[split] Phalanx warfare: use of the spear

[Paullus Scipio]

Dan makes an interesting point, and Crispianus too made the point that armour need not be of uniform thickness. People are sometimes surprised to hear that published thicknesses for Greek bronze 'thorakes' are often in the region 1-2mm, as being rather thin.

Since bronze 'thorakes' were made by hammering out the bronze (cold) it is relatively easy to produce varying thicknesses. Certainly Greek helmets were of varying thicknesses. For example, classical Corinthian helmets from Olympia varied from 0.75 mm at the thinnest to  mostly 1-1.75 mm, with the thickest part invariably being the nasal, at 3.75-5mm. These weighed around 1-1.25 kg ( compared to earlier, thicker ones at 1.25- 1.6 kg) This compares well with the last U.S. steel helmet M1 at 1.11 kg.

It would seem likely that body armour too, made the same way, would also vary in thickness. Like Dan, I don't know of any studies into this aspect of body armour. I gave some information on this subject in my post of Sept 18, previous page.