Linothorax, the linen cuirass used by hoplites in Ancient Greece as an alternative to bronze
In general, people have a somewhat stereotyped perception of the iconography of Ancient Greek warriors, ignoring that Hellenic panoplies varied greatly from those heavy Mycenaean bronze plate armor to the absence of any protection body in later centuries -except for the pilos type helmet-. Thus, the image that has most permeated is that of the classic hoplite, with his Corinthian helmet, his greaves and his aspis. The armor that protected his torso, yes, varied. If the Spartans always remained faithful to their traditional muscled bronze cuirass, the Athenians and others diversified things by also adopting a different model, the one most often seen in illustrations and movies, which had its moment of splendor in the Macedonian army of Alexander the Great. . It's called a linothorax.
As can be deduced from its name, it was an armor made of linen, between ten and twelve layers glued together by some natural adhesive, whether of animal origin such as hoof keratin or vegetable resin such as resin. However, some experts believe that sweat or rain would degrade the binder as it is soluble in water, so some extra element would be needed and point to the possibility that the linothorax was actually made of hardened leather. Others suggest that the layers would not be glued but superimposed, forming a padding like that of medieval gambesones (although the Scythians already used them in the 4th century BC) or that of Mesoamerican cotton scapulas (ichcahuipilli).
It is difficult to know for sure because, as they are perishable materials, no specimen has remained and the only similar piece, found in a burial in Vergina (a small town in northern Greece that was once called Aigai and was the first capital of Macedonia; the tomb of Philip, the father of Alexander, was discovered there), it was not made of linen but of iron sheet with gold decorations. This leads archaeologists to think that it was nothing more than a copy of a linothorax, probably made for ceremonial or religious purposes. In addition, in a Mycenaean tomb a fragment with several layers of linen glued together appeared that could correspond to a linothorax, although it is speculation.
Because, indeed, everything is speculation. The linothorax would be a breastplate that wrapped the user's torso above the chitonisko (the inner tunic), held by epomidas or wide shoulder pads, separately adjustable thanks to two separate cords, which came together and rose at the nape of the neck, covering it. A zoma, that is to say, a leather or felt fabric, surrounded the waist serving as the base for an interior metallic sheet of mesh. Each layer would measure around five millimeters thick, although the ones inside were coarser. All this externally reinforced by means of a zoster or belt with metal plates. In its lower part it was finished with the characteristic pteruges (wings), a skirt made of two layers of linen or leather strips, it is unknown if they were riveted (in the style of the Roman cingulus) or forming part of the linothorax itself in a single piece, which was intended to protect the groin and thighs by overlapping the layers on each other.
All this halved the weight of a bronze cuirass, which could be around thirteen kilos. It is true that the one described would be a basic vision, since sometimes bronze plates were inserted between each layer and in some paintings we even see composite armor, linothorax covered with plates or scales, preluding what in Rome would be the lorica squamata, the protection typical of centurions and cavalry, especially in the republican period. In other words, uncertainty is the norm and everything described is always based on current reconstructions, which in the absence of information have been made in two versions: padded and laminated (tests, by the way, show that the second would offer greater protection).
And it is that the only sources available are, as we say, artistic representations: pictorial decoration of ceramic pieces, statues and reliefs, mosaics... There are hardly any written ones and the few that exist are mere references, with hardly any description. Homer's Iliad would be the first of them, when describing the equipment of Ajax Oileida, the Lesser, one of those who hid inside the Trojan horse (the one who found and raped Cassandra), of which he says that "his armor was of simple linen»; a few pages later he also assigns one to Amphios, the brother of Adrestus, both sons of the soothsayer king Merope. Likewise, they mention the linothorax: Herodotus (he calls it "linen chestguard", referring in the second of his Nine Books of History to an offering made in honor of Athena), Xenophon (who assures that it was also used by Scythians and Calibes) Titus Livio and Strabo, to mention only the most important.
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Homer's review implies that such protection would be much older than it appears, dating back to the Mycenaean period. Now, when it really became popular it was from the transition between the Archaic and the Classic, at the beginning of the 6th century BC, coinciding with the Medical Wars, the height of the Attic-Delican League. Then it declined during the Peloponnesian War because the demand for men made it necessary to recruit among the humble classes, without the resources to pay for armor, whether made of linen or metal.
Finally it was recovered in the Hellenistic period (spreading especially in the 4th century BC, after the battle of Leuctra), to experience a second moment of splendor equipping the Athenian hoplites after the military reforms undertaken by Iphicrates (who, In addition to revolutionizing the army tactically, they led to the introduction of other innovations such as the pelta or light shield, longer swords and spears, and the Ifcratids, leather greaves that are easy to put on and take off).
The auction and swan song took place when a large part of the Macedonian phalanxes of Alexander the Great adopted it as well, finally giving way to the coat of mail at the end of the following century (by then its use had spread to the entire world). Mediterranean). We know that Iphicrates wanted to lighten the weight of the peltasts (light infantry), and linen was undoubtedly better than bronze. In fact, the Macedonian hypaspists (auxiliary infantry) were equipped with spolas, an even lighter type of linothorax (it may have even been a simple linen tunic).
In this sense, it is believed that the success it had among the Macedonian phalangites was due to that lightness -very welcome in the very long marches that they had to carry out- and to a greater coolness for the torrid places that they had to cross in that endless campaign that It reached India, Anatolia, Egypt, Central Asia or the Near and Middle East, since linen is made of cellulose and can absorb up to twenty percent moisture, preventing clothes from sticking to the body with sweat.
Until not long ago it was assumed that a linothorax was cheaper than a bronze armor, but this belief has now been discarded because the work necessary to convert the vegetable fiber into cloth is very laborious and, therefore, it would be a product expensive; We have already seen how many soldiers could not afford it in the fourth century B.C. However, its advantages outweighed the high cost, as it could withstand sword slashes and broadheaded arrows: these could pass through the protection but, if they did not follow a direct trajectory, once inside they deviated from one layer to another, stopping. before reaching the skin.
Flax, on the other hand, didn't do a good job of absorbing blows, so it was less efficient against heavy weapons. The fact that the Persians and their allies used swords, spears, and light axes (some Immortals also wore linothoraxes) could be another clue as to why the linothorax had its moment in the Medic Wars and Alexander's conquests.
Sources
The Iliad (Homer)/The nine books of history (Herodotus)/Geography (Strabo)/Anabasis. The retreat of the Ten Thousand (Xenophon)/Hoplites, legendary warriors (Nicholas Sekunda and Adam Hook)/Weapons of Greece and Rome. They forged Classical Antiquity (Fernando Quesada Sanz)/War in Greece and Rome (Peter Connolly)/Linothorax (Paul Michael Barduhias in Hollow Lakedaimon)/Why did Greek warriors go to war wearing what today looks like a linen mini-dress? (Public Radio International)/Reconstructing ancient linen body armor. Unraveling the linothorax mystery (Gregory S. Aldrete, Scott Bartell and Alicia Aldrete)/Wikipedia
