Spartan Armor

[Paullus Scipio]

Dating is always problematic, but nowhere have I seen it suggested that the Dodona statuette is not contemporary with others of its type i.e. no later than 530 B.C. Even taken alone, everything about it points to the mid 6th century, not just the flanged cuirass - the helmet type, the archaic/heroic raised crest, the tunic etc.
Surely you are not suggesting Spartans, of all people, stayed with equipment that was 50-100 years out of date ? hock: Nothing we know about them suggests this - on the contrary, everything we know points to just the opposite.Nor do the sources, such as they are, suggest that Spartan Hoplites looked any different to other Greek contemporary Hoplites. To build a revloutionary idea on the basis of mis-dating one statue is hardly a good way to work up a hypothesis !! wink:
As to armour in the Persian wars and its effectiveness, see other posts, and if you can get hold of a copy, P.H. Blyth's thesis from the University of Reading,U.K., "The Effectiveness of Greek Armour against Persian Arrows" - a multi-disciplinary study, taking in history,physics,engineering and experimentation. Blyth provides a convincing account of the mechanics of Persian archery against Hopla panoply for all battles, including Thermopylae, without even needing to consider body armour, or lack of it, at all .