Slitherine

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ORIGINAL: Mynok

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ORIGINAL: rtrapasso

That depends who you ask, i suppose. According to West Point Military History Series : Ancient and Medieval Warfare (p3) during this period, the hoplites wore a cuirass covering the chest and back with overlapping metal and leather plates, and a conical pilos helmet. Leg armor was rarely used.

They carried a 30" round shield called an aspis. The offensive weapon throughout this period were the sword and spear - spear 7-8 feet in length with heavy iron point and butt. Sword was a short thrusting weapon, iron, less than 1 meter long. All together it was about 50 pounds of arms and armor.

Since each man provided his own gear, it is highly unlikely that any except the wealthiest wore scale breast/backplates. Hoplon, spear and a helmet only was by far the most common equipage.

Padded or leather armor was more likely to be worn on the body.

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ORIGINAL: rtrapasso

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ORIGINAL: Mynok

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ORIGINAL: rtrapasso

That depends who you ask, i suppose. According to West Point Military History Series : Ancient and Medieval Warfare (p3) during this period, the hoplites wore a cuirass covering the chest and back with overlapping metal and leather plates, and a conical pilos helmet. Leg armor was rarely used.

They carried a 30" round shield called an aspis. The offensive weapon throughout this period were the sword and spear - spear 7-8 feet in length with heavy iron point and butt. Sword was a short thrusting weapon, iron, less than 1 meter long. All together it was about 50 pounds of arms and armor.

Since each man provided his own gear, it is highly unlikely that any except the wealthiest wore scale breast/backplates. Hoplon, spear and a helmet only was by far the most common equipage.

Padded or leather armor was more likely to be worn on the body.

Might be true for the Athenians, but for the Spartans? They had a system that eliminated wealth, iirc (they even made their coins out of iron so that they would rust away and so you and your family couldn't stay rich). i was under the impression that they were pretty much all around the same wealth and pretty much equipped similarly.

i also remember reading (although maybe i misremembered) that the guys with the armor were the ones that fought in the phalanx - if you didn't have the armor, you became a slinger or skirmisher.

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ORIGINAL: Ron Saueracker

I was at a museum in Olympia and much armour was on display. What never fails to surprise me is how much we have evolved in size. I would be hard pressed to get a helmet to fit over my fist, let alone my big noggin.

In the pursuit of historical accuracy, The 300 should have been cast with midgets.

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The hoplite panoply was pretty much universal to be a member of the phalanx...with the exception of the ekdromoi (the "runners out" tasked with breaking ranks and killing peltasts and other skirmishers).
Since membership in the phalanx was a requirement for full citizenship in most Greek city states, the bronze armor panoply could be expected to be universal. Furthermore, all illustrative existent evidence points to this (which is actually quite numerous) .
(exception - by the 5th century BC or BCE if you like - a composite linen and leather based torso armor had gained popularity for reasons of body movement).
As for the physical size of ancient Greek warriors - I believe they were a surprising 5'6" on average - the same as western men have always been up until the middle 20th century.

Yammas from The Apo-Tiki Lounge. Future site of WITP AE benders! And then the s--t hit the fan

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ORIGINAL: Big B

The hoplite panoply was pretty much universal to be a member of the phalanx...with the exception of the ekdromoi (the "runners out" tasked with breaking ranks and killing peltasts and other skirmishers).
Since membership in the phalanx was a requirement for full citizenship in most Greek city states, the bronze armor panoply could be expected to be universal. Furthermore, all illustrative existent evidence points to this (which is actually quite numerous) .
(exception - by the 5th century BC or BCE if you like - a composite linen and leather based torso armor had gained popularity for reasons of body movement).
As for the physical size of ancient Greek warriors - I believe they were a surprising 5'6" on average - the same as western men have always been up until the middle 20th century.

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ORIGINAL: rtrapasso

quote:

ORIGINAL: Mynok

quote:

ORIGINAL: rtrapasso

That depends who you ask, i suppose. According to West Point Military History Series : Ancient and Medieval Warfare (p3) during this period, the hoplites wore a cuirass covering the chest and back with overlapping metal and leather plates, and a conical pilos helmet. Leg armor was rarely used.

They carried a 30" round shield called an aspis. The offensive weapon throughout this period were the sword and spear - spear 7-8 feet in length with heavy iron point and butt. Sword was a short thrusting weapon, iron, less than 1 meter long. All together it was about 50 pounds of arms and armor.

Since each man provided his own gear, it is highly unlikely that any except the wealthiest wore scale breast/backplates. Hoplon, spear and a helmet only was by far the most common equipage.

Padded or leather armor was more likely to be worn on the body.

Might be true for the Athenians, but for the Spartans? They had a system that eliminated wealth, iirc (they even made their coins out of iron so that they would rust away and so you and your family couldn't stay rich). i was under the impression that they were pretty much all around the same wealth and pretty much equipped similarly.

i also remember reading (although maybe i misremembered) that the guys with the armor were the ones that fought in the phalanx - if you didn't have the armor, you became a slinger or skirmisher.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Ron Saueracker

I was at a museum in Olympia and much armour was on display. What never fails to surprise me is how much we have evolved in size. I would be hard pressed to get a helmet to fit over my fist, let alone my big noggin.

In the pursuit of historical accuracy, The 300 should have been cast with midgets.