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Thread: Assorted Historical Questions - Gertrude et al, ask them here!

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    Member Member paullus's Avatar
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    Default Re: Assorted Historical Questions - Gertrude et al, ask them here!

    my only picture that shows the other "meeting scene"--if by that you mean the scene on the opposite wall with the two facing infantrymen, one kneeling, one standing--is not very good quality, but I don't see anything irregular about it. I assume you're refering to the kneeling soldier, since we can see the grip side of the shield of the standing one. On the other hand, from my (poor) picture the kneeling soldier's shield looks like all the others to me, while the standing soldier's shield is curiously a slightly different color, and may have that different shape to which you're refering. I also can't see the loops for the grip.

    By the way, I've assumed those loops may have something to do with holding the javelins, but unlike in Webber's illustration, the javelins held by the warriors only actually go through the central loop, not the outer two. Any thoughts?
    "The mere statement of fact, though it may excite our interest, is of no benefit to us, but when the knowledge of the cause is added, then the study of history becomes fruitful." -Polybios


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    Default Re: Assorted Historical Questions - Gertrude et al, ask them here!

    Quote Originally Posted by paullus
    my only picture that shows the other "meeting scene"--if by that you mean the scene on the opposite wall with the two facing infantrymen, one kneeling, one standing--is not very good quality, but I don't see anything irregular about it. I assume you're refering to the kneeling soldier, since we can see the grip side of the shield of the standing one. On the other hand, from my (poor) picture the kneeling soldier's shield looks like all the others to me, while the standing soldier's shield is curiously a slightly different color, and may have that different shape to which you're refering. I also can't see the loops for the grip.
    Here's a comparison. This kind of shield (also carried by the two figures on the image posted above):

    Compared to this kind:


    The difference in shape isn't too great, but the spina is totally different. You can also see in this picture some of the traces of the loops for the shield of the standing man.

    By the way, I've assumed those loops may have something to do with holding the javelins, but unlike in Webber's illustration, the javelins held by the warriors only actually go through the central loop, not the outer two. Any thoughts?
    I've toyed with the idea that they could have been some method for attaching the shield to the arm while employing the rhomphaia two-handed. It's quite striking that the Kazanluk paintings and the shield from Kyustendil are both late 4th c. BC-early 3rd c. BC in date, which is exactly the dating range in which we find the only actual examples of rhomphaiai. I've never examined this hypothesis too closely, though, and it's obviously speculative in the extreme.

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