The linothorax

[Erpingham]

I've been considering this sarcophagus recently



A bunch of Etruscan hoplites (or men dressed as hoplites for those who don't find the evidence for Etruscan phalanxes convincing).  Most wear what we now call a linothorax.  This pre-supposes that the armour is made of linen.  Not all agree with this view.  Can any of our hoplite specialists bring me up to speed with current thinking?

[Duncan Head]

Most people currently do think it's made out of linen; a few holdouts think it's usually leather; some old-fashioned types like me suspect both materials could be used.

There is clear literary evidence for Etruscan linen, and at least one student has suggested that Italians and Romans did use linen armour, but have retrojected this on to the Greeks for whom it was only an occasional expensive foreign oddity (like Alexander's linen cuirass, which was actually a Persian capture). See this article for the Etruscans, including this sarcophagus.

And this video for the view from the man who wrote the book on linen armour; note the interjection in the Q&A session from Hero Grainger-Taylor whose article in the same book as the Etruscan one above suggests an alternative means of construction for linen armour.

This one  discusses production and availability of linen.

Oh, and linen armour is usually called "thorax lineos" or similar; it looks as if "linothorax" originated from a Homeric adjective meaning "linen-cuirassed".

[Patrick Waterson]

Duncan has said everything worth saying on the subject: I have nothing to add except - welcome back, Anthony!

[Justin Swanton]

I'd be curious to hear what Paul Bardunias has to say on the subject.

[Erpingham]

I'd be curious to hear what Paul Bardunias has to say on the subject.

Seconded.  But thanks to Duncan for that overview.  And to Patrick for the welcome.

[PMBardunias]

I'd be curious to hear what Paul Bardunias has to say on the subject.

Seconded.

Sorry guys, I was off in Africa when this was posted and missed it. I am with Duncan in thinking that both were used.  Leather is fairly straight forward, with some combination of tanning and tawing to bleach for white or to prep for other colors.  My current thinking about linen is that they were probably woven thick without need to glue or stitch. The Dura Europus greave (liner?!) shows how thick twined linen could be. Multiple layers could be literally woven together at the time of construction through a process known as 3-D weaving.

Here is an old article I wrote on these corselets, with some addenda added from my book.  I wrote this article largely through annoyance at book that had come out on the linothorax that selectively lifted information from our old RAT thread on the topic.  Hmm...I seem to be motivated to write about history largely through annoyance at the popular dogma.

http://hollow-lakedaimon.blogspot.com/2018/07/the-linothorax.html

[Justin Swanton]

Hmm...I seem to be motivated to write about history largely through annoyance at the popular dogma.

Fancy that. 

[Patrick Waterson]

Interesting article, Paul: thanks.

[PMBardunias]

Interesting article, Paul: thanks.

Thanks guys.

[Jim Webster]

Interesting article, Paul: thanks.

Thanks guys.

just to second the comment, a very useful article

[PMBardunias]

Interesting article, Paul: thanks.

Thanks guys.

just to second the comment, a very useful article

Thanks, I leaned on other more knowledgeable than myself.  If you have any questions, please ask.

[Duncan Head]

The latest Ancient Warfare, XII/2, which arrived today, has an article by Paul McDonnell-Staff about a Thracian burial that includes a remarkably well-preserved leather pteryges-cuirass covered with iron scales. It is not a Greek cuirass, and is not quite the same as the archetypal Greek style that this thread is about - it doesn't have the separate shoulder-yoke that gave rise to the "tube-and-yoke" nomenclature, it overlaps to give a double thickness in the front, and has uneven pteryges - short at the back and long at the sides for riding. But it does confirm that some of this general class of cuirasses were leather.

The AW article has a photo of the surviving cuirass and a nice reconstruction painting; or the original report is at academia.edu, the relevant two of the five files being here and here.

[Patrick Waterson]

Or does it confirm that some of this general class were leather covered with iron scales?  While it confirms the use of leather in the making and wearing of mail armour, does it actually do anything to indicate the existence of a stand-alone leather thorax?

Intyeresting information, anyway.  Thanks, Duncan.

[PMBardunias]

Or does it confirm that some of this general class were leather covered with iron scales?  While it confirms the use of leather in the making and wearing of mail armour, does it actually do anything to indicate the existence of a stand-alone leather thorax?

Intyeresting information, anyway.  Thanks, Duncan.

A friend of mine is creating a T-Y out of alum tawed leather- made famous as medieval Cordwain or Cordovan leather. Some of us suggested this years back due to the properties of tawed vs tanned leather.  He or both of us will probably write something for AW on the experience, but from what I have seen the leather is interestingly different from tanned.  It would not surprise me if the backing of scale is different than the base of a non-scaled t-y.  Having worn leather and linen armor, I think it quite likely that scale adds flexibility for the same protection father than substantially more protection. Or perhaps better to say different protection. I would not want to be shot with razor sharp arrows in a leather T-Y, but even slightly dull or the chop of a blade or sagaris is far less daunting.