"Study of Ancient Greek Linen Army" Topic

Here is an interesting study of Ancient Greek linen army. Looks like it was more effective than first thought:

link

Armor???

Actually that is interesting, will probably have a look at the how to.

Safe from arrows..someone better tell Hollywood. So were the Spartans finished off with arrows or…. Hmm. Interesting topic.

It's nothing new really. That video on the PRI page is about 5 years old. There have been several college projects where the student made linothorax armor based on what we know about it from ancient texts. It was surprisingly resilient.

The reason not to use it is because it was hot. The fabric does not allow the body to "breathe" making it very hot and it does not hold up well to the elements.

Cooler than a bronze or iron armour however.

Saw a modern reconstruction with animal glue, although the originals may have just been wove thick and not glued, or stitched onto leather reinforcing.

The glue, made from cooked down donkey, did get a bit smelly in the hot UK Sun (so it reeked on a damp and drizzly day that hovered around sixty degrees Fahrenheit. ) I can imagine what it was like in the sun of Greece.

Nicely documented piece of research.
Now why didn't they do fun stuff like that when I was at university?

I wonder of Lloyd would want to add anything to that…
YouTube link

(He is a wargamer after all)

Rob

Not surprised. The Portuguese used cotton quilted armor to great effect in Brazil and while it was hot, it certainly was less hot than steel…. And easoer to produce with local resources, too.

Hasn't the whole concept of "linothorax" been completely debunked? Term invented by Peter Connolly in the 1960's but no evidence for Greeks wearing any such thing. Quilted linen was worn by others in the eastern Med but not anything layered.

Safe from arrows fired from what kind of bow? Also, don't forget, arrows hit a lot of things beside torsos, and it sucks trying to fight with an arrow stuck in your foot!

Sling bullets were sometimes the size of a small fist, and if landing flush on a helmet, typically cause some form of brain injury.

I find tests like these don't show the broken ribs, internal bleeding, and disorientation often caused by heavy, blunt force, non-penetrative blows. And once you went down in a hoplite fight, you got a sword or spear point straight through the throat, abdomen or eye-socket.

This was debated on the ancmed list recently where someone attacked the authors ideas and claimed that hoplite armour was made of leather. Certanly simply proving that textile armour could work does not prove that it was the material used.
I am not convinced by the penetration tests because:
Some hoplites clearly have metal scales on the breastplate portion of the armour and some clearly wore metal cuirasses, so whether leather or linen many hoplites did not consider it satisfactory protection.
Contra that later hoplites often fought without body srmour, relying upon the hoplon shield, helmet and greaves to orovide protection an accepting some increased risk on the basis of greater mobility and perhaps having more energy and stamina in combat.
Given the above a form of armour that was light would be a valid choice as the linen protection would be a last resort and perhaps mainly concerned with glancing or spent blows that were deflected off his or his neighbour's shield.

You're all ignoring the title of the post. It's an army of sheets and pillowcases that's under discussion.