Liberty Biblical Museum
  • Home
  • About
  • Artifacts
    • Mace Head
    • Axe Head
    • Bronze Sword
    • Spear Head
    • Khopesh
    • Slingshot Projectiles
    • Arrowheads
    • Gladius
    • Roman Shield Mount
  • Upcoming
  • Further Reading
  • Sources
  • Contact

roman shield mount

Click the photos below to magnify. 
Shield Mount overhead view
Shield Mount with 25cm size reference
Shield Mount close-up view

​Artifact:
 Roman Shield Mount 
Location Discovered: Unknown
Date: 2nd Century A.D.
Material: Bronze
Diameter: 2 inches

This bronze Roman shield mount has been dated back to the second century AD. All Roman legionaries were equipped with a large, curved, rectangular shield called a scutum. Scutums were made of several layers of wood glued together and covered with leather.  In the center of the shield was the "boss," a large, metal half-sphere protruding from the shield that could be used to strike an enemy soldier (1). This shield mount was likely used to cover a bolt or nail that had attached the boss or leather to a Roman shield.  
​
The apostle Paul compares faith to a shield that can be used to "extinguish the fiery darts of the enemy" in Ephesians 6:16. Paul would have likely seen Roman soldiers on a daily basis during his first imprisonment in Rome, so the Roman scutum was likely the shield that came to his mind as he wrote his epistle to the Ephesians. 

Picture
Previous Artifact
​(1)  Robert L. O'Connell, Soul of the Sword: An Illustrated History of Weaponry and Warfare from Prehistory to the Present (New York: Free Press, 2002), 83.
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
Photo used under Creative Commons from Yair Aronshtam
  • Home
  • About
  • Artifacts
    • Mace Head
    • Axe Head
    • Bronze Sword
    • Spear Head
    • Khopesh
    • Slingshot Projectiles
    • Arrowheads
    • Gladius
    • Roman Shield Mount
  • Upcoming
  • Further Reading
  • Sources
  • Contact