Was the Spartan hoplite recognizable?

[Yin Shao Loong]

Yes, if paint wasn't a method of decorating shields then what method was used? Are the brightly coloured shield transfers now commercially available mere flights of fancy?

[Andreas Johansson]

Yes, if paint wasn't a method of decorating shields then what method was used? Are the brightly coloured shield transfers now commercially available mere flights of fancy?

Patrick's quote ought prove shields were at least sometimes painted (albeit not necessarily in bright colours).

There's at least one example of a Macedonian (non-hoplite) shield with a blazon (a Macedonian star) driven into the metal, however (there's some discussion of it in this thread - and when I say some discussion, I mean, it's at least mentioned and there's a link to an article (in German) where it's mentioned as a comparandum to the shield the article is about).

[Patrick Waterson]

Although slightly off-topic, surviving Greek statues are in similar case to surviving Greek shields: usually, there is not a trace of paint on them.  Yet there are various allusions and references - notably Cassander almost having a heart attack when he came face-to-face with the statue of Alexander at Delphi (see Plutarch Alexander 74.4 - and also 40.4 for how the statue got there) -which indicate that statues were painted to resemble life.

Ultra-violet spectroscopy examination of some surviving statues has detected traces of paint still adhering (see here).  Shields made primarily of wood probably do not retain paint flecks as well as stone and metal, but we have evidence of Greek shield patterns from vase portrayals.  This 'actual ancient Greek artwork' is a staple recourse for present-day makers of Greek shields.  As most of the original artwork is in black and white (or black and red) on account of pottery styles and colouring limitations, some of the colours are guesswork.

[Yin Shao Loong]

Thank you.

Has anyone seen anything else by Brinkmann on this period since those images came out six odd years ago?

[RichT]

On painted shields and statues - the Alexander Sarcophagus was painted of course, and it depicts very colourful shields (standard Argive shields from the looks of them) - the paint was still clearly visible at the end of the 19th C though it has faded greatly now. These shields are depicted in Sekunda's Osprey Army of Alexander.

Hellenistic Macedonian shields were always embossed with the hoops pattern (and/or with stars, writing or a god or king portrait). Whether they were painted as well ('White Shields', 'Bronze Shields') is a moot point, but Macedonian tomb paintings and Ayios Athanasios in particular show highly coloured shields.

There are no grounds for doubting that Greeks painted their shields. I don't know what sort of paint they might have used to cover bronze, but that's another question.

[Tim]

Patrick

If only I had 300 bucks spare... I wonder how my wife would react to a Spartan shield on the wall of her newly decorated entrance hall - cheaper than good quality pictures for sure.

All

We have to consider that a lot of our painted vase evidence (possibly almost all) is Athenian and largely for export to Italy so it is worth considering if they would have accurately represented Spartans.  For most of the period we have surviving examples, Athens and Sparta were enemies.  It might not change the representation but it is possible that the potters whose work had survived never actually saw a Spartan sheild.

I WISH that some of the outlanding examples were actual copies (probably painted on wood rather than bronze) and used colour in the same way as the Romans but I remain to be convinced.

Regards
Tim

[RobertGargan]

If, as Xenophon claims, the bronze shield was chosen because it could be quickly polished and was slow to tarnish, would the Spartans be interested in covering it with paint?  If the bronze was too thinly spread to significantly add much strength to the shield could its purpose be to impress on the enemy that the dreaded Spartan phalanx was present?  It may have been common for hoplites from other states to have portrayed family or national blazons to a greater degree than those from Sparta.

[Erpingham]

If, as Xenophon claims, the bronze shield was chosen because it could be quickly polished and was slow to tarnish, would the Spartans be interested in covering it with paint?  If the bronze was too thinly spread to significantly add much strength to the shield could its purpose be to impress on the enemy that the dreaded Spartan phalanx was present?  It may have been common for hoplites from other states to have portrayed family or national blazons to a greater degree than those from Sparta.

As far as I know - I'm sure the classicists will correct me if wrong - all hoplites used the same bronze-faced shield.  While the Spartans may have used a plain shield to distinguish themselves, it can't be because only they had bronze shields.

[Dangun]

the Alexander Sarcophagus was painted of course

One of the top ten reasons for any holiday in Istanbul!
Although earlier this year, that exhibit was closed for renovation.

[Dangun]

We would then have to explain all the visual images of what appear to be patterned shields and the literary references to painting shields.  Given the nature of the physical evidence (excavated material where paint may not have survived), I think I would stick with "absence of evidence" in this case.

I actually meant just the spartan lambda shield design.
Some of the other designs I believe are confirmed by surviving examples where the design has been formed into the metal, whether or not they were painted.

[Patrick Waterson]

If, as Xenophon claims, the bronze shield was chosen because it could be quickly polished and was slow to tarnish, would the Spartans be interested in covering it with paint?  If the bronze was too thinly spread to significantly add much strength to the shield could its purpose be to impress on the enemy that the dreaded Spartan phalanx was present?  It may have been common for hoplites from other states to have portrayed family or national blazons to a greater degree than those from Sparta.

As far as I know - I'm sure the classicists will correct me if wrong - all hoplites used the same bronze-faced shield.  While the Spartans may have used a plain shield to distinguish themselves, it can't be because only they had bronze shields.

