03-14-2018, 02:40 PM
Thank you for your input, Torongill.
I agree that a shield of this size (taking into account that he used Roman feet) isn't inconceivable and as you say falls into the Aspis size bracket and is only a little large than Viking shields which were about 80cm.
I see what you mean about being outranged and receiving a lot of missiles. Perhaps this was more of an issue for Velites than Greek/Thracian Peltast who carried much smaller shields (although I can’t see why unless there was an increase in slingers and archers in the Republic)? This seems doubtful when you consider the amount of archery the Persians had, Greek Rhodian slingers etc. Also, modern illustrations and reconstructions choose a smaller size for this shield than the c89-107cm we are told, although as you say perhaps they are extrapolating from the later signifier pelte which is more of a buckler.
My main question is – is this shield 3 ROMAN feet of 3 GREEK feet wide. It makes a difference as 3 roman feet are 88.7 cm but 3 Hellenistic feet are 106.5cm, making it over the size of the largest Greek aspis (from memory).
Mike Dobson in 'The Army of the Roman Republic' argues that as Polybius is a Greek, writing in Greek and translating for a Greek audience his measurements would be Greek but I have read elsewhere that he is using Roman feet. I was just wondering if there was a current consensus on which is correct/the most widely held view because Dobson's argument seems very plausible but the size of the shield seems very large at 107cm instead of 89cm.
I agree that a shield of this size (taking into account that he used Roman feet) isn't inconceivable and as you say falls into the Aspis size bracket and is only a little large than Viking shields which were about 80cm.
I see what you mean about being outranged and receiving a lot of missiles. Perhaps this was more of an issue for Velites than Greek/Thracian Peltast who carried much smaller shields (although I can’t see why unless there was an increase in slingers and archers in the Republic)? This seems doubtful when you consider the amount of archery the Persians had, Greek Rhodian slingers etc. Also, modern illustrations and reconstructions choose a smaller size for this shield than the c89-107cm we are told, although as you say perhaps they are extrapolating from the later signifier pelte which is more of a buckler.
My main question is – is this shield 3 ROMAN feet of 3 GREEK feet wide. It makes a difference as 3 roman feet are 88.7 cm but 3 Hellenistic feet are 106.5cm, making it over the size of the largest Greek aspis (from memory).
Mike Dobson in 'The Army of the Roman Republic' argues that as Polybius is a Greek, writing in Greek and translating for a Greek audience his measurements would be Greek but I have read elsewhere that he is using Roman feet. I was just wondering if there was a current consensus on which is correct/the most widely held view because Dobson's argument seems very plausible but the size of the shield seems very large at 107cm instead of 89cm.
Pericles of Rhodes (AKA George)
