Leather Cuirass

[Giannis K. Hoplite]

Paul,I know it's a bit difficult that you are opposed to a number of members and you have to "cover" every ones' arguements,but there are counter arguements that you ignore.For example we have heard of that "famous" linothorax find from Thebes,of 15 layers of linen(though no one has seen it,it's true).Another one,Remember that Athens was able to provide its citizens all the goods needed for many years when Sparta was in Attica in the Peloponnesian War.And all that was imported from far away!Trading provided their every day food,don't you find it logical that it could provide them with enough linen for a linothorax.Think that a linothorax was probably expensive(like the rest of the armour) and some times passed from father to son.It was not a piece that everyone made for himself like modern re-enactors.So there was no need for so much linen as you say.But don't we know that even their clothes were made of linen or cotton(cotton being much more frequent)?
The experiments in that thread was not so different,all agreed that linen was more resistant to dory and knife attacks.
And after all,you say we don't have one piece of evidence supporting the linen theory,but you have even less,and what you say is also speculation.It is something that is logical one the one hand but there are all these arguements against it that you cannot ignore.So you cannot "blaim" me for not accepting a new theory while the old one has still more value(to my eyes)
Leather is not ready for use after you kill an animal.and even so when you want to make something as thick and hard for armour.It always was expensive and more Greeks prefered to keep their animals for other reasons than kill them to equip their armies.Not to mention that we know there were not so many goatsmen in ancient Greece and the proffesion was not much apreciated among ancient scociety(look at Plato's "Politeia")
I'm just saying it's not a very strong theiory.
Khaire
Giannis