Hoplite Shield Designs

[barcid]

couple of questions .Paint medium used ? eg. oxides , pigments & milk paint medium.

& were the shields sealed with a lacquer ,resin or oil after painting . cheers

[hoplite14gr]

The narrowes interpretation is the remnants of the "vatikan shield".

But as for other shields, non metallic parts have not survived therefore much things are open to educated guess and interpretation even speculation,
Kind regards

[barcid]

thanks for the reply . i thought that was the case . i would like to use the coin shown in my avatar as a blazon for my shield for a punic settler Hoplite mid. 4th cent bc in sicily, white shield, green wave pattern around the rim , the Lions head in brown & tan, red tongue & lips etc..again pure speculation but should look cool .your thoughts Guys ..cheers dave

[hoplite14gr]

Colonist hoplites both from Greek and Punic colonies were richer and afforded impresive equipment.
Kind regarda

[barcid]

Colonist hoplites both from Greek and Punic colonies were richer and afforded impresive equipment.
Kind regarda

Stephanos , I will do my best , Ive impressed my Wife perhaps not in a good way with how much ive spent so far with Manning Imperial here . my hope is my friends here enjoy my impression when its finished. regards Dave.

[hoplite14gr]

Colonist hoplites both from Greek and Punic colonies were richer and afforded impresive equipment.
Kind regarda

Stephanos , I will do my best , Ive impressed my Wife perhaps not in a good way with how much ive spent so far with Manning Imperial here . my hope is my friends here enjoy my impression when its finished. regards Dave.

Wish you best of luck.
I have a feeling that the helmet might come handy!

kind regards

[Gaius Julius Quartus]

Greetings - I'm new to the Greek world and would appreciate some advice on aspis design...before its too late! I am just about ready to paint a design, but want to be sure. I have looked through all the posts on this thread (there are a lot!), and see nothing about Ionian colonies - maybe one or two comments. I have an interest in Ephesus, and am familiar with the "bee" + "E-PH" motif on coins from 6th-2nd Centuries BCE. I have in mind a blue background, with the bee and letters in the center. Would this be an acceptable design for a hoplite hailing from Ephesus?

Thank you!

John C.

[hoplite14gr]

Nick Secunda interpreted the bee from one 4th century coin.
The cult of Artemis in Ephesos was not of the "huntress" but a surviving cult of the "mother goddess".
The life giving bee was an appropriate symbol.
Early coinage shows the bee in profile but pottery fragments from National Museum Athens give an insight in colouring.
See attached images.
A red faced lecythos of 450 B.C from the excavations of the American Archeolocial School in the Athenian agora shows a black bee on
a bronze(?) surface.
Kind regards

[Gaius Julius Quartus]

Very nice - I had seen a coin like the one you mention, but not the painting of the aspis. Euxaristw!

John

[hoplite14gr]

Good luck and please post a photo.
Kind regards

[Gaius Julius Quartus]

Here's what I have so far - the design has been copied and enlarged, then taped on as a mock-up.
(One leg is missing, and the wingtips - this will be fixed, of course.)
It's amazing the level of detail those sculptors who worked on the coins were able to capture.

The bee is from a late 5th Century Ephesian coin (and there are other examples earlier and later).
The source is Catalogue of the Greek Coins of Ionia by Barclay Vincent Head, Plate IX.5 and IX.7.
(The 2005 Elibron Classics reprint of the 1892 original, published by the British Museum)

It may take a bit to complete, but you can see what I have in mind.

One further, question - if you will be so kind - is it plausible for the monogram "E-PH" to appear on the shield? This is very prevalent on coins, to signify the polis where the coins is from. And I am aware of the famous Lambda and Alpha from Sparta and Athens, respectively. But I am unsure whether both the bee and the letters might have appeared on an aspis at the same time. Thank you, in advance.

John

[hoplite14gr]

With the possible exception of Chalkis, monograms of cities appear on shields after 400 B.C.
So if you represent a hoplite before that date the better avoid it.

Kind regrds