Leather Cuirass

[MeinPanzer]

I agree the text is unclear and my kitchen Greek can't help when it comes to the Perseus transliteration.

Have we yet determined that the spolas is armour? All we know is that it seems to be used in the context of 'arming up' but do we have any definitive evidence that it is armour? I think the initial suggestion that the spolas was a leather thorax came from the wargaming fraternity in the late '70's probably based on the text of the Spartan who was killed by the Karduchian arrow. Whether this was then taken up by Osprey authors next or visa versa is a moot point as Osprey authors and the more notable Wargamers were once upon a time almost interchangeable. I

From Duncan Head:

"There's Pollux, who says the spolas is a leather thorax that hangs from the shoulders. Pollux cites Sophokles, which puts the leather thorax back into the classical era, though S says it's Libyan leopard-hide, which seems odd: but it's a fragment of a play, so may just be dramatic exoticising."

So, in a roundabout way, we have a contemporary source who says that the spolas was made of leather.

My original post has a link to the Greek text on Perseus! Smile

Just as I suspected, the passage tells us no more than the english translation. The Greek reads: kai spolades kai thôrakes autois eporisthêsan.

Which, when translated literally, means "both spolades and thorakes (to) them were provided." The "autois" refers to no group in particular.