Glued Linen Armour- a simple test

[rocktupac]

None are unequivocal, or even good, evidence for the use of linen armour by classical Greek Hoplites.

I am not attempting to prove, or even hinting at, that the classical Greek hoplites wore it. No where do I even come close to saying this.

One or two are in fact erroneous - Herodotus 1.135 for example makes no reference to linen whatsoever, but simply says that Persians "wear the Egyptian corselet", which is more likely a reference to the scale corselets of the Persians that Herodotus refers to elsewhere.

I added that it "possibly" referred to linen corselets. I have read the passage and am full aware of what it says. Though Herodotus does not specify the composition of this body armor, this passage has often been interpreted as referring to the linen corselet. On this interpretation, see, for example, Francis, E. D., and Michael Vickers (1984) “Amasis and Lindos,” Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies of the University of London 31, 119-130.

Alcaeus and Homer are references to the mythical past of the Trojan War,

Did they not believe the Trojan War story to be true, and therefore the arms and armor just as real?

...my point here is that you chose a 1 cm thick number of layers on the basis that this was 'arrow/weapon proof', but that the Greek armourers, like most, constantly strove for lightness etc and that if a piece stopped 75-90% of strikes, that was considered good, and if a new technique or material allowed increased protection at the old thickness, the armourers promptly thinned it, going for lightness rather than increased protection. This is most evident in the evolution of helmets, and possibly, shields.
I understand very well the reasons you chose arrows as your 'yardstick', and have no quibble with that. Can I ask again what energy levels of weapon you were testing your armour against? Obviously, how closely you can replicate ancient contemporary weapons is a key factor in tests of this kind. Were ancient arrow forms ( reed with foreshaft) and heads ( tanged, and trilobate) used, for example, not to mention bows of the appropriate power, or were you limited by availability to modern-type weapons, whose characteristics are of course very different.....

We came to the conclusion that at least a 1 cm thick corselet was enough to stop an arrow that was likely to be encountered on an ancient battlefield. We did not decide on 1 cm then carry out the testing. I understand what armorers or soldiers had in mind when creating or choosing their armor.

We tested with three different bows: 25 pounds, 45 pounds, and 60 pounds. We fired each arrowhead from each bow at about 5 patches with differing characteristics (on average) from 25', 50', and 100'. Our arrowheads were a mix of bronze and iron, they were hand-forged and cast, but all were hand-sharpened and were modeled after actual various finds from the Archaic and Classical eras found in Greece and Persia. They were quite varied in shape, weight, and design. The shafts were reed and the fletchings were goose feathers.