Fact 47: Did Roman legionaries punch their names into their helmets?
It was not uncommon for Roman legionaries (foot soldiers) to carve or punch their names into their helmets. In fact, there is a roman museum (Verulamium Roman Museum UK) that has a helmet with the name of the soldier punched into the helmet. It was discovered in 1880 and is said to have the name of the foot soldier name PAPIRI [VS]. roman Legionaries also decorated their helmets with plums to make them look taller and intimidating to their enemies because nothing says big and intimidating like decorating your helmet with plums (Prunus domestic)! minimum height to enlist in the Roman Army was 5'10” it was later changed to 5'8″ when they became desperate for recruits. and plums are only 2–7 centimetres. The roman helmet is only 37cm.5'10” + 7 centimetres = 6 feet ¾ inch so the solder could have looked slightly taller.
