Wargame Warrior

From SOA Forum:

Punic ships and helmets (click here)

More details here (click)

Duncan Head: "I've seen hints before that one of the Egadi helmets may not be a Montefortino, but that's the first description I've seen. It could be some sort of Thracian-Hellenistic style from the brief outline. The first coin here shows that Carthage used Hellenistic helmet types, though that one doesn't have a nasal.

What you don't get from the Forbes article, but is suggested in the Royal article that Erpingham linked to, is that the Montefortinos from the Egadi site are probably Carthaginian as well - some of them, at least, as one has a Punic letter scratched on it."

Some new, slightly less speculative Carthaginian helmets would be very nice. Can't wait for them to find a batch of shields with the blazonz still visible... 

11a looks more like the 'traditional' Punic helmet, but looks like anything goes at the moment.

11a looks more like the 'traditional' Punic helmet, but looks like anything goes at the moment.

Worth saying twice!

I cannot quite visualise the description of this new helmet; I have only seen one Thracian helmet with a nasal guard and it looks very untypical for the 3rd C. Maybe a throwback Chalkidian or an Italian hybrid helmet might be more likely?

As with all 'one off' finds, as opposed to multiples, no one knows the exact circumstances, it could be a one off, custom made for an officer or noble, it could be a family heirloom or some kind of family tradition, it could be a historical find  that had been found !  Think if all you had to work from for Napoleonics were prints of certain officers, everyone would be wearing frock coats and top hats or bicornes.

We've said before about how, generally, the only depictions made in ancient times are notable men and/or troops, guards and the like, very few depictions of the normal troops so they are nearly always reconstructions from various sources.

Still not sure about whether Rep Roman legions were uniformed or not, did they have sheild decoration or not, how did the allied legions look/fight, it's mostly pieced together from different sources and best judgements used and the Romans were quite well documented compared to the Carthies.

As long as it's not too outrageous, most types of uniform/equipment from around the Med would be OK, lot of contact with Greeks and Greek type troops before in Scicily, Spanish and Celt influences, trading links with the eastern Med, allied with the later Macedonians, could end up with anything Mediteranian really, at least that's the way I'm going ! 

It would be nice to have  a few examples of a helmet type but I'll take whatever I can get! There are loads of montefortino helmets and they are almost always assumed to be Roman rather than equally likely (IMHO) samnite, Spanish or apparently now Carthaginian. 

I think  the Carthaginians  are the epitome of a "rag bag" style and variety is very much part of its character.  They have enough signature troop types that  their infantry can be a bit more generic.

Finally some "evidence" for the Punic pikemen.

http://www.mmdtkw.org/CNAf003FirstPunicWar.html

some interesting reconstructions of Carthaginian soldiers (pikes notwithstanding)

Some more discussion of the Egadi hemet find

http://ramsravensandwrecks.blogspot.dk/2014/11/carthaginian-helmet-from-egadi.html