21st Roman Military Equipment Conference
Brno, Czech Republic, 2-6 June 2025
ROMAN BODY ARMOUR AND OTHER DEFENSIVE EQUIPMENT
DEDICATED TO JON COULSTONS MEMORY AND LEGACY
Welcome to the 21th Roman Military Equipment Conference!
Since its establishment in 1983, RoMEC grew to be the leading international conference on the military equipment of the Roman world, encompassing the period from the 8th century BC to the Justinian period and the territory of the Roman Empire itself plus all neighbouring cultures interacting with the Romans. The conference deliberately addresses a wide range of interested experts, be they professionals or autodidacts, university researchers or re-enactors, archaeologists or historians.
While RoMEC usually takes place every three years, this cycle was broken by the covid pandemic. This means that it has been some years since the last edition. We therefore are very pleased to announce that the next RoMEC will take place in 2025, and will be hosted by the Institute of Archaeology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Brno.
Join us in 2025 for an in-depth exploration of Roman body armour and other defensive equipment. The scope of the conference is broad, encompassing the development, characteristics, and intricacies of various types of Roman armour. This includes metal armour such as plate, scale, mail, segmented, and lamellar, as well as armour made from organic materials like textiles and leather. In addition to body armour, we will explore protective gear for limbs and the head, and the crucial role that shields played in Roman warfare. The conference will not only examine the defensive objects themselves but also their wider contexts. Topics of interest include their use, supported by insights from experimental studies, and their social, religious, and economic functions within Roman military society. We also aim to discuss the ownership and life cycles of these artefacts, as well as their production and deposition. Whether you are a scholar, enthusiast, or practitioner, we invite you to contribute papers and join in valuable discussions on Roman defensive equipment.
Registration will be open soon
You can leave us an email and we will let you know as soon as registration is open.