January
22
/ 2024
Over 100 years ago, a Scot unearthed over 100 fragments of metal which he thought comprised a Roman chest guard. Now, National Museums Scotland have reconstructed the artifact and discovered that it was a high-ranking Roman soldier’s brass arm guard—“only the third of its kind known to exist.” The Roman arm guard was originally discovered at the Trimontium fort by lawyer and antiquary, James Curle, in 1906. The site is named after the three Eildon Hills which the fort overlooks and is located at Newstead, near Melrose, in the Scottish Borders. Having been occupied by around 2,000 invading Romans between 79 to 184 AD, it represents the largest outpost fort after the construction of Hadrian's Wall in the 120s AD
