Reconstruction of a pugio: a Roman soldier from a northern provinceĪ pugio is a dagger that was used by Roman soldiers, likely as a sidearm. The standard weapons varied somewhat during Rome's long history, but the equipment and its use were never individual. Once a weapon was adopted, it became standard. To defeat the Carthaginians, they constructed an entire fleet de novo based on the Carthaginian model. On encountering the Celts, they based new varieties on Celtic equipment. Initially, they used weapons based on Greek and Etruscan models.

However, after the Marian Reforms, with their resultant influx of the poorest citizens into the army, there must inevitably have been a massive demand for cheaper equipment, a situation which can only have been exacerbated by the Civil Wars. Up until then, the quality of helmets had been fairly consistent and the bowls well decorated and finished. It would appear that armour quality suffered at times when mass production methods were being used to meet the increased demand (from the Civil and Social Wars, and following the Marian and Augustan reforms).' and '.the reduced size cuirasses would also have been quicker and cheaper to produce, which may have been a deciding factor at times of financial crisis, or where large bodies of men were required to be mobilized at short notice, possibly reflected in the poor-quality, mass produced iron helmets of Imperial Italic type C, as found, for example, in the River Po at Cremona, associated with the Civil Wars of AD 69 AD Russell Robinson, 1975, 67

The production of these kinds of helmets of Italic tradition decreased in quality because of the demands of equipping huge armies, especially during civil wars.The bad quality of these helmets is recorded by the sources describing how sometimes they were covered by wicker protections (viminea tegimenta), like those of Pompeius' soldiers during the siege of Dyrrachium in 48 BC, which were seriously damaged by the missiles of Caesar's slingers and archers. Other historians and writers have stated that the Roman army's need for large quantities of 'mass produced' equipment after the Marian Reforms and subsequent civil wars led to a decline in the quality of Roman equipment compared to the earlier Republican era: Roman equipment was not of a better quality than that used by the majority of Rome's adversaries. This does not mean that every Roman soldier had better equipment than the richer men among his opponents. The equipment gave the Romans a very distinct advantage over their barbarian enemies, especially so in the case of armour. Its regular practice during the Roman Republic and Roman Empire led to military excellence and victory. These standard patterns and uses were called the res militaris or disciplina. Roman military personal equipment was produced in large numbers to established patterns, and used in an established manner.

Early roman centurion helmet