Few regions possess so many and mainly complete Roman bridles as do the
Vesuvian sites. Singular find conditions permit both comprehensive
antiquarian-historian analyses of their production, functionality, and
everyday use and new approaches to their typology and chronology. The
103 catalogued specimens belong to four types of bronze headstalls,
namely metallic noseband, bitless metal bridle (hackamore), multipartite
metallic bridle (metallic halter), and muzzle as well as two types of
bits, namely snaffle bit with circular cheekpieces and curb bit. All of
them occurred in more or less numerous variants of local or provincial
origin. Special attention is paid to the reconstruction of application
methods and combinations of types as well as the replica of a snaffle
bit with circular cheekpieces. Bitless metal bridles followed Greek
models, multipartite metallic bridles Celtiberian ones and, in
combination with Thracian or Italian curb bits, formed typical military
bridles. All Campanian finds came from civilian contexts such as luxury
villae, villae rusticae, urban houses, and workshops. Thanks to find
circumstances they can be attributed to draught animals, beasts of
burden or mounts (horse, donkey, mule) which also showed up in stables
and skeletal remains.