Pewter Calathus featuring scenes of Vespasian's Legio II Augusta unique holiday gift

A few days ago I received an email from Calix Imperium, a new giftware company in the UK, that is offering, just in time for the holidays,  a beautiful pewter beaker called a Calathus after a vase-shaped basket often found in Greek painting and sculpture that represented fruitfulness.  The company's first release depicts three members of Vespasian's Legio Augusta - a centurion, an aquilifer and a legionary dressed in an Imperial Gallic helmet and the famous lorica segmentata body armor.

"He [The centurion] is depicted wearing the Imperial Gallic helmet (Cassis) surmounted with the insignia of his rank, the transverse crest. His body armour is mail (Lorica Hamata) with strips of leather (pteruges) protecting his upper arms and groin."

"Over his mail he wears a harness, on which are attached his various medals (phalarae). The large shield (Scutum) with a central boss is adorned with the Legion emblems, the CAPRICORN and the edge of the PEGASUS. These shield emblems where found on the Arch of Orange in France and deemed to be associated with Legio II Augusta." 

"The Centurion is seen wielding his principal weapon, the short sword (Gladius); his secondary weapon, the dagger (Pugio) is shown on his right side. To complete his body armour he is wearing greaves (Ocrea), in this case with decorative embossed Lion heads." - Calix Imperium

More pictures and descriptions may be viewed on the Calix Imperium website.  These 5 1/2" beakers are exceptionally detailed and would be a great addition to any Roman history buff's collection!  I wonder if my husband is listening??!!

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Ben Hur Marx playset figures are reissued

My enthusiasm for Roman history spills over into many aspects of my life. In addition to reading about this period of history, I play computer games with ancient themes and love to collect historical figures and miniatures depicting people from this era.

I used to prowl eBay and look for miniatures and discontinued playsets of figures that I could paint and add to my collection. I especially liked the Marx playset miniatures for their detail. So, I was excited to see that someone (Marx is no longer in business) is reissuing a number of their trademark playsets including the Ben Hur set. I have several of these figures in my collection that another artist painted. Now I can try my own hand at painting some of them! I have found Michigan Toy Soldiers to be an excellent source of historical miniatures and figures. They not only offer a wide range of commercially available figures but purchase estate collections as well.

I have taken advantage of a number of Michigan Toy Soldiers' great sales, purchasing extremely detailed Ignite 12" figures including a Roman legionary, a Spartan warrior and King Leonidas. I also like the Dragon In Dreams figures. I have several of their 12" figures including Alexander the Great, Subodai the Mongol, Attila the Hun, Julius Caesar, and a Roman retiarius. If you enjoyed this post, never miss out on future posts by following me by email!