greek armours

[hoplite14gr]

Homer perhaps exaggerates trying to describe "heroic strength".
Homer talks also about late geometric-archaic age where only the very wealthy would have armor after the colapse of the "palace cultures"
A great number of this age fighters weere wearing only the "perizoma".
a metal reinforced very wide leather belt. hence the term EVZONI.

Philip´s armor thickness was usualy reserved for the more wealthy.
A guide in the Argos meuseum told me that the Dendra panoply from bronze is arround 4mm. Again this is a wealthy persons panoply.

I think it must have been a compromise of what you can curry, what you want and what you can afford. Metal was more expensive at that time.

Paul 1987 in Greece was an unusally hot year.
Heat can be a problem and a source of discomfort but in 1991 I was "encased" from 9:30 till 12:30 in an APC with 14mm of steel arround me in August. None of my company suffered a sun stroke. After that we had to negotiate difficult terrain on foot for an hour curring 20 kgr each (Aproximate weight for hoplites!) So I doubt carrying armor in heat would be a serious hindrance especially if you had it to protect your life and you adrenaline was pumping through your veins.
Kind regards
Stefanos