A helmet from the mid-3rd century B.C. in exceptional condition has been recovered from the waters of the Egadi Islands off the western coast of Sicily. The bronze helmet is complete and undamaged with both cheekpieces, an extremely rare survival. It is one of the most complete ever recovered.
Montefortino type helmets were semicircular at the base, then spin-formed and chased to conical shape. They were topped with a mushroom-shaped terminal knob. The rim flared slightly at the front and sides with a small neck guard projecting from the back. The cheek guards were tied together under the chin with a leather strap. Originally a Celtic design from central Europe, by the time of the First Punic War, they were standard equipment for Roman soldiers.
The Battle of the Egadi Islands was fought between the navies of Rome and Carthage on March 10th, 241 B.C. The Roman fleet, commanded by Gaius Lutatius Catulus, had 200 ships. The Carthaginians fleet, commanded by Annon, had 100, many of them Roman ships that had been captured in previous clashes. Rome won this one. It was the decisive naval battle of the First Punic War, and Rome’s victory ensured its long-term domination of the Mediterranean.
Sicily’s Superintendency of the Sea has worked with deep divers and maritime archaeologists for more than 15 years to explore the Egadi seabed and recover artifacts from the battle. Armor, pottery and weapons have been found, including numerous Montefortino type helmets, and an unprecedented number of vicious bronze battering rams (rostra) both sides mounted to the prows of ships. There were only four known when the first Egadi rostrum was found in 2008. Since then, more than two dozen have been recovered from this one battle alone.
Rostrum number 25, found in a previous campaign, has now been cleaned and an inscription revealed. It reads: “Ser.Solpicius CF Quaestor Probavi(t)” which translates to “Servius Sulpicius, quaestor, son of Gaius, approved [of this].” The Gaius mentioned may be Gaius Sulpicius, a member of the patrician gens Sulpicia, a family so ancient its first consul served in 500 B.C., just nine years after the last king of Rome was expelled and the monarchy replaced with the Republic. One Gaius Sulpicius Paterculus was consul in 258 B.C. and succeeded in conquering multiple Carthaginian cities in Sicily during the First Punic War. Another Gaius Sulpicius, this one of the Gallus branch, was consul in 243 B.C.
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