When did the Roman's start using the shield?

Answer 1

A shield is a protective device. So a shield would be used in any circumstance where protection was needed, such as hand to hand combat or siege work.

EDIT:

The Roman curved rectangle shield design, called a Scutum, was used from the early sovereignty of Italy under Roman control, right up until the fall of the empire in the Dark Ages. After the fall of the Roman Empire, shield designs shifted into round shield and kite shield designs for spear infantry and Italian cavalry, which were very dissimilar to the earlier Scutum design.

Answer 2

The shield is about the oldest defensive and sometimes offensive weapon known to man. No one knows who first started using it (probably some Neanderthal) nor do we know how it's use became so widespread. We do know that every army in history used them. The Romans were no exception, they used the shield right from the start of their army.

Answer 3

The Roman army used their shields any time there was a battle. It was their basic defensive weapon and could at times be used offensively as well.

The Roman army used their shields any time there was a battle. It was their basic defensive weapon and could at times be used offensively as well.

The Roman army used their shields any time there was a battle. It was their basic defensive weapon and could at times be used offensively as well.

The Roman army used their shields any time there was a battle. It was their basic defensive weapon and could at times be used offensively as well.

The Roman army used their shields any time there was a battle. It was their basic defensive weapon and could at times be used offensively as well.

The Roman army used their shields any time there was a battle. It was their basic defensive weapon and could at times be used offensively as well.

The Roman army used their shields any time there was a battle. It was their basic defensive weapon and could at times be used offensively as well.

The Roman army used their shields any time there was a battle. It was their basic defensive weapon and could at times be used offensively as well.

The Roman army used their shields any time there was a battle. It was their basic defensive weapon and could at times be used offensively as well.

Answer 4

It is likely that the Romans used shields throughout their 1,200 year history. Shields had already been in use before the days of the Romans. The earliest information about Roman shields was the adoption of the clipeus, a shield which was based on the hoplon, a Greek bronze round shield which was used by the Greek hoplites (heavy infantrymen). This happened when the Romans adopted the hoplite military formation of the Greeks and it is thought that this occurred under Rome's sixth king, Servius Tullius (reigned 578-535 B.C.). We do not have any information about the Roman military equipment in the 300 odd years before this.

Sometime in late fifth century or in the fourth century B.C. the Romans divided their legions into three lines with different of heavy infantry with three different types of soldiers (hastati, principes and triarrii). The first and second lines fought in the manipular formation of the Samnites of southern Italy and their soldiers used the scutum, an oblong and oval shield. The third line still fought as hoplites and used the clipeus. The parma, a small round shield with a diameter of three Roman feet (36 inches) and had iron in its frame, was introduced and was the shield of the light infantry. The parma equestris was used by the cavalry.

The Marian reforms of the army did away with the division between heavy and light infantry and all the legionaries were given the same equipment. The scutum became the shield of the legionaries. The parma was used by the cavalry and by the auxiliary infantry. The scutum developed from an oval to a rectangular shield.

By the end of the 3rd century the rectangular scutum seems to have disappeared. Roman artwork and archaeological finds suggest that oval or round shields which were bowl shaped, rather than semi-cylindrical come into use in the subsequent period.

Answer 5

To deflect arrows and swords. they could also be used as a pushing/shoving weapon and during siege operations they could be locked together overhead to protect the unit from dropped objects.

Answer 6

The Roman army used their shields any time there was a battle. It was their basic defensive weapon and could at times be used offensively as well.