![]() The vase depicts two armies of hoplites lined up to fight each other. 640 BCE that was discovered in an Etruscan tomb in 1881. Below, for instance, is the famous Chigi Vase, a Proto-Corinthian olpe dated to between c. Surviving ancient Greek depictions of hoplites’ shields reveal the sheer diversity of the decorations they used. Greek hoplites regularly decorated their own shields with a wide array of diverse personal symbols, geometric designs, and images. Consequently, a hoplite’s shield was his personal property, not property issued to him by the state, and shields were not at all uniform. In historical reality, Greek hoplites in all poleis, including Sparta, were expected to provide their own equipment. In that article, I briefly address the inaccuracy of the Spartans all having identical shields, but I don’t talk about the use of the letter lambda specifically and whether it is accurate.ĪBOVE: Screenshot of the current revision of the Wikipedia article “Sparta,” showing the shield with the letter lambda in the infobox I’ve already written an entire article about how the film 300 is a wildly historically inaccurate piece of propaganda that deliberately distorts history to promote a right-wing extremist message that can be described as borderline fascist at best. Notably, in the 2006 fantasy action film 300, directed by Zack Snyder and based on the 1998 limited comic book series 300 by Frank Miller, all the Spartans are portrayed using perfectly uniform, unpainted, iron shields embossed with the letter lambda. ![]() The misconception that all Spartan hoplites always carried shields bearing the letter lambda is absolutely ubiquitous in popular culture. Although there is evidence to suggest that a few Spartans probably did choose to decorate their shields with the letter lambda, the vast majority seem to have decorated their shields with other symbols, geometric designs, and images. In historical reality, Greek hoplites, including Spartan hoplites, were expected to provide their own equipment and they could decorate their shields however they wished. This letter, of course, stands for Λακεδαίμων ( Lakedaímōn), which was the most common name in antiquity for the Greek polis (i.e., “city-state”) that included that settlement of Sparta. It was discovered in 1830 near Bomarzo in Lazio, central Italy.In popular culture, ancient Spartan hoplites are virtually always portrayed as fighting with shields decorated with the Greek letter lambda (Λ). Such shields did not tend to survive the passage of time very well, and only one aspis has survived into modernity with sufficient preservation to allow us to determine the details of its construction: this shield is called the "Bomarzo" or "Vatican" shield, and it is currently located in the Vatican, within the Museo Gregoriano Etrusco. That the shield was convex made it possible for warriors to use it as a flotation device for crossing rivers, and its large round shape allowed it to be used for hauling the bodies of the dead from the battlefield. They were designed for a mass of hoplites to push forward into the opposing army, a move called othismos, and it was their most essential equipment. The shield rested on a man's shoulders, stretching down to the knees. This allowed hoplites more mobility with the shield, as well as the ability to capitalize on their offensive capabilities and better support the phalanx. Known as an Argive grip, it placed the handle at the edge of the shield and was supported by a leather or bronze fastening for the forearm at the center, known as the porpax. The revolutionary part of the shield was, in fact, the grip. ![]() This large shield was made possible partly by its shape, which allowed it to be supported comfortably on the shoulder. The aspis measured at least 0.9 metres (2 ft 11 in) in diameter and weighed about 7.3 kilograms (16 lb), and it was about 25–38 millimetres (0.98–1.50 in) thick. In some periods, the convention was to decorate the shield in others, it was usually left plain. Some had a thin sheet of bronze on the outer face, often just around the rim. ![]() Construction Īn aspis was deeply dished and made primarily of wood. Hoplitodromos with aspis and full body armour depicted in a Greek vase dated to 550 BC.Īn aspis ( Ancient Greek: ἀσπίς, plural aspides, ἀσπίδες), or porpax shield was the heavy wooden shield used by the infantry in various periods of ancient Greece.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |