Some Aspis Revisionism

[PMBardunias]

but my suspicion is that the whole shield was light (6 kilos or less) and used actively, not passively.

I'm not sure we can extrapolate "active" use- by which I assume you mean lots of movement to parry- from the light weight. We could probably do so from heavy weight, but surely the large reed and rawhide shields of the Persians were pretty light and yet meant to be stood behind.

What is interesting is that, as I have opined for some time, the shield face does not do much to add protection from piercing. The whole shield was probably much weaker than generally credited- as Brasidas learned to his chagrin.

and you'll see the complex latice repousse covers all the fragments. It's even plainer when you look at it in "person.".

Is it the same Guilloche pattern as the rim? That pattern is very common on rims and Paul M-S once noted that it seems to represent wicker, which has ramifications for the ancestor of the aspis.

the construction method of the Olynthus fragments, dating from roughly Philip's siege (348 BC), and being of 'ply' i.e. criss-crossed strips would produce a thinner, lighter shield of a given strength than one using the earlier method of turning from solid wood......

Perhaps multiple methods survived concurrently, or the construction was cyclical, because I have a hard time not seeing lathe construction on the Chigi vase aspides.

Any sign of backing attched? How do you think the face wat attached to the shield?