A ''cingulum militare'' was a piece of ancient
Roman military equipment in the form of a belt decorated with metal fittings, which was worn as a badge of military status by soldiers and officials. Many examples were made in the
Roman province
The Roman provinces (Latin: ''provincia'', pl. ''provinciae'') were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was rule ...
of
Pannonia.
[Crummy, Philip (1981). Colchester Archaeological Report 1/CBA Research Report 39: Aspects of Anglo-Saxon and Norman Colchester. Published by Colchester Archaeological Trust and the Council for British Archaeology. ()]
The belt was composed of the following parts:
# Balteus: Hanging band that was compounded for an overall band.
# Bulla: Rivets on the baltea.
# Pensilium: Pendant at the end of the straps of the belt.
# Lamna: Discus at the end of each apron strip that embrace the pensilium.
# Fibula: Buckle of the belt.
The ''cingulum militare'' was used in conjunction with the helmet (''
galea''), the shield (''
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 ...
''), the overall armor on the upper body (''
lorica hamata
The ''lorica hamata'' (in Latin with normal elision: ) is a type of mail armor used by soldiers for over 600 years (3rd century BC to 4th century AD) from the Roman Republic to the Roman Empire. ''Lorica hamata'' comes from the Latin ''hamatus'' ( ...
''), a dagger (''
pugio
The ''pugio'' (; plural: ''pugiones'') was a dagger used by Roman soldiers as a sidearm. It seems likely that the ''pugio'' was intended as an auxiliary weapon, but its exact purpose for the soldier remains unknown. Officials of the empire took t ...
''), and a sword (''
gladius
''Gladius'' () is a Latin word meaning "sword" (of any type), but in its narrow sense it refers to the sword of ancient Roman foot soldiers. Early ancient Roman swords were similar to those of the Greeks, called '' xiphe'' (plural; singular ''xi ...
'').
See also
*
Roman military personal equipment
Roman military personal equipment was produced in large numbers to established patterns, and used in an established manner. These standard patterns and uses were called the ''res militaris'' or ''disciplina''. Its regular practice during the Roma ...
*
Lorica segmentata
The ''lorica segmentata'' (), also called ''lorica lamminata'' (see Lorica segmentata#Name, §Name), is a type of personal armour that was used by soldiers of the Roman army, consisting of Laminar armor, metal strips fashioned into circular band ...
References
The Roman Soldier's Belt
Ancient Roman military equipment
Ancient Roman legionary equipment
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