Linothorax again

[hoplite14gr]

Hi guys after vacations I am back!
Mathews post shed a lot of light and the record straight I believe.
Now in answer to Ralf´s post:
If I recall correct the Oracles response to Aegion is dated to the Archaic era. Aegion was evolving from a simple trading post after the Delphic holy war and could not field enough hoplites.
At that time the semi-legendary Argive king Pheidon is credited with the creation of the hoplite phalanx using round shields. It was not wise at the time to say anything offensive to the Argives much less to mess with them. Until they met their Waterloo at the hands of the Spartans at Thyrea at 530 B.C. they were the most effective army in Greece at the time.
The Argolic land has good quality soil the makes refined wines in Nemea and the best melons in the world! The land allowed and still allows easier pastoral activity than the rest of the Pelopnissos. At that time the two rivers Inachos and Charadros made the soil richer than today.
The Sikyonians , Toroneans, and even maritime Corinthians would be wise and sell their products cheap to the Argives and even bribe them to keep Pheidonean "epilektoi" in their barracks. That until Thyrea of course.
The place gave good crops of flax. The argive shields were mostly white with a yellow or golden snake depending on personal finances and two snakes if you were in the nobility. The nobility and the epilektoi could afford white chitons. Speculating I can say that it is not impossible to even "sandwich" metal between the linothorax layers and have an external white layer. There is nothing also nothing to stop them from painting metal white.
I guess the epilektoi at least could afford it. I guess the Oracle poetically refers to them.
As I said to previous post I believe that cotton might be more available to Hellenistic Greek or before that to Kyreneans Athenians or Cretans
Cotton Hmm possibly as a present to the Argive king.
Kind regards