From the time of the Bronze Age, the warriors of all tribes and nations sought to emblazon their arms and armor with items and images to impress upon the enemy the wealth and power of the wearer. Magnificently decorated shields were as much a defensive necessity as a symbol of social status. Equally, decorative symbols on shields and armor defined the collective ideals and the self-conceived important of the village or city-state its warriors represented. Such items were therefore of great significance to the wearers, and the authors of this astounding detailed and extensively researched book, have brought together years of research and the latest archaeological discoveries, to produce a work of undeniable importance. Decorated Roman Armour is richly decorated throughout, and as well as battlefield armor, details the tournament and parade armor from Rome's earliest days. Dr Raffaele D'Amato is an experienced Turin-based researcher of the ancient and medieval military worlds. After achieving his first PhD in Romano-Byzantine Law, and having collaborated with the University of Athens, he gained a second doctorate in Roman military archaeology. He spent the last year in Turkey as visiting professor at the Fatih University of Istanbul, teaching there and working on a project about the army of Byzantium. He currently work as part-time researcher at the Laboratory of the Danubian Provinces at the University of Ferrara, under Professor Livio Zerbini.