Saturday, January 19, 2013

Aquilifer In Progress

Painting on the VIII Legion's Aquilifer and the Legion's gods and awards Vexillifer is underway.  A base of P3 Monoth Base with a few washes of P3 Bloodtracker was applied to the lion pelt so far. 

Of Note: Consul Marius, as part of his reforms, established the Eagle or Aquila as the sole symbol of a Roman Legion (c. 106 BC).  For a Legion, the Aquilifer bore the highly coveted Aquila-Eagle, while the Imaginifer carried the Image of the Emperor.  Each Century and Cohort unit would have a Signifer to carry its Signum Standard and a Vexillarius to bear the unit's Vexillum banner.   These standard bearers wore mail (Hamata) armor instead of Lorica Segmentata plate armor and generally are depicted wearing the pelts of wolves, bears, and in the case of a Legion, a lion, over their helmets and armor.  This was a demonstration of the dominance of Rome over the forces of nature.  They generally carried a round Parma style shield in deference to the usual rectangular Scutum.  In the Castra (garrison or fort) unit encampment, the standards of the Legion and its Cohorts were housed in the Shrine or Treasury portion of the Principia (headquarters) building; where they were guarded day and night.

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