Roman soldiers lined up for battle in a tight formation ... Image caption, This modern painting shows Roman soldiers at Birdoswald Fort (Hadrian's Wall). A centurion watches men training.

semi-cylindrical shield most popular from the fourth century B.C. to the third century A.D. A scutum in the Yale University ...

Roman soldiers lined up for battle in a tight formation ... Image caption, This modern painting shows Roman soldiers at Birdoswald Fort (Hadrian's Wall). A centurion watches men training.

A wooden and leather shield used by a Roman soldier in battle Where it is from: Dura-Europos, Syria When it was made: Second century A.D. Related: Babylonian tablet preserves student's 4,000-year-old ...

and probably belonged to a Roman soldier who lost his life in battle. Few examples of this type of shield have survived over the millennia, even though it is well known from depictions in art.

HEERLEN, THE NETHERLANDS—The 2,000-year-old tomb of a Roman soldier—including evidence ... uncovered in the Netherlands of a catastrophic battle between Julius Caesar and two Germanic tribes ...