la, Aenē̆is or ) is a Latin Epic poetry, epic poem, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Troy, Trojan who fled the Trojan_War#Sack_of_Troy, fall of Troy and travelled to ...

'', the ''parma'' is cited as a weapon utilised by the

Teucrians In Greek mythology, King Teucer (; Ancient Greek: Τεῦκρος ''Teûkros'') was said to have been the son of the river-god Scamander and the nymph Idaea. Mythology Before the arrival of Dardanus, the land that would eventually be called D ...

in defence against the Greeks (

Battle of Troy In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans (Greeks) after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, king of Sparta. The war is one of the most important events in Greek mythology and has ...

), and later against the

Rutulians The Rutuli or Rutulians were an ancient people in Italy. The Rutuli were located in a territory whose capital was the ancient town of Ardea, located about 35 km southeast of Rome. Thought to have been descended from the Umbri and the Pelas ...

Other uses

The ''parmula'' was the shield used by thraex gladiators. It was also used by the Roman ''vexilliferi'' or

flag bearer A standard-bearer, also known as a flag-bearer is a person (soldier or civilian) who bears an emblem known as a standard or military colours, i.e. either a type of flag or an inflexible but mobile image, which is used (and often honoured) as a f ...

s that carried the standard that marked the

cohort Cohort or cohortes may refer to: * Cohort (educational group), a group of students working together through the same academic curriculum * Cohort (floating point), a set of different encodings of the same numerical value * Cohort (military unit ...

, as well as by most early auxiliaries. In the Pyrrhic dance it was raised above the head and struck with a sword so as to emit a loud ringing noise.

References

External links

Parma
(Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities at

LacusCurtius LacusCurtius is a website specializing in ancient Rome, currently hosted on a server at the University of Chicago. It went online on August 26, 1997; in July 2021 it had "3707 webpages, 765 photos, 772 drawings & engravings, 120 plans, 139 maps." T ...

) Roman shields Roman auxiliaries Late Roman military {{AncientRome-mil-stub

Characteristics

War use

Other uses

See also

References

External links