Why were Hoplite shields circular?
score:1
For a hoplite, the spear is the primary weapon and the shield only a secondary weapon, being primarily defensive. Because of the many different ways in which a spear was used by a hoplite in offence, in and out of formation, a lighter round shield was more suitable by providing less interference with the spear use. The greater reach of the spear also keeps the opponent at bay, so less defensive coverage is necessary.
For Roman Legionnaires of the classic period, the shield is actually the primary weapon, the gladius (short sword) secondary. The opponent is mauled by the shield, it's top edge and boss in particular used to wear an opponent down until his guard drops and the gladius can be slipped under his ribs. The gladius is strictly a thrusting weapon, so restriction of arm movements is no longer of significance. The gladius' short reach, combined with the necessity to get up close and personal to use the shield as a primary weapon, means a larger shield (curved to fit around the body, works better.
Upvote:-1
It can't be answered with any certainty as it likely had a cultural reason, the same way the earlier figure of 8 shields used by the Mycenaeans might seem an odd choice.
Smaller flatter round shields do appear in other parts of Europe during the bronze age and it could be something as simple as you can trace the outline of a shield with a simple compass made of a scribe attached to a piece of string. The bronze age saw the dominance of geometric art which was squares, lozenges, zigzags and also concentric circles. How that influenced the famous Greek shield we can only speculate.
Elongated or oval shields did become very common during the iron age and the Greeks themselves adopted a type they called the thyreos which they possibly copied from the Romans.
Something else to consider is that a common method of fighting was the spear held over the head and used in a downward stabbing motion, the legs wouldn't be in much danger in mass combat. It also needs to be considered that finances played a role in ancient battles as much as today and attempts to keep costs down were undertaken so some societies only had a greave on the left leg as that was the leg most likely to be forward.
Whatever the reason, the shield came full circle by the end of the western Roman Empire and round shields became the norm again. They persisted during the middle ages as the buckler and the last use of a shield in battle by westerners was the Scottish Highlander targe which was a small round shield.
More post
- 📝 Execution at the scene of the crime under Australian law
- 📝 Why was Stalin so opposed to genetics?
- 📝 Were Russians less racist than I thought?
- 📝 Were the Nazis actually ever horrified of anything that the Imperial Japanese Army did or vice-versa?
- 📝 What were Hispanic people called in the US in the 1800s?
- 📝 Did the Germans fuel the general's purge?
- 📝 is this a correct ottoman map in year 1803m
- 📝 Is there a historical basis for the "day of the false King" described in The Egyptian?
- 📝 How did the people of Massachusetts react to the territory that is now Maine being split off from Massachusetts?
- 📝 Why was Saturnino Martín Cerezo honored by the Spanish government?
- 📝 Why did workers in the Industrial Revolution accept submission?
- 📝 From 1936-45 what was the prescribed punishment in Nazi Germany for failing to join or participate in the Hitler Youth?
- 📝 What caused the rise of international anti-semitism during the early 20th century?
- 📝 Can you please help identify this military uniform (1700's)?
- 📝 Is there a way to find who died and what American plane crashed over a spot in Romania in 1942/1943?
- 📝 What universities existed in Dutch East Indies, and how available were they to the native population?
- 📝 When was the first known international call between two heads of state or government?
- 📝 What was the reason Jesus allowed Christians to eat pork?
- 📝 How did Pontus de la Gardie drown?
- 📝 Why was the Deutschland so ineffective compared to the Admiral Graf Spee and the Admiral Scheer?
- 📝 What does "setting up a trophy" mean in ancient Greece 5th century B.C.?
- 📝 Is history always written by the victors?
- 📝 Why is the Bishopric of Canterbury located in London?
- 📝 Did Constantine XI will his titles to Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain?
- 📝 What would have been the price of a loaf of bread in 1645 Amsterdam?
- 📝 What's the birthdate of Jesus of Nazareth, assuming he existed?
- 📝 Why did US Navy WW2 torpedoes detonate at the end of their run?
- 📝 What were the population demographics in the South during the Hayes/Tilden election?
- 📝 Did Continental Army officers wear wigs or keep their hair white like their British Army counterparts?
- 📝 What were Egyptian rulers called before the honorific title "Pharaoh"?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 Why were Hoplite shields circular?
- 📝 Why were old fortifications shaped like stars and not like circles?
- 📝 Why were ships-of-the line not supposed to open fire on frigates during fleet actions?
- 📝 Why Were Madagascar and New Zealand Discovered So Late?
- 📝 Why were Navajo code talkers used during WW2?
- 📝 Why were the Romans unable to conquer Germania?
- 📝 Why were so many more Jewish men than Jewish women killed during the Holocaust?
- 📝 Why were there no internment camps for German-American citizens in USA during WW2?
- 📝 Why were Spain and Portugal neutral / not invaded in WWII?
- 📝 Why were there no nuclear detonations in 1959?
- 📝 Why were the Allies so much better cryptanalysts?
- 📝 Why were there no religious wars in Poland?
- 📝 Why were women targeted as witches?
- 📝 Why were helmets and other body armour not commonplace in the 1800s?
- 📝 ‘Avoid sleeping on your back’ & ‘breathe in toilet smells’ were seen as precautions against the Black Death. Why did doctors think these would work?
- 📝 Why did it take so long to abandon sail after steamships were demonstrated?
- 📝 Why were the West African islands uninhabited?
- 📝 Why were the drawings of Colossus burnt after WW2 and why was its very existence "of course" kept secret?
- 📝 Why were Albanians the only nation in the Balkans who converted to Islam during the Ottoman occupation?
- 📝 Why were British ships not of the same quality as French and Spanish ships until the latter part of the 18th century?
- 📝 Why did Roosevelt and Churchill use voice-based telecommunication, instead of simpler text-based options which were easier to encrypt?
- 📝 Why were nomadic tribes (like the Mongols) from the Eurasian steppes a much reduced threat from the 15th century onwards?
- 📝 Why were Civil War battle techniques so bloody, if the US had learned guerrilla fighting in the Revolutionary War?
- 📝 Why were there no agricultural, city-state forming civilizations in the Ice Age?
- 📝 Why were Royal Navy ships forbidden to attack the ARA Veinticinco de Mayo in Argentinian waters?
- 📝 Why were the losses in the Battle of Norfolk so lopsided?
- 📝 Why were the Irish exempt from conscription during WWI?
- 📝 Why were slave owners even offered compensation via the 1837 Act if they'd lost the power in parliament to stop abolition in 1833?
- 📝 Why were there so few American deaths in the Bataan Death March?
- 📝 Why were diamond mining plots 31-foot squares?