01-29-2008, 06:36 PM
Apropos of nothing, I thought I'd post a quotation I just ran across from Pausanias' Description of Greece, which I don't believe has been discussed here recently.
Pausanias 8.50.1
"As the Achaeans now turned their gaze on Philopoemen and placed in him all their hopes, he succeeded in changing the equipment of those serving in their infantry. They had been carrying short javelins (mikra doratia) and oblong shields (epimekestera hopla) after the fashion of the Celtic thureos or the Persian gerra. Philopoemen, however, persuaded them to put on breast-plates (thorakas) and greaves (knemidas), and also to use Argolic shields (aspisin Argolikais) and long spears (dorasi megalois)."
This should be ca. 200 BCE.
Pausanias 8.50.1
"As the Achaeans now turned their gaze on Philopoemen and placed in him all their hopes, he succeeded in changing the equipment of those serving in their infantry. They had been carrying short javelins (mikra doratia) and oblong shields (epimekestera hopla) after the fashion of the Celtic thureos or the Persian gerra. Philopoemen, however, persuaded them to put on breast-plates (thorakas) and greaves (knemidas), and also to use Argolic shields (aspisin Argolikais) and long spears (dorasi megalois)."
This should be ca. 200 BCE.
Dan Diffendale
Ph.D. candidate, University of Michigan
Ph.D. candidate, University of Michigan
