One of the problems arising in the study of Roman military equipment is the question of the possibility of wide
dissemination of products of a manufacturing center throughout the Roman Empire. Even more interesting is the
question about distribution of products made in small private workshops and by individual armourers. The author
examines the activities of «vagrant» groups of craftsmen (wandernde Handwerkergruppen) on the example of some
quite similar armament (not mass-produced) on the territory of various provinces of the Roman Empire. Such
groups mobility was very limited within the territory of a particular province, and the spreading of quite similar
richly decorated specimens of arms and armour along the Roman borders should be associated with the activities of
arms traders, who distributed products of city arms shops.
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