03-09-2016, 03:40 PM
(02-03-2016, 07:29 AM)Dan Howard Wrote: I don't think there is anything at all for Greek linen armour during this time period. All of the Greek sources cited for linen armour during this time talk about other cultures wearing it, not Greeks. Most of the evidence for Greek linen armour dates to the end of the Bronze Age.
While linen corslets are common among other peoples (e.g. Amasis' linen breastplate in Herodotus), we do have some ancient Greek texts that refer to linothorakes worn by Greeks. For example, Alcaeus, the poet from Mytilene (Lesbos), describes a supply of armour that includes thorrakes te neo lino (corslets of new linen) in fr. 140 Voigt. That armour was obviously intended to be used by the poet and his drinking buddies. Some (e.g. Ian Morris) have argued that linen was common in Lydia and the inclusion of linen corslets by Alcaeus lent the poem an "exotic" flair, but that's nonsense. (Basically, I'd say that linen was common throughout the eastern Mediterranean seaboard for sure.)
And we have Homer, of course. If you subscribe to the school of thought that believes the Homeric epics are an accurate description of the Bronze Age (which is demonstrably false), this won't convince you. However, if you hold that the material culture in the epics is, by and large, contemporary with Homer himself (ca. 700 BC), then obviously those offer further references to linothorakes used by Greeks in the Archaic period at least (e.g. Il. 2.529, referring to the Lesser Ajax wearing linen).
There's an excellent article on the use of linen textiles and flax in Greece, written by Marie-Louise Nosch, available on Academia: https://www.academia.edu/13138649/Linen_..._and_trade
