by Aldus Marius on Tue Jul 06, 2004 11:37 pm
Salvete, collegi...
This would've been a good one for the Collegium Militarium. I even briefly considered kidnapping it [g]. But I'll meet it where it is, hopefully with something useful in my marching-kit...
As a reenactor who used to be a drill sergeant, I've had my own reasons to wonder just what a Roman salute was supposed to look like. I have seen exactly two images of a Roman foot-soldier doing anything that might be called a salute. (Cavalry had their own salute, generally thought to be the extended-arm "Marcus Aurelius" gesture.) Both infantry images are reproduced in the Osprey Elite series book The Praetorian Guard by Dr. Boris Rankov (illus. Richard Hook).
The first is a photo from the Domitius Ahenobarbus altar in Rome. The detail shows two Late Republican-era soldiers in chainmail (lorica hamata), one striding away while the other one either salutes or adjusts his helmet. (The two movements are so alike that, even nowadays, an enlisted man who salutes something he wasn't supposed to will, upon realizing his mistake, pretend to fiddle with the bill of his cap.)
The 'saluting' soldier is shown in a frontal view with his head turned to his right. His right arm is elbow-out in a brocket [<] position. His right hand is raised to his helmet, palm straight downwards, fingers together and somewhat curved, thumb touching fingers (due to wear of the reliefs, it is hard to tell which finger specifically), and fingertips touching either his forehead or the browpeak of his helmet.
The other image is actually a painted reproduction by Mr. Hook. It shows a Trajanic Centurion in scale armor (lorica squamata) from the front, his right arm also out to the side and bent at the elbow to bring his fingertips up to his helmet. His thumb is not visible the way the hand is being held (palm inwards), suggesting that it is either aligned with the other fingers modern-style, or that if it is tucked under the palm, it is only very slightly so--a tucked-under thumb is normally pretty obvious under extended fingers.
The Centurion's fingers are much less curved than those of the Republican Legionary, hinting perhaps at some development towards straightness in the intervening few centuries. The contact point on the helmet is rather higher, too--instead of just touching the brow-peak, it has moved to where the embossed eyebrows would be on an Imperial Gallic helmet...id est, about halfway between the brow-peak and the crest. Sources cited for this illustration are "a number of reliefs, including the funerary monument of Flavius Mikkalus recently unearthed in Turkey".
In short, what little guidance we have concerning the Roman infantry salute shows a gesture which is so like a modern salute, differing only in contact-point and some details of angulation, that it's almost a disappointment. I've seen these salutes on recruits who hadn't yet perfected the current American version. I've straightened enough fingers, tilted enough palms, and threatened to break many a tucked-under thumb. [feg]
And, sadly, I've realized that an accurate Roman salute would never sell in Hollywood or on a reenactor gig. It looks too much like a modern one. People would never believe it. They expect, even demand, to have the Mussolini monstrosity thrown up in their faces. You can explain the real thing all you like, they will cling to their fantasy: "We-l-l, I don't know..." or, in the case of one event sponsor: "Just do the movie one, just this once, OK?!?"
Hmmm...conflict between what-looks-like-was and what people would rather believe; this one's starting to sound like a Historicum topic after all...!! >({|;-)
In fide,
Aldus Marius Peregrinus.