Ancient Shields Reproductions

Below are reproductions of ancient Roman and Macedonian army shields, beautiful artifacts from antiquity. Two basic types of Roman shields were popular at the time of the Roman Empire. The first is the rectangular “scutum” used by the Roman infantry legionary forces, as seen on Traian’s column and from the excavations of Dura Europos. The Roman auxiliary and cavalry shields are oval or round, with round shield bosses of iron or brass. The Macedonian shields were unique in their design and they greatly differed from the shields of the Romans and Persians. In the middle would be the Macedonian royal star symbol with either 16 or 12 rays, or the bust of the Macedonian king or god/goddess. The ancient Macedonians made their shields of bronze, but sometimes plated them with silver and gold. The famed Macedonian “Silver Shields” were the backbone of the army of Alexander the Great and after his death served superbly in the armies of later Macedonian kings in Syria and Egypt. The Macedonian shields were used not only by the armies of ancient Macedon, but also by the Ptolemaic and Seleucid armies which ruled Asia and Egypt after Alexander. Even the soldiers of the Cleopatra VII of Egypt carried these shields and were dressed in ancient Macedonian military outfits. These shields are excellent as showoff decoration for a home. Each reproduction comes with a hook in the back for easy wall-hanging as well as handles to carry. Our shields gallery also features medieval French, English, and Irish shields.