Thursday, January 03, 2008

The Market Harborough helmet

From the Leicester Mercury:

Archaeologists have begun a four-year restoration of a piece of history that could unravel Leicestershire's Roman past.

A 2,000-year-old ceremonial cavalry helmet unearthed near Market Harborough has been described by experts as "the most important find in Britain for a generation".

It is believed the helmet may have been a reward given by Romans to an ancient British tribe, or was perhaps looted when Queen Boudicca led her bloody but doomed revolt against Roman rule in 60 or 61AD.

The theory I have heard is that this is a ceremonial helmet which would have been given to a British noble who fought as a mercenary for the Romans before Julius Caesar landed in Kent. Which suggests there was a lot more to Britano-Roman relations than a simple invasion in 55 BC.

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