Lately I have been reading and getting interested in the ancient Rome topic. Fruit of it I decided to build some minifigs using the amazing Brickwarriors items about Romans and ancient era warriors. Here I will write a bit about them and you will see the four kinds of troops I own.
Lets start with the first one. Here's the Aquilifer. This troops were high rank signifers (who wore symbols and the banners of the Legions) carrying the eagle of the legion. Each Legion had a golden eagle and was their pride and they would die to defend it if was necessary. Aquilifers were equipped with a little round shield called Parma and wolf lions or tiger skins over their helmets falling in their backs. My minifig doesn't have shiled so that's something I have to update in the future. One of the best minifigures I ever did. Was cool and not easy to paint. Only thing I don't really like is the eagle which was painted using a cheap gold paint and looks weird. Had so much fun painting it. Wolf skin is from Brickwarriors and the rest is Lego. The torso belongs to a Roman Centurio of the Lego Minifigure Series and fits the minifig perfectly.
The next minifig is a Roman Legionarius which was the basic unit of the Roman legions. Equipped with the shield called Scutum their tactic was to push the enemy with it and stab the torso or legs with the Gladius (the typical Roman sword). The helmet my minifigs wear is from Brickwarriors too and is based in the Roman soldier from the 1 BC - 1 AC centuries which is my favourite part. The chest armor represents a Lorica Segmentata. Until the year 107 BC the soldiers wore many different kinds of equippment but that year Cayo Marius did a huge change to the army and since then the army tried to give the troops proper and the same equippment for all. My minifig is fully painted with Tamiya silver color (X-11) and even it wasn't easy to paint it looks amazing. The shields were bought green and I painted them. The color would look better if red wasn't that dark but overall looks nice I think. Roman Legionarius carried spears to throw (Pilum) as my soldier does and the Gladius too (As you will see in the Centurio). The chest armor is called Lobster Armor in Brickwarriors shop but I used it putting the back part looking to the front.
Now we will see the Centurio. Centurios commanded centurias made of 80 men each and there were different levels because there were 59 Centurios in each legion. The most veteran one used to be the Primus Pilus who was the leader of the first Cohort. Each legion had 10 Cohorts made of 6 Centurias so a legion had almost 5000 soldiers (Depending on the era they had a bit more). The highest cohort was the first one being the first centuria of it the best unit of the entire Legion so the sixth Centuria of the tenth Cohort was the lowest level unit of the group (usually made of young guys new in the army). They fought in the first row of the formation commanding the troops. My minifig is fully equipped with Roman stuff from Brickwarriors and was all painted. I wanted to give it an "elite look" with the bigger armor (Lorica Segmentata in their shop). The uniforms of the Centurios were usually customized so it wasn't strange to find them for example wearing purple plumes in their helmets. Mine uses a Gladius even the design of the armors barely let the minifigs move arms.
The last minifig is the Cornicen. They played the Cornu giving orders and info playing the instrument. They usually wore animals skins like Aquilifers but mine wears the usual legionarius equippment. The Cornu is from Brickwarriors too. Each cohort had one so 59 in total in a legion.
Here you can find a video with more photos showing the minifigs:
Now we will see the Centurio. Centurios commanded centurias made of 80 men each and there were different levels because there were 59 Centurios in each legion. The most veteran one used to be the Primus Pilus who was the leader of the first Cohort. Each legion had 10 Cohorts made of 6 Centurias so a legion had almost 5000 soldiers (Depending on the era they had a bit more). The highest cohort was the first one being the first centuria of it the best unit of the entire Legion so the sixth Centuria of the tenth Cohort was the lowest level unit of the group (usually made of young guys new in the army). They fought in the first row of the formation commanding the troops. My minifig is fully equipped with Roman stuff from Brickwarriors and was all painted. I wanted to give it an "elite look" with the bigger armor (Lorica Segmentata in their shop). The uniforms of the Centurios were usually customized so it wasn't strange to find them for example wearing purple plumes in their helmets. Mine uses a Gladius even the design of the armors barely let the minifigs move arms.
The last minifig is the Cornicen. They played the Cornu giving orders and info playing the instrument. They usually wore animals skins like Aquilifers but mine wears the usual legionarius equippment. The Cornu is from Brickwarriors too. Each cohort had one so 59 in total in a legion.
Here you can find a video with more photos showing the minifigs:
Many thanks for reading and support guys. More to come ! Roma invictus
