Macedonian Soldier Stele

[MeinPanzer]

To my surprise lots of videos and photos show me carrying a 12’ -15” foot long weapon in one hand. As on many gravestones. But when hitting things you need two hands for precision and power. I suspect my weapons are not thick enough, and I often shatter 1” diameter ash shafts. The length of the weapon means they bend too much. A larger diameter shaft would be better, and perhaps be closer to a real kontos. But a long 12’ weapon of small or large diameter shaft means you need to use it two handed. And this is a weapon designed for close contact, so power is important.

Using the kontos two-handed means I can carry a small shield strapped on my left arm, but not in my left hand. You can carry large “Celtic” shields in your left hand and use a long light 9’spear. Remember the hand holds the shield handle, so you can only use the weapon one handed. Although you can throw the shield on to your back and use two hands. My aspis is a DSC version, 9.6kg or 22lb in weight, perceived as heavy by some. I could carry it to a battlefield on horseback, to be used on foot. It's the wrong shape and too heavy to use on horseback. I would not want to ride in anger carrying it. Ever. At all.

John, thanks for your input. It's always good to hear about these debates from another perspective. I have two questions for you.

What do you make of representations of shielded cavalrymen wielding lances quite far back, so that their lance-bearing arm is almost at a 90-degree angle to the body? For reference, these are the two best pictures of those I posted before which illustrate this:

http://antiquemilitaryhistory.com/images/begram.JPG
http://antiquemilitaryhistory.com/image ... lancer.JPG

This is quite a departure from the earlier representations like the Kinch tomb and the Alexander mosaic in which the arm is held much more loosely at the side.

Secondly, given your experience with using a regular aspis on horseback, what do you make of representations of Hellenistic cavalrymen that show them carrying aspides as big as the regular hoplite aspis? Here is a good example of this, a 2nd c. BC stele from Cyzicus:

http://antiquemilitaryhistory.com/images/cyzicus.JPG