Article: He unlocks mysteries of the Roman Empire with a brass pin

Esther Hecht
Jerusalem Post
12-06-1996
The well-dressed Roman soldier who laid siege to Masada in 72 CE wore an iron helmet and iron body armor cleverly fashioned to allow maximum mobility. To ward off the cold night air, he wrapped himself in a cloak, closed with a brass fastener called a fibula.

Unlike the iron helmet and armor, the shiny, gold- colored fibula was probably a fashion accessory rather than standard army-issue. And yet, the Syrian-born elite soldiers who comprised the 10th Legion that conquered Masada chose fibulae virtually identical to those of Roman legionnaires in Europe.

An insignificant detail of fashion history? Perhaps. But for Matthew Ponting, 37, the only ...

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