Roman Shield
By Riley Allen
The Scutum
The scutum was round in the beginning of he Roman Empire.Eventually it turned into the tall rectangular shield.The scutum was a curved oval shield made from two sheets of wood glued together and covered with canvas and leather. It can be considered a body shield, and was extremely heavy. When a soldier charged with the shield, he would hold it with a straight arm and then run towards the enemy with full force in an attempt to knock his enemy over. He would then kneel behind the shield and fight from behind it.
Uses
This was used by the Roman military and gladiators. The Romans used it as a heavy armor and it is very heavy. The shield was very thick and was made to protect the whole body from a very strong force.
They were designed in such a way that Roman soldiers, when facing stronger armies, could come together and interlock their Roman Shields on the sides and above themselves to form a protective shell on all sides like a big turtle shell. They could then step out of the formation they created with their shields extremely quickly and continue to fight in hand-to-hand combat once the odds were in their favor.
Materials and measurments
It is 1.28m long and 63.5cm wide, and is made of laminated birch. The shield was covered with felt which was stitched through the wood. The grip was horizontal, and was meant to be held from the top. This type of shield probably also commonly featured an iron edging on the top and bottom rims.
How I made it and who helped me
My dad helped me with this. He cut the board to the right height and size. We spray painted the shield red. Then we covered he shield except for the center a painted that silver to look like metal. Then we drew the arrows and other designs on the shield. After that I spray painted those designs. Then I stapled straps to the back as handles. Then I painted the circle in the center and the bolts a metallic silver.
Is it still used today
It is not still used today because we no longer use swords for battle. We do use a sort of shield that is almost the same style. We today use a riot shield made of bulletproof glass.