 Combat gear was issued by and belonged to the Roman army , and had to be returned at the end of a wearer 's service . Cavalry sports equipment appears to have been treated differently , as soldiers apparently privately commissioned and purchased it for their own use . They evidently retained it after they completed their service . Both helmets and <unk> have been found in graves and other contexts away from obvious military sites , as well as being deposited in forts and their vicinity . In some cases they were carefully folded up and buried , as in the case of the <unk> Helmet . The Dutch historian Johan <unk> has identified a " <unk> " for Roman military equipment in which ex @-@ soldiers took certain items home with them as a reminder of their service and occasionally disposed of them away from garrison sites as grave goods or votive offerings . 
