the.com/clipeus
the round shield Romans hid behind, then carved their dead emperors into for eternity
means A clipeus is the large round shield carried by Roman soldiers, a term later used for a round portrait medallion, often of a god or emperor, displayed on walls or monuments.
from A Latin word for the round bronze shield of the Roman heavy infantry, distinct from the oval scutum. Its deeper roots are unclear, though it may be related to a notion of covering or concealing. In time the word jumped from the battlefield to art: a portrait set within a round frame was called an imago clipeata, a 'shielded image,' as if the honored face were enshrined behind the disc of a warrior's defense.
- shape
- Circular, unlike the rectangular scutum legionaries carried
- art form
- Imago clipeata: portraits framed in shield-shaped roundels
- divine origin
- Romans claimed one fell from heaven to Numa
- sacred copies
- Eleven decoys made so thieves couldn't steal the real one
- legacy shape
- Echoed in medieval and modern heraldic medallions
clipeus virtutis — golden shield awarded by roman senate to emperors, inscribed with their virtues
clipeus coelestis — shield constellation in ptolemy's almagest, representing chiron's shield