Continuity of Greek shields

[Matthew Amt]

Domes and arches, which are simply slices of domes, are a common solution to weight bearing both in nature and architecture- far beyond supporting their own weight. The whole point of a dome is that is does not need extensive support around its base.

Domes and arches started to be used because larger areas could be spanned with smaller building components. Instead of using a 10-foot timber or monolithic stone to span a less-than-ten-foot space, a much larger space could be spanned with very small bricks or building stones. The goal is a larger open space with fewer supports needed.

A convex shape is commonly found in armor and shields for this reason.

No, *not* for that reason! Armor and shields are curved because the body is curved! The planks of a shield span the entire width or length, so its shape has very little to do with some architectural load-bearing capacity. Plus, curved surfaces help resist weapons penetration by making a glancing surface, and by effectively increasing the thickness of the shield--any weapon not hitting at a right angle has more material to penetrate.

A Greek shield is supported at its center and one point near the edge.

I don't think so. It was held in the center, but during othismos it rested on the upper chest, front left shoulder and thighs.

It CAN rest on the left shoulder, but that is support INside the rim, just the wrong point according as I see your diagram. It cannot rest against the chest and thighs unless you are squashed completely flat against it, in which case you aren't pushing any more. I would love to see any ancient depiction of a hoplite in such a pose.

Weight bearing is weight bearing, the differences are largely irrelevent. An arch-shaped bridge that supports a turck moving over the span is directly comparable to a blow on the face of a shield.

A bridge is built to stay completely still and unmoving while thousands or millions of vehicles and other things pass over it. A shield is built to keep a pointy thing from the flesh of its user, and it moves very freely, deflecting as much as blocking. A spear thrust is not the same as the weight of a structure or vehicle, no matter how a physicist wants to draw vectors and forces on a blackboard.

Extrapolating from this to an 8 rank vs 8 rank clash could bring forces to bear well over 1,000 lbs. Far worse than being run over by a cart.

If that's the definition of othismos, then I have to join the "against" party. There's no way the members of any military system would voluntarily subject themselves to such a crush, with the assumption that the entire front rank--or more--would be squashed to death. Even banzai charges make more sense...

I have never seen a likely functional explanation for the rim of an aspis other than my own.

Huh? It sticks up to protect your face, while the bowl is resting on the shoulder! It's the perfect size, shape, and placement for that. If it were angled more sharply, it would bump your head, and be more likely to deflect spearpoints into your face. The aspis was designed to protect from spears, javelins, swords, and sling bullets. It turned out to do pretty well against arrows (though some guys added the curtain on the bottom), axes, rocks, baked potatoes, and other things. It's wood with a covering, just like any number of shields from other cultures through history, including some sorts of much simpler shields which had to withstand much more devastating weapons.

Why is this keeping you awake at night?

Matthew