A Chalcidian helmet or Chalcidian type helmet was a helmet made of bronze

Bronze

Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...

 and worn by ancient warriors of the Hellenic world, especially popular in Greece

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

 in the fourth and fifth centuries BC. The helmet was also worn extensively in the Greek (Southern) parts of Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 in the same period.

Terminology

The helmet is so-called because it was first, and is most commonly, depicted on pottery once thought to derive from the Euboean city of Chalcis

Chalcis

Chalcis or Chalkida , the chief town of the island of Euboea in Greece, is situated on the strait of the Evripos at its narrowest point. The name is preserved from antiquity and is derived from the Greek χαλκός , though there is no trace of any mines in the area...

. In fact, it is not known whether the helmet actually originated in Chalcis; indeed, it is not known whether the pottery in question was actually Chalcidian.

Description

The helmet appears to have been a development of the Corinthian helmet

Corinthian helmet

The Corinthian helmet originated in ancient Greece and took its name from the city-state of Corinth. It was a helmet made of bronze which in its later styles covered the entire head and neck, with slits for the eyes and mouth. A large curved projection protected the nape of the neck...

, its improvements in design giving the wearer better hearing and vision, resulting in a lighter and less bulky helmet.

It consisted of a hemispherical dome, and below that, generally inset from the top dome, a pair of cheek pieces and a neck guard, with a substantial loop on either side for the wearer's ears. In the front, between the two cheek pieces, was a small nasal bar to protect the wearer's nose. The helmet could be entirely one piece, or the cheek pieces could be attached separately by hinges, which eased construction and made putting the helmet on easier. In Italy, the helmet with fixed cheek pieces is referred to as Chalcidian, its variant with hinged cheek pieces is called a Lucanian helmet because it was widely used in Lucania

Lucania

Lucania was an ancient district of southern Italy, extending from the Tyrrhenian Sea to the Gulf of Taranto. To the north it adjoined Campania, Samnium and Apulia, and to the south it was separated by a narrow isthmus from the district of Bruttium...

.

The helmet would commonly have a hole pierced on each cheek piece or elsewhere in order to accept an inner lining which was made of leather. Adornments such as combs and other protuberances were usually placed on the top of the helmet.

Usage

By the time of Alexander the Great, the helmet was still worn by armoured soldiers, especially Hoplites, the spear-armed heavy infantrymen (other than those of the Sparta

Sparta

Sparta or Lacedaemon, was a prominent city-state in ancient Greece, situated on the banks of the River Eurotas in Laconia, in south-eastern Peloponnese. It emerged as a political entity around the 10th century BC, when the invading Dorians subjugated the local, non-Dorian population. From c...

ns, who instead wore the much plainer pilos helmet). It is likely that some of the Macedonian soldiers who conquered Greece and went on to forge a substantial Hellenistic empire also wore the Chalcidian helmet. The helmet is thought to have developed in turn into the Attic helmet

Attic helmet

The Attic helmet was a type of helmet that was originated in Classical Greece and was widely used in Italy and the Hellenistic world until well into the Roman Empire.It was similar to the Chalcidian helmet but lacked a nose-guard...

which is iconic of classical soldiers.

Sources

• Heckel, Waldemar, and Jones, Ryan. Macedonian Warrior: Alexander's Elite Infantryman. Osprey Publishing, 2006. ISBN 1841769509
• Horsnaes, Helle W. The Cultural Development in North Western Lucania C. 600-273 BC. L'Erma di Bretschneider, 2002. ISBN 8882651940
• Sekunda, Nicholas. Greek Hoplite, 480-323 BC: 480-323 BC. Osprey Publishing, 2000. ISBN 1855328674