Cover of BAR S394, with the stipple image of the Croy Hill relief.

At the same time, just as I had changed the ‘look’ of the drawings between editions 1 and 2, I wanted to do something a little different for the third edition by incorporating tone to indicate the materials used. This would enhance the appearance of the drawings but also provide more information for the reader in an intuitive form.

As an example, let’s look at decorated dagger scabbards. Having already produced a colour illustration of the recently discovered and conserved dagger from Haltern (DEU), it was a (fairly) simple matter to convert this to monochrome, reflecting the materials used, to replace the Velsen drawing.

Comparison of the coloured illustration of the Haltern dagger and scabbard (left) and a monochrome version (right) employing the material tone conventions for B&C3. Images: MCB

However, the Velsen scabbard was too good to lose completely, so it was worth adding to the main page of dagger scabbards. Similarly, the scabbards there were rather muddled and needed moving around into a more logical order. The Allériot (FRA) scabbard had to go (the published description of materials employed was too vague too identify the materials used) and the plain Mainz (DEU) scabbard essentially duplicated the Leeuwen (NLD) item which, although there was some raised detail, was not inlaid. Adding one of the Usk (GBR) scabbards added variety and filled out the story of early Principate dagger scabbards.

Comparison of the B&C2 illustration of Principate dagger scabbards (left) and the draft B&C3 version (right) employing the material tone conventions for B&C3. Images: MCB

This, then, provides the logic for the different order of the pieces, the appearance of some new ones and exclusion of others, as well as the overall ‘look’ in one of the illustrations, and the substitution of another.

The drawings for B&C3 are still at the draft stage and things may change in due course, but this at least will give a flavour of what is to come.

Helmet from Mainz-Weisenau (DEU), as recovered and before suffering war damage. Image: Ludwig Lindenschmit

First, a composite item recovered from the archaeological record is very unlikely to be intact (with bowl, cheek pieces, decorative appliqués, lining etc). Many will have been reconstructed during conservation with filler or other forms of modern repair. Effectively, an excavated artefact can only provide a minimum weight (and even then some materials lose mass after deposition and before recovery). Incidentally, the original Weisenau helmet serves to make another, related, point here, since most of it was blasted to smithereens in the Second World War. Weighing what’s left of that tells nobody anything.

Modern replica of a Weisenau/Imperial-Gallic-type helmet. Image: Claudia Thunnissen

How about modern replicas or reconstructions? Once again, there are many factors affecting the end result. Have the craftsmen accurately replicated the thicknesses of materials (and, indeed, used exactly the same materials) as the original? For those parts they have had to guess at (especially missing organic components like helmet liners and padding), how accurate were those guesses?

In the end, there will be more weights (and other dimensions) in B&C3, almost certainly in the notes, rather than the body text. The terms by which these are included will be set out and sources provided. They will be included on the understanding that these will not, and can never be, accurate reflections of true weights of artefacts. They will provide a guide; nothing more, nothing less. That is arguably the best that anyone can hope for.

How it was

When Jon and I conceived the idea of a 3rd edition of Roman Military Equipment (which quickly expanded into what we termed Project B&C3), he was still in the process of writing his magnum opus on Trajan’s Column. We agreed I would press ahead with the necessary updates to my sections (and add a new one) whilst he finished that work, which had priority. He would then update his parts of B&C3, add another new one, we would swap them round to edit, amend, and enhance each other’s work, and so complete the main volume.

Or so we thought. When I saw him at the beginning of what would transpire to be his last week of life, we briefly discussed what should be done with the book. He had accumulated a large number of new bibliographic references of new or previously overlooked publications but, understandably, had not had time to do anything with them.

To understand the way that we worked together you need to understand my reliance upon Jon’s opinion of what I wrote. To my mind, there was no peer reviewer finer than him and what he said was gospel (except when I disagreed with it, obviously; in such cases I endeavoured to follow the spirit, if not the letter, of his views).

How it is

So here I am, faced with no review by Jon of my new text, no new text from him, and most crucially no giggly, late-night Skype calls where we bash out a final form that, mirabile dictu, is actually not half bad. That cannot now happen, so I am faced with the question: where do we go from here?

