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Back to 800 BC - 600 BC Europe Map Greek hoplites, the Greek name for soldiers, are well-known for their heavy armors with a distinguished design. A notable feature of Greek armors in this period is that their designs covered almost entire critical parts of the body with metals, mostly bronze, while they still enabled mobility and vision of the soldier; the helmet covered all the head and neck with thick metal, except for eyes and a small portion of the mouth for communication, and the cuirass also covered the entire torso with thick metal. Such designs and materials use were so effective defensively that many other cultures, especially ancient Italy, adopted them for their own armies. These kinds of armors played an important role in Greek warfare, such as their victory in the Persian war.
Materials and techniques
Greek people at this time had already learned to mix different types of metals into a new alloy to obtain desired properties. Metals regularly used were gold, electrum (alloy of gold and silver), silver, and bronze. Although this period is a transition from Bronze Age to Iron Age in Europe, bronze still played an important role, and remained the normal metal for armors.
Principal metalworking techniques were casting and hammering. Hammering was still the basic method to produce armors, possibly because it was faster to produce a large number of custom-fitted armors in the Greek army. By this time Greek artisans had also mastered some clever decoration techniques like repousse and chasing (or engraving), which created many decoration details on the armor pieces.
HELMETS |
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Name: Thracian helmet. Origin: around 500BC, in the city of Thracian, Greece. Material used: bronze. This helmet consists of six pieces: the Cap, conformed to the shape of the head; the Falos, a metal ridge running from the front to the back of the cap at the centre and designed as a support for the crest; the Lofos or crest, commonly of horsehair and constantly ending in the horse's tail; the Visor, the Cheek pieces, and the Neckpiece. The crest, an organic part of the helmet, no longer existed by the time the helmet was discovered. This helmet is about 55cm high and weighs 11kg. |
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Name: Corinthian helmet. Origin: second half of 7th century BC, in the Peloponnesian city of Corinth, Greece. Material: bronze. The Corinth helmet does not have crest. It was made by hammering a single piece of Bronze adapted individually for each warrior. It was the most used type of helmet by the Greeks. The estimated height and weight of the Corinthian helmet are 22cm and 5kg. |
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CUIRASS |
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Name: muscular bell-shaped cuirass. Origin: 620BC to 580BC, Greece. Materials: Bronze, leather. This cuirass consists of 2 parts: one for the protection of the breast and abdomen, the other for the back. These were hinged on one side and buckled on the other. There were also hinges at the shoulders. About the lower part of the cuirass was a series of flaps of leather covered with metal, which protected the hips and groin of the wearer, while not in the least interfering with his freedom of movement. These flaps had disappeared by the time of excavation. |
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SHIELD |
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Name: Aspis shield. Origin: ancient Greece. Materials: wood or wicker, covered over with ox hides or leather, sometimes with metals. Aspis shield was decorated with different images, sometimes with a Gorgon head, or the symbol Lambda as used by Spartans, or the symbol M by Messenians. Its weight is approximately 8kg. |
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GREAVES |
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Name: Greek style greaves. Origin: ancient Greece. Materials: bronze, leather, wool, or linen. Greek greaves were made of flexible metal and can be padded with wool or linen on the inner surface, perhaps to provide comfort. They were "sprung on" the leg, and then fastened behind by straps or buckles. Like the cuirass, they were made to fit each individual soldier and also had muscular shape. Some greaves designs covered only the shin, not the knee. |
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Integrative Materials Design Center - Worcester Polytechnic Institute