Linothorax
Encyclopedia
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
, as well as other civilizations, from the Mycenaean Period through the Hellenistic Period. The earliest attested account of a linothorax used for battle is recorded in Book 2 of Homer
Homer
In the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...
's Iliad
Iliad
The Iliad is an epic poem in dactylic hexameters, traditionally attributed to Homer. Set during the Trojan War, the ten-year siege of the city of Troy by a coalition of Greek states, it tells of the battles and events during the weeks of a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles...
(2.529 and 2.830). It is worn by Ajax the lesser
Ajax the Lesser
Ajax was a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris. He was called the "lesser" or "Locrian" Ajax, to distinguish him from Ajax the Great, son of Telamon. He was the leader of the Locrian contingent during the Trojan War. He is a significant figure in Homer's Iliad and is also...
and is described in brief. Homer, writing long before the Great armies of Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, Thebes
Thebes, Greece
Thebes is a city in Greece, situated to the north of the Cithaeron range, which divides Boeotia from Attica, and on the southern edge of the Boeotian plain. It played an important role in Greek myth, as the site of the stories of Cadmus, Oedipus, Dionysus and others...
, 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...
or Alexander the Great, surely understood what the armor was. But the extent to which it was used can not be fully determined. An educated guess can be made, however, based on its use by Alexander the Great, and its mention by other sources such as Herodotus
Herodotus
Herodotus was an ancient Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus, Caria and lived in the 5th century BC . He has been called the "Father of History", and was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a...
(2.182, 3.47, 7.63), Livy
Livy
Titus Livius — known as Livy in English — was a Roman historian who wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people. Ab Urbe Condita Libri, "Chapters from the Foundation of the City," covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome well before the traditional foundation in 753 BC...
(4.19.2-20.7) and Strabo
Strabo
Strabo, also written Strabon was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher.-Life:Strabo was born to an affluent family from Amaseia in Pontus , a city which he said was situated the approximate equivalent of 75 km from the Black Sea...
(Geography, 3.3.6, 13.1.10), and many others. The linothorax appears to have been used in place of the bronze 'bell cuirass' as the popular choice of armour for Greek hoplites, starting perhaps around the late seventh century and early sixth century B.C. Its high point, if vase paintings, sculptural reliefs and artistic depictions are to be believed, corresponds with the time of the Persian Wars. By the time of the Peloponnesian War
Peloponnesian War
The Peloponnesian War, 431 to 404 BC, was an ancient Greek war fought by Athens and its empire against the Peloponnesian League led by Sparta. Historians have traditionally divided the war into three phases...
it was still used, and continued to seemingly flourish well into the Hellenistic Period.
Construction
Very few details of the thorax construction are found in Homer and other authors, probably applicable to linothorax as well. The thorax consists of two or more gyala (γύαλα), hollow metal plates covering the breast and the back (Il. 15.530, 5.99). A mitra or mitre (μίτρα, μίτρη) was a metal guard worn around the waist (Il. 4.137, 187.216, 5.857) over a leather or felt cloth caled zoma (ζώμα) (Il. 23.683, 4.216, Od.14.482). Metal plates or flaps called pteryges (πτέρυγες) were protecting various parts of the body (Xenophon, Anabasis 4.7.15). A "zoster" (ζωστήρ) was a belt, probably of leather with metal plates, worn around the waist over the other parts of the cuirass (Il. 4.132, 135,186 etc).The actual method of constructing a linothorax is unknown as no example has survived from ancient times. The only piece of armor that resembles the linothorax was discovered in a tomb in Vergina
Vergina
Vergina is a small town in northern Greece, located in the peripheral unit of Imathia, Central Macedonia. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Veroia, of which it is a municipal unit...
, Northern Greece (the ancient Macedonian capital of Aegae). This armor, which was most probably worn for ceremony, was constructed from sheet iron with gold embellishments. It is probably an iron copy of a linothorax.
