Montefortino helmet

[5][6] Montefortino helmets are generally characterized by a conical or round shape with a raised central knob, and a protruding neck guard as well as cheek plates to protect the sides of the head.

Note that the classifications are those used by archaeologists, rather than Celts or Romans, who, if they did distinguish among these types, have left no known record of the terms they used.

Surviving examples are generally found missing their cheek pieces (probably because they were made of a perishable material which has not survived, e.g., leather)[11] though a pair of holes on each side of the helmet from which these plates would have hung tend to be clearly identifiable, and examples which do include cheek pieces show clearly how these holes were used.

Earlier helmets in the type are generally more decorated, as the Republican legions were composed of levied men who paid for their own equipment.

As the Roman army moved into the huge period of growth at the end of the 2nd century BC, cheap, undecorated but effective helmets needed to be mass-produced for the mainly poor legionaries.