Aspis
Template:Short description Script error: No such module "about". Script error: No such module "Distinguish".
Page Module:Message box/ambox.css has no content.Page Template:Multiple issues/styles.css has no content.
This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these messages)
Page Module:Message box/ambox.css has no content.
|
An aspis (Template:Langx; Template:Plural form: aspides, Script error: No such module "Lang".) or porpax shield was the heavy wooden shield used by the infantry in various periods of ancient Greece.[1]
Construction
An aspis was deeply dished and made primarily of wood. Some had a thin sheet of bronze on the outer face, often just around the rim. The convention was to decorate the shield.
The aspis often exceeded 0.9 metres (3 ft) in diameter, typically weighed about 7 kilograms (16 lb), and was about Page Template:Fraction/styles.css has no content.2+1⁄2–4 centimetres (1–1+1⁄2 in) thick.[2] This large shield was made possible partly by its shape, which allowed it to be supported comfortably on the shoulder. The revolutionary part of the shield was, in fact, the grip. 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. This allowed hoplites more mobility with the shield, as well as the ability to capitalize on their offensive capabilities and better support the phalanx. The shield rested on a man's shoulders, stretching down to the knees; and it had a convex face, like that of a shallow bowl.[3] It was theorized they were designed for a mass of hoplites to push forward into the opposing army, a move called othismos. The convex face would allow the bearers to continue breathing (and therefor pushing) while being crushed from ahead and behind. An enemy soldier without this innovation would suffocate, then faint or panic; though this is a disputed theory.[4][5]
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. It was discovered in 1830 near Bomarzo in Lazio, central Italy.[6]
See also
- Ancient Greek warfare
- Clipeus – a similar shield used by the Romans
- Peltast – a light infantryman using a lighter pelte shield
- Thyreophoroi and thorakitai – medium infantrymen using thyreos shields
References
Page Template:Reflist/styles.css has no content.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Cartwright, Mark (9 February 2013). "Hoplite". World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2022-08-14.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Zimmel, Jonathan; Girard, Todd. "Hoplites Arms and Armor". Archived from the original on 26 October 2017. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Piotr Grotowski (2010). Arms and Armour of the Warrior Saints: Tradition and Innovation in Byzantine Iconography (843–1261). BRILL. p. 215. ISBN 978-90-04-18548-7.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Goldsworthy, Adrian K. (1997). The Othismos, Myths and Heresies: The Nature of Hoplite Battle. Sage Publications.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Sage, Michael M. (1996). Warfare in Ancient Greece: A Sourcebook. London: Routledge. p. 281.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.John and Hilary Travis (3 July 2014). Roman Shields. Amberley Publishing Limited. p. 33. ISBN 978-1-4456-3843-0.
.jpg){kind=link}