Aquilorn Hand Made Carved Hardwood Round Shield with Bronze Toned Roman Eagle | 24 Inch Diameter | Leather Arm Straps and Forged Grip Bar | Legionary Display Gift | RK-1987

A twenty four inch round shield with a carved hardwood face and a single eagle at the centre, wings spread wide, head turned in profile, cut in relief and finished in a warm bronze tone against a deep red brown field. Six spokes run out from behind the bird to a bronze toned rim, and the rim itself is cut with a chevron band that steps round the full circumference. Behind it are two leather arm straps and a forged iron grip bar, so this one is built to be picked up and carried rather than only hung.

The eagle on the front is the aquila, and it mattered more to a Roman legion than any flag has mattered to an army since. Before 104 BC a legion carried several animal standards. Gaius Marius stripped that back to one bird, and from then on the eagle simply was the legion. It marched at the front, it was planted in the ground to mark where the line would hold, and losing it was the end of the unit’s name. When Varus lost three legions in the Teutoburg Forest the shock in Rome was not only the dead, it was the three eagles in German hands. Recovering them took decades of campaigning, and the last one came home a generation later. Nobody was fighting that hard over a piece of gilded bronze. They were fighting over what it stood for.

Made and finished in Memphis, Tennessee. It arrives with the rim formed, the face stained and sealed, and the straps and grip bar fitted and riveted at the back.

Specifications

Why the eagle faces sideways and the wings stay up

Look at the carving and you will notice the body faces you square on while the head is turned hard to one side. That is not a stylistic accident, it is how the aquila was always modelled. A bird shown head on reads as a target. A bird shown in profile reads as alert and looking at something, and a standard carried at the head of a column needed to look like it was going somewhere.

The wings are the other deliberate choice. They are raised and spread rather than folded, which heralds later called displayed. Spread wings fill the widest possible silhouette, and a legionary standard was designed to be identified through dust at a distance by men who could not hear an order. Width beats detail at three hundred yards. Every part of the shape is doing that job.

The timber, the frame and the bronze toned rim

The face is laid up from hardwood boards rather than cut from one slab. A wide single piece of timber cups and splits as it takes up and gives off moisture with the seasons. Several narrower boards glued up together pull against each other instead of all moving the same way, and the frame carved across them keeps the face flat.

Those six spokes are structure as much as decoration. They stand proud of the field and run from the centre out to the rim, stiffening the face in every direction a round shield wants to flex. The relief is cut after the boards are joined, so the pattern crosses the joints without breaking.

The rim is steel finished to a bronze tone rather than cast bronze, and it is formed over the edge of the boards to protect the end grain, which is where a wooden shield takes its first damage. The chevron band cut into it is the same idea as the knotwork on our Byzantine shields, a repeating figure that closes on itself, and it is worth looking at closely rather than reading as texture.

Engraving, runes and your own design

Use the rune converter on this page to turn a name, a date or a short phrase into Elder Futhark and we will cut it into the steel, the leather or the wood. If you would rather have a Viking pattern than a rune line, choose your own design in the engraving option above the add to cart button and tell us where it goes. Where a piece already carries an engraved design, your chosen engraving replaces it rather than sitting alongside it. On this shield a legion number, a name or a short line sits well in the field between two of the spokes, where the eye lands after the eagle. There is more detail on the engraving page.

How it is held and how it handles

This shield uses arm straps rather than a centre grip, and the two systems feel completely different. A centre grip shield hangs off one fist behind a boss and can be punched forward or rotated fast. An arm strapped shield is worn. Your forearm goes through the wider strap, your hand closes on the grip bar near the rim, and the shield sits along the line of your arm.

The practical result is that the shield stays where you put it. It does not swing on the wrist, which is why it holds a pose without shaking and why it photographs well. It also means the weight is carried across the forearm rather than in the fingers, so you can hold it up far longer than a centre grip piece.

