This study investigates the development, manufacture, decoration and use of the Roman infantry helmet, a vital piece of personal protection equipment of both legionary and auxiliary troops.

The protective headgear worn by Roman foot soldiers of the Republican period was adopted directly from the Etruscans, who had in turn adapted helmets from neighbouring European cultures within and beyond the Italian peninsula. In this study, a renowned authority explains how its form remained largely unchanged until the Late Republic, when contact and conflict with a wider variety of cultures introduced new influences.

The dynamic forces at work during civil wars and transition from the Republic to the Principate at the end of the 1st century BC saw a whole range of types introduced which then evolved until new influences prompted further changes. M.C. Bishop shows how this culminated in contact with Eastern cultures leading to completely new types being introduced, which simplified manufacture and led to a variety of post-Roman helmet types.

Many new finds have ensured that much has changed in the narrative of Roman helmets in recent scholarship and the time is ripe for this accessible examination of the development, manufacture and use of the Roman infantry helmet. The text is complemented by carefully chosen illustrations, many in colour, and eight plates of specially commissioned artwork.

Writer, publisher and archaeologist M.C. Bishop is an authority on all aspects of Ancient Rome at war, with particular emphasis on arms and armour of the era. He has written, co-written or edited dozens of books and articles on the subject, and leads tours of Hadrian’s Wall and other Roman sites.

Giuseppe Rava is a leading military history illustrator and is inspired by the works of the great military artists, such as Detaille, Meissonier, Röchling, Lady Butler, Ottenfeld and Angus McBride.