Ye gods! Save me from the slings and arrows of the Brits
Last updated 09:46, Friday, 15 February 2008
In the ancient world it was not just metal armour that was needed to keep swords and arrows from doing their worst. The help of the gods was also required.
In the stories of the Greek and Roman heroes this help was often quite ‘hands-on’: the shield that Perseus carried when he fought the gorgon Medusa was made by smith-god Vulcan, who had his workshop under Mount Etna in Sicily.
In the real world, the need for divine protection was also felt and is revealed through symbols and objects bearing them.
A good example is this fine bronze decorative mount (found by a metal detector on the banks of the River Eden) which has lettering around a central image of an eagle.
The eagle is clutching a ‘thunderbolt’, and is shown above a sphere.
The Roman lettering reads ‘optime maxime con’ which can be translated as ‘the greatest and most powerful protect’. On its own, this doesn’t really help. However, looking at the design as a whole shows it is appealing for protection. The ‘greatest and most powerful’ refers to the god Jupiter, whose symbols are the eagle and the thunderbolt. Thus the object is a request for Jupiter’s protection. But who is asking?
The mount is just one part of a set that would have been worn on a baldric – a type of sword belt. There would have been a second fitting which, judging from others found elsewhere, would have said something like ‘fighting men all’. Taken all together the fittings tell us that the fighting men of the Roman army wanted Jupiter to protect them in battle.
