11-08-2007, 05:06 PM
Then I didn't get the idea when I saw Johnnys picture first some time ago - I did not notice that the Sacred Band is depicted in case of the Thebans. Should then not also some slightly younger men be visible? :wink:
The armour or no armour or little armour debate is non-detachable, I fear. I believe that less wealthy hoplites perhaps never wore much body armour, perhaps leather jerkins or leather chitons (protective clothing for peasant work), that also some wealthier hoplites stopped wearing cuirasses in the chaos of the Peloponesian war, but not all or the majority. In Sicily a few months ago I saw some grave stelae of the early 3rd c., with some soldiers with armour and some without. The use of armour seemed to be a question of wealth, feeling of comfort, bravery, fear and other individual reasons.
Atm I just remember three relatively clear hints about "armour-no armour" that deal with more than individuals: one mention in the Anabasis by Xenophon about the Cretan Archers, the supply of cuirasses for a part of Alexanders troops near India and the fine catalogue for the late Macedonian phalangites. It is a bit ot, but please add more.
The armour or no armour or little armour debate is non-detachable, I fear. I believe that less wealthy hoplites perhaps never wore much body armour, perhaps leather jerkins or leather chitons (protective clothing for peasant work), that also some wealthier hoplites stopped wearing cuirasses in the chaos of the Peloponesian war, but not all or the majority. In Sicily a few months ago I saw some grave stelae of the early 3rd c., with some soldiers with armour and some without. The use of armour seemed to be a question of wealth, feeling of comfort, bravery, fear and other individual reasons.
Atm I just remember three relatively clear hints about "armour-no armour" that deal with more than individuals: one mention in the Anabasis by Xenophon about the Cretan Archers, the supply of cuirasses for a part of Alexanders troops near India and the fine catalogue for the late Macedonian phalangites. It is a bit ot, but please add more.
Wolfgang Zeiler
