The Roman Legionary Ready for Battle

The prosperity of ancient Rome lasted for over a thousand years. At its peak, it became a huge empire that spanned three continents: Europe, Asia and Africa, and dominated the Mediterranean Sea. In the era of the Roman Republic, the powerful Roman legion kept expanding the territory of Rome and spreading the glory of Rome everywhere. In the powerful legion, the legionaries (in Latin legionarius) were the foremost fighting force. They were the core of all tactics and an essential part of the army.

The second MENG scale statue, DX-002 1/6 Legionarius, is designed and sculpted by a professional sculptor after studying historical reference materials and painted by professional painters. The statue is about 350mm high (incl. base), and the base is about 200mm wide. The statue depicts a Roman legionary who’s prepared for battle at any time. This statue features vivid and realistic details. 

The Roman legionaries wore forged iron or brass helmets. The helmet of this statue excellently replicates the handmade traces by Roman craftsmen, and it features realistic brass surface texture. The painting has further added the marks left from battles.

The Roman chain mail was a sleeveless form of armor with thickened protection of shoulders. Usually, a chain mail had only a layer of rings. Why the Roman one had thickened shoulder protection? The reason was that the enemies around Rome were used to carry shields during fights. To attack the enemies, it’s common to slash and jab over the shields. In this way, the Roman Legionaries’ shoulders were exposed to enemies, so it’s particularly important to strengthen the protection of shoulders. 

The belts of Roman legionaries were usually made of leather. They would decorate a lot of metal buckles or badges on the belts according to their personal preferences and affordability. From the simple and unadorned belt of this statue, we can learn the preference of this legionary.

The scabbard of a Roman gladius (sword) was often made of metal, leather and wood. The leather or wooden scabbards were decorated with metal parts for reinforcement and decoration.

There were many types of the Roman gladius. It usually had a wooden hilt without a guard. The gladius of this statue is a common straight sword and it features the wear marks after fierce fights.

Shields used by the Roman legionaries were often made of wood and equipped with iron handles. The curved shields were covered by leather and linen. Their iron frame reinforced the protection, and the center of the shield had a spindle-shaped protrusion and a long ridge. The shield of this statue has carefully sculpted cover texture. You can also see bloodstains left on the shield during fights.

This legionary statue wears the usual military caligae, the uppers of which extend up to the ankles. The military caligae were often made of leather stitched together. The caligae had hobnails and metal buckles.

Legionarius

Scale: 1/6

Available in: December 2022

Thanks to the excellent work of the sculptor and painter, the heroic appearance of the Roman legionaries is presented to you. You can pre-order it from MENG distributors.