CUDO
CUDO or
CUDON, a helmet of very simple form,
fitting close like a skull-cap, made of leather or the skins of wild animals
(
Sil. Ital. 8.493,
16.59). It is probably to be identified with
the Homeric
καταῖτυξ or helmet of Diomedes
(
II. 10.258), described as
ἄφαλον,
“without knobs or projections” (Leaf), and
ἄλοφον,
“without plume or horse-hair crest:” known also from Greek
representations of that hero, from one of which in bronze the annexed
example is taken.
The cudo differed from the
galerus (
Verg. A. 7.688) in being of lessrough and
shaggy fur: it probably answered to the
λιτὸν
περικεφάλαιον of the Roman
velites (
Plb. 6.22). In the sculptures
 |
|
Cudo. (Rich.)
|
on the Column of Trajan, some of the Roman soldiers are
represented with the skin of a wild beast drawn over the head, in such a
manner that the face appears between the upper and lower jaws of the animal,
while the rest of the skin falls down behind over the back and shoulders, as
described by Virgil (
Aen. 7.666). This, however, was an extra
defence (Polyb.
l.c.), and must not be taken for the
cudo, which was the cap itself; that is, a particular kind of
galea [
GALEA]. In the illustration the cudo is seen fastened with a strap
under the chin; this is the
ὀχεὺς of Homer
(
Hom. Il. 3.372). (Rich, s.v. and for
the Homeric helmet, Leaf in
Journ. Hellen. Soc. 4.493 ff.)
[
A.R] [
W.W]
