We’ve all become accustomed to seeing iconic red-crested helmets depicted in Hollywood battle scenes set in the Roman era. But, are these red crests historically accurate or just a product of creative license? While Roman-era helmets ( galea) were obviously used for protection by armies carving out the Roman Empire, the thought of soldiers adding to their already bulky stash of kit by sporting a tall red brush on their helmet makes you wonder why on Earth they’d bother.
Nevertheless, there was a purpose to these cumbersome and colorful crests. In the case of celebratory parades, they would have been decorative, but when it came to the battlefield there had to be a more practical reason for wearing a crested helmet.
Many historians suspect that in the heat of battle they helped Roman warriors to stand out. That way they could quickly identify their comrades and avoid fratricide on the chaotic battlefield. Just like different clothing and symbols help with identification during modern warfare, crested helmets made it easier to recognize particular regiments or soldiers of different rank due to the color, design and style of their helmet crest. This would also have been invaluable for locating.
Meanwhile, The History Guy claimed that this kind of unique identifier was useful in a culture in which men sought witnesses to their heroic deeds. According to the Greek historian Polybius, however, their aim was “to make every man look twice his real height… such as will strike terror into the…
