A parma was a type of round shield used in the Roman army. Various groups within the Roman army and the gladiatorial arena used the parma. It was part of the standard equipment of gladiators such as the hoplomachus and the equites, who could defend themselves with it. Also, auxilia (auxiliary troops), cavalrymen (the so-called parma equestris, or 'cavalry parma') and soldiers who carried standards, such as the signifer, made use of this shield.
The parma typically had a diameter of about 91 centimeters or smaller and was equipped with an iron rim. This made the shield light and manageable, yet strong enough to provide effective protection. The shield was equipped with handles and a shield boss (shield boss).
Terminology of Round Shields
It seems that writers from classical Antiquity sometimes confused the different types of round shields. Possibly all three of these round shields could sometimes be used synonymously for all round shields. This contrasts with the classification that modern historians give to these shields:
The parma, small round shield - later with a ceremonial function
The aspis, also called hoplon - this was the well-known round hoplite shield.
The clipeus, oval round shield - from the 1st century BC mainly an auxiliary shield. By the end of the 3rd century, they were used throughout the Roman army.
The Origin of the Parma
During the late bronze Age, bronze round shields with a central handle were used both north and south of the Alps. Particularly the richly adorned examples with point work from the 8th and 7th centuries BC show numerous parallels with finds from the eastern Mediterranean and Northern Europe. These shields varied in diameter from 30 to 100 centimeters. The earliest shields, made from solid bronze, can be considered true combat shields. However, later variants were made of much lighter material and presumably served only ceremonial or representative purposes. This type of shield may possibly be at the basic of the Roman parma, which was also worn by certain warriors or during parades.
Republican Parma
In the early Republican period of Rome, the parma was worn by the velites — the light-armed infantry belonging to the lowest class of the army. Their equipment consisted of a parma, a javelin (pilum), a sword, and a helmet. Although it is unlikely that these young, poorer warriors would have worn the same type of shield as the ceremonial parma. Around this time, the Roman army mainly consisted of warbands with heavy infantry and cavalry as the backbone, modeled after the Greek and later Hellenistic model. Warriors like the veles probably carried functional round shields that did not have a ceremonial role.
Hoplites parma
The heavily armed hoplites also carried a shield, a hoplon (aspis), which Roman historians also refer to as a parma. The early scutum for the infantry was likely introduced after the Celtic sack of Rome in 390 BC. These elongated shields were larger than the hoplon and parma.
Cavalry parma
Like the Hellenistic cavalry in the 3rd and 2nd century BC, the Roman equites were equipped with a relatively small round shield with a diameter of approximately 50 to 80 centimeters: the parma equestris. In late Republican and early Imperial depictions, this shield appears in two different forms.
The parma in the Imperial Era
After the reforms in the 1st century BC, the parma remained in use. It was possibly still used by cavalrymen, by standard bearers and the music corps in the Roman legions. This suggests that the parma possibly still had a ceremonial character. However, these parmae were fully usable in combat. The thraex gladiators were also equipped with a round shield that resembled a parma.
In later performances of the Pyrrhic dance, a ceremonial war dance, the parma was held above the head and struck with a sword to produce a loud, resonating sound. Originally, this dance took place in full hoplite equipment, as the choreography represented a form of training for hoplites.
Classical writers on the parma
Livius (27 BC–9 AD) describes it as equipment of the velites in his Ab Urbe Condita. Vergilius (29–19 BC) poetically refers to it in the Aeneid, while Ovidius (8 AD) uses the term in a mythological context in the Metamorphoses. Pliny the Elder (77–79 AD) mentions the parma in his Naturalis Historia as a military object. Tacitus (98–117 AD) compares the parma in Germania to foreign shields, and Vegetius (390 AD) discusses it in De Re Militari as weapon of light troops and cavalry. Cicero (70–44 BC) also sometimes uses the term metaphorically in his speeches.
