Intact Roman helmet from First Punic War discovered

Heritage Daily ^ | September 7, 2025 | Mark Milligan

[fidelis]

[Red Badger]

Looks kinda Puny.........

[pierrem15]

LOL If you visit the museum at Olympia in Greece where they have helmets from the Battle of Marathon sent as offerings to Zeus, the helmets look like they would belong to a modern 14 or 15 year old boy.

Our ancestors were much smaller than we are because we get much more protein as small children than they did.

[blackdog]

After studying history for 50 years, one should always don the “Fuzzy, pompous helmet” because that’s the one that required everyone on your side to die before you.

[Tell It Right]

history ping

[fidelis]

Looks kinda Puny...

Could be. The average person at that time was, by modern standards, on the short side. I'm not sure this necessarily translates in them having smaller heads, though.

[packrat35]

As a history buff, I find this interesting. Thanks for posting.

[fidelis]

"The example found near the Aegadian Islands comes from the site of the Battle of the Aegates, fought on 10 March 241 BC, a naval conflict and the final and deciding battle of the First Punic War."

I wonder if they found a skull inside this helmet? If not, one can easily imagine some Roman Marine looking over the side of the ship and accidently losing his gear.

[GingisK]

Begging the general’s pardon, sir, but that doesn’t look intact.

[bitt]

p

[Political Junkie Too]

LOL! He was making a pun.

-PJ

[fidelis]

Begging the general’s pardon, sir, but that doesn’t look intact.

It looks like all the pieces are there except for the leather strips that connected the cheek plates to the main helmet. These probably corroded away in the sea water. Here's a different one.

[fidelis]

LOL! He was making a pun.

LOL! Of course, and a good one too. Sorry, I'm a little slow this morning!

[GingisK]

It wasn’t assembled in post #1. Somebody saw my post and hastily used wire from a paperclip to attach the ear guards. I cry foul. ;-D

[fidelis]

LOL. No worries. The second picture is of a different helmet of the same type.

[Miami Rebel]

What a marvelous find. The history of Carthage is remarkable, doomed to inevitable annihilation from Rome. They put up good fights along the way.

[GingisK]

One of those is mine. I remember it from a previous life.

Roman artifacts fascinate me.

[reed13k]

There is also a carbohydrate link to height and stature. One thing you can tell from Chinese population is that they are taller and larger framed in the North as the eat more wheat, while in the south they eat more rice and tend to be shorter and smaller framed.

Both regions eat a variety of proteins and vegetables and follow the common 8 courses+base in both: 5 flavors to balance ying/yang supposedly (spicy, salty, sour, sweet, bitter), soup, fish, meat (pork, beef, or fowel), and the base (rice, buns).

As long as the 5 tastes are covered then the other pieces can be mixed and matched and the ordering becomes a bit of an art based on the regional preferences (Sichuan more spicy, Hunan more sour for example).

The main difference though between North and South is the base.

[healy61]

I wondered the same.

[fidelis]

What a marvelous find. The history of Carthage is remarkable, doomed to inevitable annihilation from Rome. They put up good fights along the way.

Carthage always fascinates me too. Everything from their origins (which may be in the "sea peoples" or Phoenicians), to Hannibal, to their ignominious end.