10-30-2007, 10:47 AM
Quote:Ruben wrote;-
Quote:Not all peltai were rimless; many just had smaller rims than most hopla but had rims nonetheless....that's interesting, on the face of it , any sort of rim would make using a sarissa difficult, if not impossible...... can you give more details ? What is the context? Is it certain these rimmed shields are associated with sarrissaphoroi ?
Though there are many other sources which probably show phalangites bearing such shields, the only ones that I would present as evidence are the only two representations of phalangites bearing sarissai I've ever found in Hellenistic art.
One is very obscure, and I haven't yet written it up, so I'd rather not post it, but it is a votive relief of unknown provenance carved in high relief and with realistically-proportioned figures much like the battle scene from the monument of Aemilius Paullus. It is fragmentary and only two figures are shown: a phalangite in the foreground, advancing to the left (so that we see him from a three-quarter rear view) carrying a long spear (both ends are broken off) with both hands at a slightly upward angle. On his left arm is a very large shield with a fairly small offset rim. The shield is large enough that it would stretch from his chin to the mid-thigh level were he standing up straight. It should be noted that there is a strap running around his neck which could be a telamon, but there is a trace of an effaced scabbard hanging on his left side as well, so it is more probable that it is a baldric. The second figure, behind the phalangite, is a thureophoros wearing an exomis and carrying a sword, which he is raising over his head to strike with. The style is second century BC.
The other is the Pergamon battle plate, which is also second century, and which shows two phalangites with a battle standard. It can be seen here:
http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/oAAnR-Jxp2 ... escene.jpg
Notice that not only do the shields held by the phalangites have small rims (one more than the other), but their shields are entirely unlike what we normally hear about phalangite shields, being large and deeply concave.
Ruben
He had with him the selfsame rifle you see with him now, all mounted in german silver and the name that he\'d give it set with silver wire under the checkpiece in latin: Et In Arcadia Ego. Common enough for a man to name his gun. His is the first and only ever I seen with an inscription from the classics. - Cormac McCarthy, Blood Meridian
He had with him the selfsame rifle you see with him now, all mounted in german silver and the name that he\'d give it set with silver wire under the checkpiece in latin: Et In Arcadia Ego. Common enough for a man to name his gun. His is the first and only ever I seen with an inscription from the classics. - Cormac McCarthy, Blood Meridian
