Scutum

Origin

The scutum is seen as having developed in Republican Rome from earlier shields of the Italian peninsula. The Republican scutum was a long oval curved shield, and by the early Empire it was refined into the rectangular curved shield we commonly picture, used as the standard gear of the legionary from about the 1st century to the 3rd. Later, around the 3rd century, as army organization and tactics changed, the army returned to lighter and easier oval and round shields. This structure, shaping plywood into a curve to wrap the body, was a result refined to fit exactly the Roman infantry tactics of fighting in close formation.

Features

• A large curved shield about 100 to 120 cm tall and 60 cm wide
• Plywood-and-leather structure with a central iron boss (umbo)
• A semi-cylindrical curve that wraps the whole body
• Forms a mobile shield wall in the testudo (tortoise) formation
• Its combination with the gladius the core of Roman legion tactics
• A sturdy defensive piece weighing about 7 to 10 kg

Stories

The scutum was the standard war gear of the Roman legionary, showing its worth in close-formation combat. The soldier gripped the horizontal handle behind the shield with one hand and, the curve guarding his body, stabbed the enemy through the gaps with the gladius in the other. When several pressed their shields close to the front and overhead, it became the testudo formation that stopped arrows and stones, especially powerful in approaching a wall in siege warfare. With the central umbo he rammed the enemy to break their formation, finishing in that instant with the gladius, so it was used in attack as well.

Weakness

The weaknesses of the scutum come from its weight and size. The weight of about 7 to 10 kg and its bulk were reassuring in close formation, but took a great deal of stamina on a long march. Large and heavy, it was cumbersome and ill-suited to individual mobile combat moving freely alone, or to a pursuit chasing a scattered enemy. If the formation broke and the side or rear was exposed, the advantage of a curve guarding only the front was lost and it became vulnerable. The body of plywood and leather could be damaged by repeated blows or fire, so it was, after all, the strongest shield when fighting together in formation.

Cultural Significance

The scutum is a shield that symbolizes the Roman legion and its disciplined group tactics. The thought of the Roman army, which put the unity of the formation before individual prowess, is held in the very structure of this shield, which wraps the body in a curve and overlaps with the neighboring soldier. The testudo, made by overlapping shields like a tortoise's shell, has become to this day a representative image called to mind by the Roman army, and the scutum paired with the gladius remains a symbol of the Roman way of combat, of 'guarding and stabbing'. On its face was painted the insignia of the legion, often a thunderbolt-and-wing motif, to show its unit.

In Popular Culture

The scutum appears in nearly every film, drama, and game about ancient Rome as the iconic gear of the legionary. The scene of legionaries holding rectangular red shields lined up in a testudo is a representative staging that calls the Roman army to mind at a glance. In games it is commonly used as the gear of heavy infantry raising a shield wall or charging. In fiction, however, the oval Republican scutum and the rectangular Imperial scutum are often mixed without distinguishing period, or the fact that it was heavy and ill-suited to individual melee is ignored.

Trivia

• The scutum excavated nearly whole at Dura-Europos in Syria is a precious surviving example that confirms the real construction of plywood glued in several layers and covered with leather.
• The Republican scutum was oval, and the rectangular curved form we commonly picture is of the early Empire, returning around the 3rd century to oval and round shields.
• The central umbo (boss) protected the hand and also served as an offensive tool to ram the enemy, so the shield was a weapon that struck as well as guarded.