Hello all,

I have been contemplating buying this Roman cavalry figure for quite a while. However it was released in 2010. Its age prevented me from buying one.

For I remember reading a post by Marc Megroot who finished one. He complained about the casting quality: the mould needed a clean up.

Is there someone who bought one recently or who has it in his stash and can tell me a bit about the casting?

Cheers Paul

Paul, its worth to buy it.
It need alot of work, but nothing you can manage.
If you can have some from the early castings you have maybe a figure that shouldn't need alot of work.
But afterall: I really am very pleased with the outcome of the figure. It's worth every second of work.

Marc

got a great casting of this figure ! but not for sale

Hi Paul,
Contact me again,I have this and the Primus Pilus Roman figure you were also asking about.
Regards
Pete

I agree with Alex, I got an early casting and the only work needed was avery little wipe of filler at the horse joints.
Suggest you assemble horse and then dry fit 2 part saddle and rider to work out how you want to bring it all together.
This also ensures correct positioning of thd saddle to avoid gaps.
Great figure, grab it from Pete
Cheers Derek

Thanks everybody!

Oh no. The dreaded baldric clasp that Romans never had except in book copied from older books because somebody misidentified a horse tack clasp!

Likewise that shield should be curved. All Large Roman shields had a curve (except in books copied from older books). The Dura Europos shields were all curved and examination of shield bosses shows they were fitted to curved board. Re-enactors may catch up one day too!

There is no evidence Roman wore those bands around the wrists either. This was something introduced by Hollywood as used by Cowboys!


Apart from that the figure looks great.

Andrew

About the shield: maybe. I don't think a large curved shield is pratical when sitting on a horse. Even the shield supplied in the kit is too large. Does Junckelman have something to say about this subject?

A curved shield works better on horseback than a flat one. Norman shields were bigger and they were all curved. A flat shield absorbs a blow and a flat one deflects. The Dura Europos cavalry shields were from this period and were large and of course curved

Andrew.

Yes we know that by now. But what does Junckelman say about the subject?

You might find the following titles informative on the subject:

• Die Reiter Roms. Teil 1, Reise, Jagd, Triumph und Circusrennen, von Zabern, Mainz 1990;
• Die Reiter Roms. Teil 2, Der militärische Einsatz, von Zabern, Mainz 1991;
• Die Reiter Roms. Teil 3, Zubehör, Reitweise, Bewaffnung, von Zabern, Mainz 1992;
• Reiter wie Statuen aus Erz, Mainz 1996.

In noticed you are a scientist so I assume the German language is no problem for you. Experimental archeology sometimes offers surprising insights.

I'm not sure about Junckelman, I just remember spending a weekend with Peter Connolly tearing his ideas apart over various aspects of Roman cavalry and calling him a "showman". That was an interesting weekend luckily Francis Pryor did not turn up as there would have been s lot of verbal sparring.

Since when is Francis Pryor an expert on the Roman military? He seems to know more about prehistoric landscapes in general and fens in particular.

And why on earth would you ever have wanted to tear the ideas of a historian like Conolly apart? Doesn't sound very nice does it?

But you did not read Junckelman that is obvious to me.

Looking at the Trajan column it does not seem that the knights' shields are curved

while that of legionnaires is clearly curved
here the talk of trained troops deployed. the knight's shield is partially hidden, but it seems flat



continuing in the column we have a knight in the foreground with his beautiful flat shield , the rest of the image makes us see a camp while the army moves ... with curved shields



I do not know if the piece is dated before or after the Trajan era, but to a piece on horseback I would refer to this monument

(Consider that I do not know the uses of ancient Rome at all)
is my simple thought
Giorgio

@Giorgo: thank you! An interesting point of view. I tend to agree.

Thanks for the interesting discussion. Where on the figure is the clasp you are referring to that should not be roman? Just to understand this correctly.
Thanks.

I have those books and will have a look, hopefully before the movers pack them... :-/

Cheers
Adrian

Andrew, you don't mean one of these do you?: http://www.reading.ac.uk/silchester/discoveries-at-silchester/sil-discoveries.aspx
(See halfway the page).

Good idea. I met Junckelman in Utrecht in the '80 's. At that time he (together with some colleagues) was travelling up the former Limes (hence the visit to Utrecht) dressed and equiped as Auxilia cavalrymen on small furry horses (almost the size of ponies). A very knowledgeable experimental archeologist.

They put on a very convincing display in cavalry tactics. What I remember very well is that the cheekguards and the inside of the helmets they wore were padded.

Cheers,

Paul

[

Rossbach

I have never bothered with Junkleman because I visited museums and measured finds up in the back rooms, and drew my own conclusions from practical experience and source material. I also ride horses and know a fair bit about cavalry. Francis Pryor was due to present that weekend with Peter and myself but never turned up. He hated Romans and Peter was looking forward to winding him up.