All those battles in "The Book Of Mormon" and nothing survives...because it was never there.

Perhaps one day Mormon archaeologists will find Joseph Smith's imaginary cave filled to the brim with gold, silver, and swords...and a pair of socks.


############

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/legion-british-museum-roman-empire-b2489620.html

A lone red sock sits among the stop-you-in-your-tracks bronze cavalry helmets, crocodile-skin armour and other remarkable pieces that litter the halls of Legion: Life in the Roman Army at the British Museum. The show is aimed squarely at our apparently unending fascination with all things Roman but this small, uncannily well-preserved, item of knitwear, made in Egypt between 200 and AD400 with a separate pocket for the big toe, contains its big revelation.

Rather than a merciless killing machine imposing imperium on the barbarians, legionaries were the poor bloody infantry, obliged to arm and clothe themselves and often suffering from cold feet. Rome was a glorious idea but it was also a very human endeavour.

We suspected as much. The one thing every Briton learns about Hadrian’s Wall, apart from it now being shorn of a much-loved sycamore tree, is that the legionaries who manned it wanted warmer footwear.

The British Museum’s show is themed around another legionary in search of footwear. Terentianus was a 2nd-century Egyptian lad with military ambitions but no social connections. Consequently, immediate entry into a swanky legion was out of the question so he signed up with the unfashionable marines and worked his way up. He complained a lot and went through two pairs of socks a month. We know this because some of his correspondence survives as papyrus fragments; a survival that feels as miraculous as that of the show’s headline exhibit – the last legionary shield in existence.


############



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/05/2024 10:25AM by anybody.

I want reparations.

LOL :-D

You could do worse than asking for that shield - it's really beautiful and would fit perfectly in a corner of your living room for when you're not feeling sociable ;-)

When I'm feeling sociable? I am always sociable; but you are right it is a spectacular antiquity. Someone seems always to be finding ancient things across Britain. Makes me want to take a metal detector with me on my next trip. Maybe I could be a star in a TV series about detectorists... oh wait...

What’s a scutum, and why does it need shielding?

If you don't know, you don't need to.

A piece of a red wool Roman tunic survived at Masada. They also found an in tact Roman medical box.