06-27-2010, 02:52 AM
What Dan said. And I'm a slightly bigger frothing chronology revisionist than he is!
Whatever the date, Classical Greek and Persian equipment, training, and tactics are completely irrelevant to the Trojan War era, so probably best to split that topic off entirely!
In any case, sure, single combat was standard procedure in the Late Bronze Age, as it was well into the Roman era in much of Europe. It's very hard to make any solid conclusions about Achaean or Trojan equipment, partly through lack of archeological evidence, and partly because of the screwed-up dates. But I think it's safe to say that plate cuirasses and scale armor were well known, at least, and a variety of helmets. It does seem pretty clear that the boar tusk helmet and figure-8 shields were out of date, though. Most shields were probably round, though Geometric artwork often shows the "Dipylon" shield (round with large round "bites" cut out of each side), clearly descended from a similar Hittite style.
For the rest of the original post, I'm not quite sure what you're looking for? If you just want to argue about the "actual" details of a specific event in Homer, there may not be much point. Either you're taking it as history and disagreeing with the guy who was as close to that event as we're gonna get, or it's fiction and you're arguing with the author of the story! In any case, the training, equipment, and capabilities had to be at least in the same ballpark, even if there were regional differences in fashion and flavor. But there's really no way to pin down much in the way of solid details.
Khairete,
Matthew
PS: http://www.larp.com/hoplite/bronze.html
http://s8.invisionfree.com/Bronze_Age_Center/index.php ?
Whatever the date, Classical Greek and Persian equipment, training, and tactics are completely irrelevant to the Trojan War era, so probably best to split that topic off entirely!
In any case, sure, single combat was standard procedure in the Late Bronze Age, as it was well into the Roman era in much of Europe. It's very hard to make any solid conclusions about Achaean or Trojan equipment, partly through lack of archeological evidence, and partly because of the screwed-up dates. But I think it's safe to say that plate cuirasses and scale armor were well known, at least, and a variety of helmets. It does seem pretty clear that the boar tusk helmet and figure-8 shields were out of date, though. Most shields were probably round, though Geometric artwork often shows the "Dipylon" shield (round with large round "bites" cut out of each side), clearly descended from a similar Hittite style.
For the rest of the original post, I'm not quite sure what you're looking for? If you just want to argue about the "actual" details of a specific event in Homer, there may not be much point. Either you're taking it as history and disagreeing with the guy who was as close to that event as we're gonna get, or it's fiction and you're arguing with the author of the story! In any case, the training, equipment, and capabilities had to be at least in the same ballpark, even if there were regional differences in fashion and flavor. But there's really no way to pin down much in the way of solid details.
Khairete,
Matthew
PS: http://www.larp.com/hoplite/bronze.html
http://s8.invisionfree.com/Bronze_Age_Center/index.php ?
Matthew Amt (Quintus)
Legio XX, USA
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.larp.com/legioxx/">http://www.larp.com/legioxx/
Legio XX, USA
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.larp.com/legioxx/">http://www.larp.com/legioxx/