How it will be

We have Jon’s computer and full access to the files on it. Using his bibliographic additions, it will be possible to work out what he wanted to add into the text, whether in the form of new finds, new references to old finds, or just new ideas and concepts that he had embraced (18 years is a long time not to have changed one’s mind about anything!). I can add or substitute a selection of this new material into the existing illustrations in much the same way as I am doing for my sections.

We had intended adding two new sections, one mostly by me and one by Jon. As was our way, having written them we would have swapped them over for rewriting or comments etc. I had written mine but he had not had time to start his. This means I will have to take that on if I go ahead with the new sections (they are such that it will be both or neither going into the book).

We had never taken the book proposal to a publisher and had no contract (although we sort of assumed we would first offer it to Oxbow if only because they published the 2nd edition). That did not particularly bother us since, when push comes to shove, I could always publish and market it myself.

So that is the state of play. Nothing can happen to Jon’s section until his wife and I have successfully finished his Trajan’s Column book and sent it on its way, so completion for B&C3 before the end of 2025 seems unlikely. Unlikely, but not impossible; watch this space. And what about the other bits (source books, bibliography, and Introduction to RME)? They will still come, but the book will take priority.

At the end of February 1993, Batsford Books published the first edition of our Roman Military Equipment from the Punic Wars to the Fall of Rome (B&C1). This was effectively an expansion of the ideas we put forward in our short booklet, also called Roman Military Equipment, published by Shire Books in 1989 (B&C0). When Batsford divested themselves of their archaeology list, we published our 2nd edition with Oxbow Books in 2006 (B&C2).

We have been considering producing a 3rd edition of Roman Military Equipment (B&C3) for some time. For us, certain conditions had to be met to justify this, not least sufficient new and interesting finds which affect the story we wish to tell. At the same time, we have decided to expand the compass of the book chronologically, by extending the start and end points. We will also add pointers to the equipment of the principal enemies that Rome faced, particularly where this had a bearing on the development of Rome’s own equipment. We also felt that, just as with the transition from B&C1 to B&C2, B&C3 should have revised illustrations. New items will be substituted at various points where they better support the text.

Whenever a new edition of a book is published it is a legitimate concern that it will be the same as the last, plus corrections, and thus not worth the additional purchase (we have all been caught out by this in the past). Rest assured that, just as B&C2 was massively expanded and updated from B&C1, B&C3 with be covering new chronological ground, new areas of study, new discoveries, and have an even more packed bibliography.

The booklet

Not everybody wants and needs the large book, however. To cover more popular interest in military equipment, we will be producing a short (and cheaper) introductory booklet, equivalent to the 1989 Shire booklet (but in full colour and also with revised illustrations), as well as an accompanying educational wall poster. To avoid confusion with its bigger brother (as happened with the original volume), this will be titled An Introduction to Roman Military Equipment.

The source books

Finally, and perhaps most significantly, we wanted to introduce some completely new elements as part of the project: freely accessible source material to back up (or perhaps even allow the reinterpretation of) our text. To this end we will be simultaneously producing three open access source books (with appropriate Creative Commons licences) of literary, representational, and archaeological evidence. We hope that these will be downloadable for free in digital format but will also be available to be purchased as hardcopies, for those who are fans of pulped dead trees.

The website

To support the study of Roman military equipment even further, there will be a categorised bibliography accessible in standard formats such as BibTeX. This will be just one of several new elements we will add to this website. Further additions will include a comprehensive glossary of military equipment terminology and a gallery of artefacts, replicas, and 3D reconstructions of Roman militaria, as well as a list of museums (with contact details) which contain important collections of military equipment and/or relevant iconographic material. There will also be a Roman military equipment bookshop (both popular and more technical volumes), proceeds from which will help fund the costs of this website. Finally, we will provide links to downloadable ebooks on the subject of equipment and this will include searchable PDF versions of B&C0 and B&C1.

Anything else?

We have other ideas (such as a series of podcasts) that we may well include in the project in due course. The current text, notes, and bibliography update file stands at more than 16K words. A proportion of which is substitution, rather than just addition (B&C2 is about 123K words, including index). We have not signed a contract and do not as yet have a publication date, since work on this project is still in progress. When we have more news, we will make it available here.