Polybian Roman Shield Decoration?

[Anton]

Back in the day we painted our Polybian legions with plain shields. 

Returning to the Punic Wars after some decades I decided to see how today's would be Scipio's were doing theirs.  There seems to be a fair few Legions out there with decorated shields, horses or boars or whatever.  Does this reflect our current knowledge?

I now have bags of Forged in Battle 15mm Polybians and I'd like to get them right.  Thanks in advance for any advice.

As an aside I'm very impressed by the Forged in Battle figures.

[Duncan Head]

Unchanged since http://soa.org.uk/sm/index.php?topic=1233.0

Mike Bishop in the new Osprey Roman Shields is of the same mind - no patterns on the Aemilius Paullus monument (and other early sculpture), and while they could have been painted on, it's very odd that the Macedonian shields have patterns done in relief if the Roman ones were painted, so they probably weren't.

Recent wargamers' patterned shields are, I think, solely because wargamers like pretty shields and manufacturers like to sell decals.

[aligern]

Duncan, did Polybian legions have long lives like Marian r Caesarian legions.  If the earlier legions were a levy that might be reconstituted each season, but in different combinations  of men within the tribes, then a unit symbol on a shield is a lit less meaningful than that for a permanently embodied unit.
Roy

[Anton]

Thanks Duncan that's great.  Easier to paint too.

[Duncan Head]

Duncan, did Polybian legions have long lives like Marian r Caesarian legions.

Not originally, but by the end of the period - by the time of the Aemilius Paullus monument, for instance - some of them did.