Our understanding of the evolution of the Roman army – a continuous process throughout Roman history – peaks during the first century AD, when the archaeological and representational source data is at its richest. The assembly of legions to form the new British army, the exerci- tus Britannicus, for the invasion of Britain in AD 43 caused a knock-on effect across Germany and the Balkans as legions were relocated. When legions moved, they invariably buried what they could not take with them, and that included surplus equipment, providing an invaluable snapshot of what was in use or being discarded at the time. The nuances in the available information are sufficient to be able to detect both the similarities and differences between the army under Augustus (AW Special Issue 2009) and that of the Julio-Claudian period.
A legionary's arms
From the Augustan to the Tiberio-Claudian periods, the Mainz-type , with its tapering, often waisted blade with a long triangular tip, continued to reign supreme. Scabbards certainly
