Hayward (1968, 316) defines combat effectiveness as ‘the probability of success in combat operations’. Through a set of targeted practical experiments.1 The aim is fourfold: This paper intends to fill a gap, and to explore the combat effectiveness of the hoplite shield Primarily from Classical scholarship, have been largel y reliant on the surviving pictorial and textualĮvidence (e.g. Practical use and effectiveness of the weaponry, which are few and far between and have come Generally) have been principally typological, diachronic or ethnological in nature (e.g. To date, most archaeological studies exploring the hoplite shield (and hoplite weaponry more Was worn for the sake of the whole line rather than individual protection. According to the writer Plutarch (Mor.Ģ20A), its significance stemmed from the belief that the shield, unlike a helmet or breastplate, The hoplite shield, known in Greek simply as theĪspis, was the single most important item in the Greek hoplite’s panoply, the item that principallyĭefined the soldier as a hoplite (Snodgrass 1967, 48). When my shield turned traitor’ (Plut., Mor. Sustained when a spear pierced his shield, the fifth century Spartan general Brasidas replied, ‘Twas Qualities vis-a-vis the long thrusting spear, the hoplite’s primary offensive weapon.Īccording to Plutarch, upon being asked how he came to be wounded in battle, a wound Through a set of controlled practicalĮxperiments, the effectiveness of the hoplite shield is tested to establish its defensive The single most important item in the Greek hoplite’s panoply, to determine itsĮfficacy in a combat environment. This paper, I explore the structural and functional aspects of the hoplite shield, Our understandings of the nature of hoplite combat, the how, remain deficient. ![]() Of practical and functional considerations of combat. ![]() With much of the focus on the strategic and tactical aspects of battle, to the neglect This has resulted in an incomplete picture, Greek hoplite warfare has traditionally been explored through theĮxtant textual and pictorial evidence. ‘TWAS WHEN MY SHIELD TURNED TRAITOR’! ESTABLISHING
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