Macedonian Soldier Stele

[John Conyard]

Ruben, I think the first image shows a rider riding with his right hand, and fighting with his left, perhaps for artistic reasons. I would suggest he’s holding his shield with a central grip, using his reins in the same hand. Perhaps even pushing the horses head over using the shield. The spear looks light and easy to use, even when held towards the butt.

The second picture seems to show a cavalry using his spear in two hands, with a shield strapped to his back. The shield has a central boss, suggesting it is normally held by a handgrip. The spear has a good butt spike. This image looks fairly clear.

I’ve never been sure that the Kinch tomb shows anything other than a light spear. Perhaps they ran out of wall plaster…..

You can ride with an aspis, resting it on your shoulder and your thigh. You can hold the reins in your left hand and ride around easily enough. I’ve just being doing it. But when fighting you move your body around, and the shield makes this difficult. And there is no saddle to help your stability. As Giannis suspects a lighter shield would be easier to use. Kite shields are easily carried and can be used to direct the horse by pushing it in the right direction. Like long Roman shields, they can be carried partially resting on the left foot.

I would like to say that on foot I find the DSC shield easy and comfortable to carry, despite its weight.

I’ve ridden with a 15’ foot kontos for a season a few years ago. It’s easy enough to carry around but the longer the weapon the greater the “wobble” and the harder it is to use it accurately. And when you hit something the longer weapon breaks in more than one place, providing javelin shafts for half the file.
:roll: