GA´LEA
GA´LEA (
κράνος, poet.
κόρυς,
πήληξ),
a helmet, a casque. The helmet was originally made of skin or leather,
whence is supposed to have arisen its appellation,
κυνέη, meaning properly a helmet of dog-skin, but applied to
caps or helmets made of the hide of other animals, not necessarily worn as
armo<*> (
ραυρείη, κτιδέη,
Hom. Il. 10.258,
335;
αἰγείη,
Od. 24.230;
Hdt.
7.77: compare
κράνη δκύτινα,
Xen. Anab. 5.4, § 13;
galea lupina,
Prop. 4.11,
19), and
even to those which were entirely of bronze or iron (
πάγχαλκος,
Od. 18.377). The leathern basis of the
helmet was also very commonly strengthened and adorned by the addition of
either bronze or gold, which is expressed by such epithets as
χαλκήρης, εὔχαλκος, χρυσείη. The helmet of
Hector was made of three such layers (
τρίπτυχος,
Hom. Il. 11.352). Helmets which, had a
metallic basis (
κράνη χαλκᾶ,
Xen. Anab. 1.2, § 16) were in Latin
properly called
cassides (Isid.
Orig. 18.14; Tac.
Germ. 6; Caesar,
Caes. Gal. 3.45), although the terms
galea and
cassis are
often confounded. A casque (
cassis) found at
Pompeii is preserved in the collection at Goodrich Court, Herefordshire.
(Skelton,
Engraved Illust. i. pl. 44.) The perforations for
the lining (cf.
OCREA) and
exterior border are visible along its edge. A side and a front view of it
are presented in the annexed woodcut. A
 |
|
Helmets. (From the collection at Goodrich Court.)
|
casque very like this, and inscribed with an archaic dedication to
Zeus, was fished up from the bed of the Alpheus, near Olympia, and is now in
the British Museum (
C. I. G. No. 29). Among the materials
used for the lining of helmets were felt (
πῖλος,
Hom. Il. 10.265) and sponge (Aristot.
H. A. 5.16).
The helmet, especially that of skin or leather,
[p. 1.899]was
sometimes a mere cap conformed to the shape of the head, without either
crest or any other ornament (
ἄφαλόν τε καὶ
ἄλοφον,
Il. 10.358). In this state it was probably
used in hunting (
“
galea venatoria,”
C. Nep. Dat.
3.2
), and was called
καταῖτυξ (Hom.
Il. l.c.), in Latin
CUDO The preceding woodcut shows an example of it as worn by
Diomede in a small Greek bronze, which is also in the collection at Goodrich
Court. (Skelton,
l.c.) The additions by which the
external appearance of the helmet was varied, and which served both for
ornament and protection, were the following:--
1. The (
φάλος, which was either single,
double (
ἀμφίφαλος, δίφαλος, Hom.
II. 5.743, 11.41), or quadruple (
τετράφαλος,
Hom. Il. 12.384;
22.314). It has been held (Liddell and Scott, s. v.) that the
φάλος was the projecting peak of the
helmet. According to this view,
τετράφαλος
is admittedly unintelligible (L. and S.
loc. cit.),
and it is certain that the
φάλος was a
ridge of metal, afterwards called
κῶνος
(Buttmann), which served as a support for the crest. The
φάλος is well shown in the cut at p. 189
b [
LORICA]. Instances occur where there are two or more such ridges.
(See Helbig,
Das Homerische Epos, p. 207.) In the cut below,
from a gem with the head of Athene Parthenos, the
φάλοι are represented by a Sphinx and two Pegasi.
2. The helmet thus adorned was very commonly surmounted by the crest
(
crista,
λόφος, Horn.
Il.
22.316), which was often of horsehair (
ἵππουρις, ἱπποδάσεια, Hom.
ll.
cc.;
λόφων ἔθειραι, Theocr. 22.186;
hirsuta juba, Propert. 4.11, 19), and made
so as to look imposing and terrible (
Hom. Il.
3.337;
Verg. A. 8.620), as well as
handsome (ib. 9.365;
εὔλοφος, Heliod.
Aeth. vii.). The helmet often had two or even three
crests. (Aesch.
Sept. c. Theb. 384. Compare the cut below
with the head of Athene, having a helmet with a triple crest.) In the Roman
army of later times the crest served not only for ornament, but also to
distinguish the centurions (Veget. 2.13). Cf. Vegetius, 2.16:
“Centuriones vero habebant . . . galeas ferreas, sed transversis
et argentatis cristis, ut celerius noscerentur a suis.” Compare
the annexed cut from a part of a centurion's tomb, from Petronell, showing
the transverse crest.
3. The two cheek-pieces (
bucculae,
Juv. 10.134;
παραγναθίδες, Eustath.
in Il. 5.743), which
were
 |
|
Galea. (Baumeister.)
|
usually attached to the helmet by hinges, so as to be lifted up
and down. They had buttons or ties at their extremities for fastening the
helmet on the head. (
V. Fl. 6.626.) A strap
passed under the wearer's chin, in the case of the Homeric helmet (
Il. 3.371), but apparently cheek-pieces were
not movable. The cheek-pieces were often elaborately adorned with reliefs.
(Cf.
Antiq. du Bosp. Cimm. pl. xxviii. fig. 1; Baumeister,
fig. 2214.)
4. The beaver, or visor, a peculiar form of which is supposed to have been
the
αὐλῶπις τρυφάλεια, i. e. the
perforated beaver. (
Hom. Il. 11.353: cf.
Hesych. sub voce and Helbig,
Das
Homerische Epos, p. 205.) The gladiators wore helmets somewhat
of this kind (
Juv. 8.203), and specimens of
them, not unlike those worn in the Middle Ages, have been found at Pompeii.
See the woodcut to
GLADIATORES
The five following helmets are selected from
 |
|
Helmets. (From gems.)
|
antique gems, and are engraved of the size of the originals.
[
J.Y] [
A.H.S]
