ABSTRACT
Owing to the heterogeneous nature of the late Roman army, it would be impossible within the confines of this chapter to provide a comprehensive description of the equipment employed. From the late fourth century onwards, barbarian troops were drafted into the army in increasingly large numbers, and the distinctions between barbarians and Romans had blurred considerably, most pieces of armament representing an amalgamation of influences and styles. Although the state arms factories would have imposed some level of uniformity on the appearance of the regular army, the irregular troops would generally have used their native equipment. Many different nations served within the ranks of the Roman army, including Huns, Goths, Saracens and Franks, but to describe the equipment of these peoples would require a whole book in itself. This chapter, therefore, will primarily discuss those items of armament which have been found in ‘Roman’ archaeo-logical contexts, or are represented on ‘Roman’ works of art. Please note that ‘Roman’ denotes all those peoples who resided within the Empire, not all of whom were citizens by this time.
