Spartan army 400 - 390

[PMBardunias]

But was it just fashion? Interestingly,most people are ready to accept that the majority of hoplites abandoned armor at that time,but they consider nudity in all previous battle depictions as artistic license and heroic nudity!

This is the major problem with relying on vase depictions. It is very difficult to say what is really current and what is anachronistic, as well as what is common and what is rare. Heroic nudity seems to me a valid concept, but heroic tunic-wearing is less likely. So I do believe in the loss of body armor. Since it is never completely gone, the question becomes how common was it and who wore it? Even when it appears to come back is unclear for we must deal with the possibility that the depictions are anachronistic or represent an ideal. In Europe is was fashionable to have your portrait painted in half-armor long after it had dissapeared from widespread battlefield use.

The one thing we do know is that helmets became more opened and offered less protection to the face and neck. It would be odd if armor was as useful as in the past that the only place it should dissapear was from the face and neck- your most vulnerable area considering the coverage of an aspis.