Named after the Roman province of Gaul, the Gallic gladiator wears a galea (helmet), a protective metal belt, a manica (leather sleeve) on his weapon arm and fasciae (leather bands on the legs). This was the ‘middleweight’ armour of the Roman gladiators. Traditionally, such a gladiator would also carry a scutum shield.

Gladiatorial, Samnite (80gp, 35 lb., AC 5, 25dp)

The Samnite was the best-armoured of the Roman gladiators, named for the Roman province of Samnos. He wore a cuirass (leather or metal breastplate), fasciae, a manica on the weapon arm and a galea. A scutum shield would also be carried.

Gladiatorial, Thracian (10 gp, 5 lb., AC 9, 5dp)

The lightest-armoured of the Roman gladiators was the Thracian, wearing only fasciae on the legs. Customarily, a parma shield would be carried also. It took its name from the province of Thrace.

Helmet, Armet (20gp, 7 lb., 25dp)

This helmet design was introduced in the latter years of the 15th Century. It comprised a skull-piece and a long, thin vertical ridge at the rear to help protect the neck. At either side hinged pieces were strapped closed at the front to protect the cheeks, and to protect this join a visor, hinged at either side, and metal wrapper were strapped on as well, buckling at the back. To protect this buckle a metal rondel was fitted. 

Helmet, Barbut (10gp, 6 lb., 18dp)

This design of helmet was first used by the ancient Greeks, who cast it in bronze. It was pointed and covered the entire head with one piece, leaving a vertical slit for the nose and mouth and a horizontal one for the eyes, forming a ‘T’. The Greeks developed the horizontal bars of this ‘T’ into circular cut-outs. In the early 15th Century, this design underwent something of a renaissance, and until the end of that century saw widespread use in Europe. As the style developed, the eye holes grew smaller and more shaped to the eyes themselves. (For those who have played the computer game “Warcraft II”, this is the design worn by the Knights and Paladins). 

Helmet, Burgonet (25gp, 7 lb., 20dp)

This was an open-faced helmet, introduced in the first half of the 16th Century. They were similar in design to the close-helmet, sharing the comb with this design. They often featured a peak. The otherwise exposed face was protected by metal bars. A falling buffe could be fitted in order to convert it to a closed type.

Helmet, Close-helmet (22gp, 7 lb., 30dp)

The close helmet was similar to the armet. It was widely used in the 16th Century. It was an all-enclosing metal helmet, without the hinged cheek-pieces of the armet, but with a hinged falling visor. A gorget-plate attached to the rim overlapped on to the gorget of the breastplate, giving excellent neck protection. Initially, this type had a very low, conservative comb, but as the century went on it became larger. After a while, this trend was reversed and the comb became smaller again, along with the visor which became less prominent.

Helmet, Galea (10gp, 5 lb., 25dp)

This helmet was worn by Roman gladiators, specifically the Samnite and Thracian types. It was a metal helmet with a narrow brim all the way round, and a face plate whose bottom half was simple plate and whose upper half was perforated with holes for vision and ventilation.

Helmet, Great Helm (30gp, 10 lb., 30dp)

This was a cumbersome, heavy helmet, and it’s design dates back to the early Middle Ages. It preceded the bascinet, and was the ultimate development of the small helmets of the Dark Ages. It did, however, give considerable protection and so lasted in tournaments and jousts long after it’s successors began to dominate on the battlefield. It rested on the shoulders, and was basically a heavy metal cylinder, closed at the top, with eye-slits. Later models introduced ventilation holes, reinforcing bars to protect nose and eyes, and tapered the top somewhat, but the basic design went unchanged. 

Helmet, Morion (12gp, 4 lb., 10dp)

This helmet emerged in the middle of the 16th Century. By the second half of that century, it had become the usual headwear of a foot soldier. It was the helmet worn by the Spanish conquistadors who landed in the New World. It was an open helmet, an elongated dome with a curved brim and central comb. It offered protection only down to the ears. Spanish morions had no comb and a plain skull instead, but Italian designs had large combs on top. Another variation (also used by the Italians) was the peaked morion in which the brim was swept up into peaks at front and back. 

Helmet, Myrrmillo (10gp, 5 lb., 5dp)

This stylised Roman gladiatorial helmet was a simple skull-piece with cheek-flaps, closely resembling the legionary’s helmet. It had a customised comb made to resemble a fish.

Helmet, Pikeman’s Pot (8gp, 4 lb., 12dp)

The Pikeman’s Pot was worn by pikemen (surprise, surprise), accompanying their plate outfits. It was a rounded skull-piece, cast in two halves and joined at a central comb. A wide brim was tilted up at front and back, and drooped down at each side to offer some ear protection, but this was provided by ear protectors, simple plates that strapped together under the chin. It looks for all the world like a downmarket Spanish morion, and came into use along with the pikeman, i.e. in the early 17th Century.

Helmet, Sallet (15gp, 5 lb., 20dp)

The sallet was the replacement for the barbut, introduced in the second half of the 15th Century. Early models fitted closer to the neck and were more rounded than the barbut, but were otherwise similar. Later sallets varied a great deal, but the basic design featured a rounded skull-piece with a tapered rear that formed a neck-guard. This guard could be solid or made of laminated plates. Simple sallets had their rear sections riveted to the skull-piece; it was pointed at the back and formed a flange around the sides and front of the helmet, covering the wearer’s face to the upper lip. An eye-slit was included. Other versions had hinged rear sections, but hinged visors were more common. Visorless models had a bevor or mail sheet to protect the lower face. The Germans favoured the more rounded rear neck model, but the Italians designed their sallets on lines closer to the original barbut.

Helmet, Visored Bascinet (20gp, 7 lb., 25dp)

This type of helmet replaced the visorless bascinet (below), adding a hinged visor to protect the face. Early models were merely a curved piece of metal, with a single hinge at the top and eye slits. Later, globular or pointed designs were used and ventilation holes added. This helmet could realistically be combined with plate mail or field plate armour. The base price is for a basic helmet, but more elaborate designs were also available with decorative carving and so on, and obviously these would have fetched a higher price. 

Helmet, Visorless Bascinet (8gp, 5 lb., 20dp)

This type of helmet was popular around the time when mail was first being replaced by plate, and so would typically be worn with plate mail. It superseded the great helm. Early versions were worn over a chain coif, later, the chain was attached to the rim of the helmet and hung vertically instead. It was a dome shaped piece of metal, extended over the back of the head and over the ears. It left the face exposed.