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 appear 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 visors 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 was carefully folded up and buried , as in the case of the Guisborough Helmet . The Dutch historian Johan Nicolay have identified a " lifecycle " 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 .