Early Macedonian Hetairoi gear

[MeinPanzer]

Cuirass and helmet seem likely, and based on my rather limited knowledge of the finds from Archaic and Classical Macedonia, that would probably be a T&Y cuirass with an Illyrian helmet. A couple of throwing spears seem likely with a sword for a sidearm. Those coins show Illyrian helmets which Egg would classify as Variant III, which are also the most commonplace type of helmet found in Macedonia during the Archaic period (see above). Simply based on the proportion of finds from aristocratic graves I would say that this would be the most likely candidate for an early Macedonian cavalry reconstruction helmet, but I could imagine that these would not be very well-suited to fighting on horseback.

Isn't there evidence for Scythians wearing Corinthian helmets with the nasals cut out? Plenty of cavalry have worn helmets which covered everything except the face, like the 16th century burgonet, so I think that most styles of ancient helmet would be practical for both cavalry and infantry. Of course, a cavalryman might want better vision and hearing than a hoplite, but that would be up to the individual.

Oh, it certainly could be worn by cavalrymen, and I don't doubt that it was, as there is even a representation on a belt plaque from Illyria of a cavalryman wearing an Illyrian helmet. All I was saying is that it would not be a helmet well-suited to cavalrymen. As Xenophon states in his treatise on horsemanship, cavalrymen want a helmet that allows full peripheral vision and that does not cover the ears, and the Illyrian fails on both counts. It would just be ironic if the renowned cavalrymen of Macedonia wore a helmet that was considered so ill-suited to cavalry warfare, while their neighbours to the south invent the helmet which is the complete opposite - the Boeotian - that becomes the mainstay of cavalrymen. As is so often the case, fashion overrided what we may think of as practicability.