PARMA
PARMA
dim. PA´RMULA (
Hor. Carm. 2.7.10), a round shield, three feet in diameter,
carried by the
velites in the Roman army.
Though small compared with the
CLIPEUS it was sufficiently large and strong to be a very
effectual protection (
Plb. 6.22). This was
probably owing to the use of iron in its framework. In the Pyrrhic dance it
was raised above the head and struck with a sword so as to emit a loud
ringing noise (Claud.
de VI. Cons. Honor. 628). The parma was
also worn by the
EQUITES
(Sallust.
Frag. Hist. iv.); and for the sake of state and
fashion it was sometimes adorned with precious stones (Propert. 5.10, 21).
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Parma. (From a terra-cotta relief in the Louvre.)
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We find the term
parma often applied to the
target [
CETRA], which was also a
small round shield, and therefore very similar to the parma (Propert. 5.10,
40; Mela, 1.5.1;
Verg. A. 10.817). Virgil,
in like manner, applies the term to the clipeus of the Palladium, because,
the statue being small, the shield was small in proportion
(
Aen. 2.175).
The annexed woodcut shows a votive parma, suspended in a portico, represented
on a terra-cotta relief in the Louvre.
[
J.Y] [
A.H.S]
