Belt Plates and Buckle

Object/Artifact

Trimontium Museum

Name/Title

Belt Plates and Buckle

Entry/Object ID

L.2021.8

Description

Complete set of 5 rectangular belt plates and buckle (cingulum), with two pensilium

Use

To help keep the armor secure and in place around the soldiers' torso and waste. The metal plates could also have been used to distinguish rank within the military.

Context

The metal buckles would have been overlaid on leather. Found in Germany.

Collection

HvG

Acquisition

Source (if not Accessioned)

Holger von Grawert

Notes

Loan

Ethnography

Cultural Region

Continent

Europe

Culture/Tribe

Romano Germanic

Lexicon

Nomenclature 4.0

Nomenclature Tertiary Object Term

Plate, Belt

Nomenclature Secondary Object Term

Plate, Insignia

Nomenclature Primary Object Term

Insignia

Nomenclature Sub-Class

Status Symbols

Nomenclature Class

Personal Symbols

Nomenclature Category

Category 08: Communication Objects

Getty AAT

Concept

belt plates, belt buckles

Other Name

Cingulum

Material

Bronze

Color

Gray, Silver

Condition

Overall Condition

Good

Provenance

Notes

From Mainz

Exhibition

Permanent Exhibition

Interpretative Labels

Label Type

Exhibition Caption

Label

Belts were used to adjust a soldier’s tunic and to carry the sword and dagger. They were decorated with bronze fittings that would gleam and jangle when the soldier walked. The military belt (cingulum) identified a man as a soldier even when he was out of armour – it was a key part of his identity