During the Hellenistic era, historians had a simple description for troops with 'bare' bronze shields: khalkaspides.  Somehow a brass-faced shield with a red lambda looks right for Spartans.  The one featured in the picture is a home-made reconstruction, but the effect is impressive and yes, the Spartans would definitely be interested in adding the 'red letter' for visual effect.

For literary references to shield devices, we are dependent upon obiter dictu (by-the-way) mentions such as the following:

"Then the Argives, filled with overweening confidence on account of their numbers, advanced at once; and they defeated the Sicyonians, and breaking through the stockade pursued them to the sea and there killed many of them. But Pasimachus, the Lacedaemonian commander of horse, at the head of a few horsemen, when he saw the Sicyonians hard pressed, tied his horses to trees, took from the Sicyonians their shields, and advanced with a volunteer force against the Argives. The Argives, however, seeing the Sigmas upon the shields, did not fear these opponents at all, thinking that they were Sicyonians. Then, as the story goes, Pasimachus said: "By the twin gods, Argives, these Sigmas will deceive you," and came to close quarters with them; and fighting thus with a few against many he was slain, and likewise others of his party." - Xenophon, Hellenica IV.10.


Without this single mention, we would not know that Sicyonians carried a sigma on their shields.  This does at least indicate that certain Greek city-states used single-letter devices as standard, and it would be surprising if the Spartans did not follow this presumably Peloponnesian trend of identity through uniformity.

[RobertGargan]

Patrick
Your point about the Sikyonians is interesting because it is one of the few references to a uniform blazon on hoplite shields from a single city state.  I know there is mention of the letter M on Messenian shields and that Thrasyboulos' Athenian democrats painted their shields white in imitation of the Argives but there is very little evidence of independent minded Greeks showing an interest in uniformity.
However, Xenophon's Hellenica quoting the Arkadians painting the Theban club design on their shields shows that uniform blazons were not common otherwise they would have kept their own representations, displaying their distinctive identity.  Arkadians like most Greek states simply did not have national uniform symbols.
Spartans described as "equals" colours our perception of the way they should be depicted.   History describes their full citizens as homoioi, which encourages us to seek a mind-set that will jump at the opportunity of painting the lambda on all shields.  I can see regiments of crimson and gleaming bronze, but I'm not sure they felt the need to own the same shield blazon.  I suppose they knew who was on their side in battle because of the direction they were facing and their training.
I would dearly love to preserve the red lambda on my 28mm Spartans but I'm having doubts!

[Patrick Waterson]

If in doubt paint them out, but I think there is reason enough to keep them -  after all, who is going to complain?

As far as I know, we have no overt statements that Spartans went into battle with bare metal shields, so your lambdas would get the benefit of the doubt.

Patrick
Your point about the Sikyonians is interesting because it is one of the few references to a uniform blazon on hoplite shields from a single city state.  I know there is mention of the letter M on Messenian shields and that Thrasyboulos' Athenian democrats painted their shields white in imitation of the Argives but there is very little evidence of independent minded Greeks showing an interest in uniformity.

Some however would see the advantage of immediate identification on the battlefield, a point which might have been rubbed home as far as the Athenians were concerned following their unintentional fratricide at Delium while eliminating the Thespians.

However, Xenophon's Hellenica quoting the Arkadians painting the Theban club design on their shields shows that uniform blazons were not common otherwise they would have kept their own representations, displaying their distinctive identity.  Arkadians like most Greek states simply did not have national uniform symbols.

Arkadians were a new composite state assembled largely from the old Messenians, who had for centuries been subjects of Sparta and hence were somewhat lacking in battlefield tradition.

To be frank, we do not really know how widespread 'national' shield symbols were; a few examples are given in literature, we might make out more from vase paintings (which would presumably be accurate in order to avoid negative reviews by customers) and we are left guessing about most of the rest.  I am not sure we can say, at least with any pretence to accuracy, that most Greek states lacked national identification symbols.

Spartans described as "equals" colours our perception of the way they should be depicted.   History describes their full citizens as homoioi,

Which is sometimes naughtily misrepresented, but does suggest a penchant for both conformity and uniformity.

[Duncan Head]

I can see regiments of crimson and gleaming bronze, but I'm not sure they felt the need to own the same shield blazon.  I suppose they knew who was on their side in battle because of the direction they were facing and their training.

But it's not always obvious who's on whose side:

Learning this, the Lacedaemonians were preparing to assist their partisans in Elis. While they were being organized in squadrons and distributed in companies, a thousand picked Messenian troops arrived hurriedly at Elis with Laconian blazons (semeia ... lakonika) on their shields.

Seeing their shields, all the Laconising party in Elis thought their supporters had arrived and received them into the fortress. But having obtained admission in this way, the Messenians drove out the supporters of the Lacedaemonians and made over the city to their own partisans.

That's Pausanias 4.28.5-6, an incident set around or shortly after the time of the Lamian War - the end of the 4th century. It suggests, just like the Photios/Eupolis lambdas, that there clearly was a recognizable Lakonian shield-blazon.

[Yin Shao Loong]

I came across an article by Bramwell Adams in Slingshot issue 92 on Spartan shield patterns with some reference to the lead votive offerings at the shrine of Artemis Ortheia. He also advances the argument that if the lambda was employed it would have been written differently in the late 5th century BC to how it is now. It would have it's angle in the lower left, ala the Latin L or the Phoenician Lamed.

For an example, see the top right of this image https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:NAMA_Alphabet_grec.jpg

Was there any subsequent response to this?