AegonTheUnready | 16 Jul 2019 1:23 p.m. PST |
Were they really all silver or bronze or white? Any other colors possible? Or do the designations just refer to pay scales (silver being paid better than bronze, and white being low paid)? |
GurKhan | 16 Jul 2019 2:36 p.m. PST |
Lots of bronze shield-facings from Macedon, Pergamon etc with no sign of paint ever being applied, just designs in relief. But: picture – Agios Athanasios, last quarter of the C4th, maybe Kassander's army. link – Tomb of the Erotes, 3rd century, possibly a garrison in Macedonian service. May not of course represent a phalanx shield, especially with that rim. |
Tony S | 16 Jul 2019 3:04 p.m. PST |
Some of the information about the shield patterns comes from coins, as Successor coins often featured shields. link (Please note that you can scroll through the photos of the coins on the top of the article). Some interesting information in that link. I have seen some modern illustrations of Successor shields with full colour paintings of gods, or goddesses or perhaps kings? I presume the the artist extrapolated from the depictions on the coins. |
Dn Jackson | 16 Jul 2019 10:33 p.m. PST |
Interesting link Tony. I don't think I've seen the club associated with Macedon to that extent before. My preference is for painted devices rather than plain metal with devices inscribed. I think they'd be easier to see and would keep the shield from getting too hot in the sun. Though there's no doubt GurKhan knows more than I do about this. |
Tony S | 17 Jul 2019 3:26 a.m. PST |
I agree 100% with that last statement DnJackson! I do admit I have no idea how the coin experts are confident that the obverse of those coins represents shields, but it seems plausible to me, and gives me an excuse for some shield designs! |
GurKhan | 17 Jul 2019 3:28 a.m. PST |
Paintings of gods: perhaps based on sources like the shields hung on the walls in the Agios Athanasios paintings –
– or the traces of colouor remaining on shields carried on the Alexander Sarcophagus (see the reconstructions in Nick Sekunda's Osprey Alexander). Inscribed devices – well we know that the star-and-crescent devices were inscribed (or cast, or whatever) in relief – see
for instance – and there is at least one ancient painting showing such a shield as unpainted bronze –
It is possible that others were painted over the bronze relief designs, that could explain the Agios Athanasios shields in my first link, but I don't know of any surviving paint traces that would confirm it. As for bronze-faced shields getting too hot, the Spartans thought that they had practical advantages: a brass shield, because it is very soon polished and tarnishes very slowly (Xenophon, Spartan Constitution) |
Dn Jackson | 18 Jul 2019 5:09 a.m. PST |
"a brass shield, because it is very soon polished and tarnishes very slowly" I hadn't seen that quote before. It does reinforce the use of unpainted shields at least by some troops. |
JJartist | 18 Jul 2019 3:07 p.m. PST |
I too wrestle with embossed versus the painted on look. Most shields of the era seem embossed- something maybe the Illyrians passed onto the Macedonians. The edged of embossed hoplite shields also prove that this was a common practice for the finishers of the metal work. The issue, of course is scale. When the first embossed styles of shield in 28mm came out they were very thick. Plus it seems that embossed shields seem to have more variety, and possibly more connection to the army than even colors or designs. Center designs seems to be bolted on and may be a way of swapping out the design or personalizing it. I recently experimented with making some home grown decals for my Agrianians based on the article in Ancient Warfare about Agrianian shields, by David Karunanithy. Agrianians and Paeonians being tribes smack dab in the Macedonia and Illyrian orbit seem to have used many similar styles of shield designs to early Macedonian armies. The nice thing about decals is the embossing- although faux- it isn't too rough in scale. If one looks at the example above the lines are so thin, but casting makes them expand. So here's my solution- make your own! link link |
Delbruck | 19 Jul 2019 4:20 p.m. PST |
Beautiful shields JJartist. |
French Wargame Holidays | 19 Jul 2019 10:42 p.m. PST |
For my successor I used the foundry embossed shields but painted them
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AegonTheUnready | 21 Jul 2019 5:36 p.m. PST |
@JJArtist beautiful work! Could you share your process with us, or maybe even your .jpg files? :) |
JJartist | 22 Jul 2019 11:55 a.m. PST |
@AegonTheUnready I plan to do something for ancientbattles.com soon. I'm thinking of selling them to support my webpage as a promotional item. Not sure how to set it up and do it do it as yet. Thanks. |