Set the straps so the rim sits roughly a hand’s width past your elbow. Too far in and the shield covers your face when you raise it. Too far out and it hangs off your fingertips and tires you quickly. The leather will take a set to your arm after a few wearings, the same way a belt does.

Read this as a display and costume piece. It is not protective equipment, it is not built or tested for contact, and it should not be taken to a reenactment line or used for sparring of any kind.

Care

Keep it dry and out of direct sun. Both timber and stain react to ultraviolet, and a shield hung in a bright window will lift in colour over a few years while the shaded parts stay put.

Dust the face with a dry soft cloth along the grain, and work a soft brush into the carving rather than a cloth corner. Twice a year give it a thin coat of furniture wax, applied sparingly and buffed back.

The bronze toned rim wants an occasional wipe with a lightly oiled rag, particularly in a humid house. The finish is a surface treatment rather than a plating, so it holds off corrosion well but is not immune to it. There is more on looking after finished steel on our steel care page.

Feed the leather straps once or twice a year with a proper leather conditioner. Dry leather cracks at the fold and at the rivet, which is exactly where a strap is under load.

Made in Memphis

This shield is made in our own workshop in Memphis, Tennessee. Nothing here is drop shipped from an importer catalogue with a label added. The boards are laid up, the eagle and the frame are carved, the face is stained and sealed, the rim is formed and finished and the straps are cut and riveted by the same small crew.

That is also why the lead time is honest. Processing runs one to two weeks before the shield leaves us, and longer if you have ordered engraving, because the layout is drawn and checked before anything is cut. Shipping inside the United States is free. Returns run for seven days. The lifetime warranty against defects in our work covers the joinery, the carving, the finish and the strap fittings, with no end date and no receipt needed.

A note on handmade variation

This shield is hand made rather than machine made or bulk produced, so what arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph. Timber is a natural material and no two boards take a stain the same way. The figure of the grain, the exact warmth of the red brown, the depth of shadow in each cut, the tone of the bronze finish and the colour of the leather straps will all differ a little from the shield on screen. The dimensions, the material and the build are the same every time. The character is not.

Frequently asked questions

Is this an accurate copy of a Roman scutum?

No, and it is not sold as one. The classic legionary scutum was a large curved rectangle, not a round shield. This is a round shield carrying the eagle device, closer in shape to an auxiliary or parade shield than to the rectangular scutum most people picture. Read it as a heraldic piece rather than a museum reconstruction.

Is the eagle solid bronze?

No. The eagle is carved in the timber and finished in a bronze tone, and the rim and spokes carry the same finish. It is an honest bronze coloured surface on carved wood and formed steel, not cast bronze, and we would rather tell you that than let the photograph imply otherwise.

How is the shield held?

On the forearm. Two leather straps and a forged iron grip bar are fitted at the back near one edge. Your arm goes through the wider strap and your hand closes on the bar, so the shield lies along your arm rather than hanging off your fist.

Can I take it to a reenactment or use it for sparring?

No. It is a display and costume shield. It has not been built or tested to take contact, and we do not sell it as protective equipment for combat, reenactment or any sport.

Can I have a legion number or a name added?

Yes. The field between two of the spokes is the natural place for a number, a name, a date or a rune line, and it reads well there because the eye goes to the eagle first. Use the rune converter on this page or send us your own layout.

How long does it take to arrive?

Processing is one to two weeks in the workshop, a little longer with engraving. Shipping within the United States is free, and tracking goes out as soon as the shield is packed.

What is in the box

• One twenty four inch carved hardwood round shield with a bronze toned eagle centre
• Bronze toned steel rim with chevron band, fitted and finished
• Two leather arm straps and a forged iron grip bar, riveted at the back
• Elder Futhark rune engraving or your own design where ordered
• Care card for the timber finish, the leather and the rim
• Made and finished in Memphis, Tennessee

Explore the range

See the rest of the Roman and Greek shields, the wider round shields and everything we cut to order in engraved and personalized. There is more background in the guides.