04-11-2006, 06:02 PM
Well, I've just got my copy of Jarva - via abebooks.co.uk, from Good Books in Vienna, who are still listing it on abebooks so may have some more copies.
He does indeed argue that the "composite" cuirass with shoulder-yoke and pteryges was made both in leather and in linen versions, and that the leather was the original style, while linen became more popular later on. He identifies the leather version as the spolas.
Jarva bases this partly on the passage from Pollux previously mentioned in this thread, which he quotes - Pollux says basically that the spolas is a thorax made of leather which hangs from the shoulders. (That seems to scupper the idea that the spolas isn't armour!) He also argues that some of the artistic evidence suggests leather.
I haven't yet found out what he thinks the early references to linothorax refer to, if they don't mean the shoulder-yoke cuirass.
I'll try to post more detailed arguments, and the full Pollux quote, in due course.
cheers,
Duncan
He does indeed argue that the "composite" cuirass with shoulder-yoke and pteryges was made both in leather and in linen versions, and that the leather was the original style, while linen became more popular later on. He identifies the leather version as the spolas.
Jarva bases this partly on the passage from Pollux previously mentioned in this thread, which he quotes - Pollux says basically that the spolas is a thorax made of leather which hangs from the shoulders. (That seems to scupper the idea that the spolas isn't armour!) He also argues that some of the artistic evidence suggests leather.
I haven't yet found out what he thinks the early references to linothorax refer to, if they don't mean the shoulder-yoke cuirass.
I'll try to post more detailed arguments, and the full Pollux quote, in due course.
cheers,
Duncan
cheers,
Duncan
Duncan
