Comment on Roman education program working as intended
PugJesus@piefed.social 2 months agoHelmets with wings and other crests are known to have been worn by Celtic peoples.
Comment on Roman education program working as intended
PugJesus@piefed.social 2 months agoHelmets with wings and other crests are known to have been worn by Celtic peoples.
Uruanna@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Decoratively and ceremonially, not in combat.
PugJesus@piefed.social 2 months ago
“Decoratively and ceremonially” is a far cry from “never existed beside some statues here and there, it’s a myth that celts had that.” and contemporary Roman depictions sometimes show Celtic and Germanic peoples wearing helmets with various crests in combat situations, as do contemporary literary descriptions.
The most common form of helmet would not have had ornate crests, but that’s it. Not all historical combat gear is streamlined for maximum aerodynamics. Spectacle and prestige are major components of pre-modern warfare.
Uruanna@lemmy.world 2 months ago
The image of the winged helmet comes from 19th c. archaeology mistakes, and the fact that we later figured out that the Celts did have crests and that some of those had wings (with a whole bird, which is what Roman descriptions talk about) does not validate that misinterpretation. It’s cherrypicking. Sticking with the wings specifically in the form that came from that misinterpretation, and not the actual ceremonial helmets that we found later, is still spreading the myth. The image that someone else posted up there looks nothing like the meme that is just the classic Asterix / German opera depiction.
I think it’s a farther cry to claim that the Celts had “winged helmets” when what they had was a whole ass turkey pigeon up there.
PugJesus@piefed.social 2 months ago
You’re absolutely right, I have no idea where someone would get the idea for winged helmets in antiquity, that’s absolutely absurd
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