Since visual evidence is limited to vase paintings and sculptural reliefs, rather than actual surviving models, modern scholars can only guess at its makeup and design. Artistic depictions show armor that has a top piece which covers the shoulders and is tied down on the chest, a main body piece wrapping around the wearer and covering the entire torso, and a row of pteruges
Pteruges
Pteruges refers to the decorative skirt of leather or fabric strips worn around the waists of Roman and Greek warriors and soldiers, as well as the similarly-fashioned epaulette-like strips worn on the shoulders or later, especially in the Middle East during the Middle Ages, the back of the...
or flaps around the bottom which cover the groin and upper thigh. There are a number of vase paintings that show what appear to be metal scales covering the armor (as shown in the picture).
The type of material that went into the construction of the linothorax is still hotly debated by academics and amateurs alike. Some of the more common theories of its construction involve laminated or quilting many layers of linen
Linen
Linen is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant, Linum usitatissimum. Linen is labor-intensive to manufacture, but when it is made into garments, it is valued for its exceptional coolness and freshness in hot weather....
fabric (linothorax literally means 'linen torso'); the armor probably had between 12 and 20 layers. Some have claimed that it was made of leather
Leather
Leather is a durable and flexible material created via the tanning of putrescible animal rawhide and skin, primarily cattlehide. It can be produced through different manufacturing processes, ranging from cottage industry to heavy industry.-Forms:...
, or possibly other materials, or a combination of both, but there is little evidence to either support or refute this. It has been suggested the fabric layers were bonded using animal glue
Animal glue
An animal glue is an adhesive that is created by prolonged boiling of animal connective tissue.These protein colloid glues are formed through hydrolysis of the collagen from skins, bones, tendons, and other tissues, similar to gelatin. The word "collagen" itself derives from Greek κόλλα kolla, glue...
. Although strong, this is water soluble therefore the armour would need protection against rain or sweat if this was indeed used.
University of Wisconsin-Green Bay: Linothorax Project
In January 2009, Dr. Gregory S. AldreteGregory S. Aldrete
Gregory S. Aldrete is a professor of history and humanistic studies currently teaching at the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay, where he has been teaching since 1995. His emphasis is in rhetoric and oratory, floods in Rome, ancient Greek and Roman history, and daily life in the Roman world. He...
of the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay and Scott Bartell presented a paper discussing the protective qualities of the linothorax at the joint American Philological Association
American Philological Association
The American Philological Association , founded in 1869, is a non-profit North American scholarly organization devoted to all aspects of Greek and Roman civilization...
/Archaeological Institute of America
Archaeological Institute of America
The Archaeological Institute of America is a North American nonprofit organization devoted to the promotion of public interest in archaeology, and the preservation of archaeological sites. It has offices on the campus of Boston University and in New York City.The institute was founded in 1879,...
Convention held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The pair have been researching the linothorax since 2005 and have built a number of replicas, using various methods that include lamination and quilting. Their paper argued that a 1 cm thick linothorax, usually consisting of around 11 to 18 layers (depending on thickness of thread), would have provided all the necessary protection to its wearer to survive an arrow or slashing attack.
The research was carried out by assembling dozens of linen test patches, arranged in a multitude of fashions, using authentic materials, and subjecting them to arrow shots and sword cuts. The testing was carried out in a sort of "worst-case-scenario" in which the range was nearly pointblank and the angle of archer to armor was perpendicular. In an actual battle both of these factors would have been considerably different, making the performance of the test patches even more remarkable. The tests also concluded that quilted armor offered roughly three fourths of the protection of laminated armor; thus the quilted patches were less effective. This was found to be true in every sort of test conducted. The research conducted by Greg Aldrete and Scott Bartell was also presented at the 2010 Poster Session for the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) in Anaheim, California, where it won first prize among many contenders from around the world. The research is ongoing and is soon to be published.
In use the linothorax is at first stiff when put on, but through body heat it conforms to the shape and movement of the user. This quality would have allowed it to be mass produced for military use. In a warmer climate bronze armor would be hot and thus decrease the wearer's ability to fight effectively for long periods.
On November 9, 2011, Dr. Aldrete was featured on an episode of Penn and Teller's Tell A Lie - broadcast on the Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav...
- where he showed how the linothorax armor worked by shooting an arrow at one of his students, Scott Bartell.