Reconstructing Ancient Linen Body Armor - New Book

[Paullus Scipio]

Paul, while it is possible that their tunics are some Thracian fashion, the helmet of the Hoplite cannot be use as an argument for that. The name "Thracian" is once again a modern convention and I don't think there is any evidence that these helmets originated in Thrace. If nothing else, they first apear in Attic art.
Same is true about the later variant, the Phrygian helmet. It might represent a Phrygian cap (not Thracian) but the earliest depictions are in fact from Attic funerary stelae.
The Phrygian helmets do spear to be popular later on in Thrace, but this is the case also with bell cuirasses, Greek greaves and swords and even Corinthian helmets!

You are quite correct, Giannis!   This type of helmet first appears on mid-5BC Athenian red-figure vases, and was probably invented there, or at least became popular there as part of the fashionable craze for all things Thracian. However, you have misunderstood me, or perhaps I did not make myself clear. I was not implying that the helmet was invented in Thrace - after all, any bronze helmets were a real rarity in Thrace at this time. Rather, I was pointing out that the style or fashion of this type of helmet was heavily influenced by the Thracian cap, with its pulled forward poll, and long cheekpieces and it was another manifestation of the taste for Thracian fashion, which is why we refer to it as 'Thracian' today! ( see attached and compare to helmets on pot referred to above)
As to current names of helmet types, Peter Connolly wrote (Greece and Rome at War 1981) : "Terms such as Illyrian or Attic are used in archaeology to denote a particular type of helmet and do not imply its origin."
Thus 'Chalcidian' helmets did not originate in Chalcis, nor 'Illyrian' in Illyria. One possible exception may be 'Attic' helmets which first appear on Athenian  pots circa 500 BC, but may also have originated in Southern Italy.....