2. The Peltaste, or javelin-man, a soldier lightly armed, for weapons of offence had a sword and a javelin, pelta, or dart, which weapon in his hand represented the spear or pike of the hoplite; but as a general rule it was used by him as a missile to be thrown from the hand. This javelin was provided with a leathern strap (amentum), fixed about the middle of the shaft, and into this the first two fingers of the hand were inserted, in order to give both greater force and a more sure certainty of aim, when the weapon was thrown. The shield of the peltaste was considerably smaller and lighter than that of the hoplite; probably it was identical with the smallest of the shields that have been already described. In Fig. 10, a representation of a small circular Greek shield is given, and both the inside and the exterior face of it are shown. The helm of this warrior, and his greaves, differed but little, if they differed at all (except perhaps in being lighter), from those of the hoplites. 3. The Knight, or mounted warrior, who was armed with a sword and a long lance, wore a cuirass, which, better known by its Roman name of thorax, or breastplate, than by its Greek name, was so modelled as to conform to the figure of the bust of the wearer, as appears from Fig. 11. In this respect the Greek cuirass differed from the corresponding piece of Roman armour, that it generally was finished at the waist; and from this point it was continued by pendant straps of leather, lambrequins, cut square at the ends, and set close together, which fell over the lower part of the body and reached as far as the thighs in double and sometimes in treble ranks. The cuirass was made of two pieces, breast and back plates, united by hinges on one side, and on the other side closed with clasps; over the shoulders it was sustained by thick straps of leather, which we may entitle épaulières (shoulder-straps, or shoulder-guards). A weapon which appears to have been in general use by all classes of Greek soldiers, is a short sword or dagger, called parazonium (belt-companion), which sometimes was reduced to the proportions of a knife. Like the sword itself, this smaller weapon has a blade shaped like the sage-leaf; or, occasionally its blade, as in Fig. 7, No. 1, tapers in straight lines from the hilt to the point. The same weapon we shall find again in the armoury of the Romans, who borrowed it from the Greeks. [See Fig. 15, No. 4.] It was adjusted at the waist, as was the medieval misericorde, on the right side, while the sword hung on the left side; but the ancient dagger had its own short shoulder-belt, by which it was held in an oblique position, the pommel of the hilt being level with the breast of the wearer. It is not possible thus to take a survey of the military equipment of the ancient Greeks at the grand period of their history, when they repelled the successive invasions of the Persians, without calling to remembrance the famous battles of Marathon, Salamis, Platea, and above all of Thermopyla. Our knowledge of those battles and of the Greek and Persian war, being derived entirely from Greek sources, at least must be considered in some degree imperfect, since we can scarcely suppose the narratives of the Greek writers to be strictly impartial when treating of such a subject. Possibly, as we see all the incidents of that memorable strife only from a Greek point of view, the forces of the enemy may appear to us greater and more formidable than in reality they were, the chances of successful resistance may appear more desperate, and both the struggles more severe and the victories more glorious than we might be disposed to regard them, were we able to compare Persian chronicles with those of Greece.25 Be this as it may, having now just passed before us in review the armed Greeks who fought in that war, it certainly cannot fail to be interesting to enquire what may have been the military equipment of their Persian adversaries. In his army, which, according to Herodotus, numbered 1,700,000 men, Xerxes included contingents from every realm and race of his vast empire; and, accordingly, if we are enabled to collect sketches of all the various costumes and arms which thus were brought together, many of them by most unwilling wearers, in the expedition of the Persian king, we shall have seen something of almost every nation at that time known to have been in existence. Herodotus, who has described the enormous army, will be found ready to give us many striking details of their equipment. First, the Persians themselves. On their heads they wore turbans, or caps of compressed felt, which they called "tiaras," and consequently they were without helms; sleeved tunics of various colours they had; laminated corslets also of iron or steel-corslets, that is, formed of rows of metal scales sewn upon garments of leather or linen, in such a manner that the scales in each row would overlap those in the row below them; their shields, called gerrhes, were made of wickerwork, and were rhomboidal in form; short darts, large bows, cane arrows, and daggers hung from the right-side (it will be observed that no swords are mentioned), completed their equipment. The Medes were armed and accoutred after the same fashion. The Assyrians (it will be understood, as a matter of course, that we now shall specify only the weapons that are peculiar to each people; certain weapons, such as the dart, the bow, and the dagger, being common to all races and nations, it would be superfluous to mention them in every instance again)—the Assyrians were distinguished by their brazen helms, which are described to us as being interwoven or interlaced; and by their defensive tunics of flax. It is by no means easy to form a correct idea of these interwoven Assyrian helms; but, it is probable that the historian intends his words to convey the impression, that he was describing head-pieces formed of brass mail-of rings or chain-work, which might be interwoven or interlaced, precisely after the manner of the medieval "mail coif;" such defences for the head are still in use in the east; and who shall assert that they have not been transmitted, in true conformity with oriental unchangeableness, to the present day from a far distant antiquity? The cuirasses, or defensive tunics of flax, were in use also, as Herodotus himself informs us, amongst the Egyptians; they were formed of several strips or layers of woven flax, sometimes as many as eighteen, which were glued together one above another, after they had undergone a long maceration in a composition of wine and salt. These cuirasses, it seems, would resist a heavy blow struck with the edge of a weapon, but they were not proof against a well-delivered thrust of the point of sword or spear; notwithstanding this imperfection, they were held in great favour amongst the nations of antiquity. The Greeks themselves adopted them, and wore them, contemporaneously with the metal corslet, until a late period. Pausanias says, that in hunting the flaxen cuirass was peculiarly serviceable, since, if it would not afford against weapons held in human hands so sure a defence as the corslet, against the attacks of savage animals it was at once convenient and thoroughly efficient. Perhaps, being much less costly than the corslet of metal, the flaxen cuirass was often adopted when the more valuable piece of armour was not to be obtained. As we shall see hereafter, the Romans, like the Greeks, included the flaxen cuirass in their defensive equipment. The Ethiopians, clothed in the skins of lions and leopards, had bows, at least six feet in length, made of palm-tree wood; long cane arrows that were tipped, not with iron, but with sharp pieces of stone; and darts headed with the pointed horns of roebucks. Here are evidences of a much less advanced civilisation; and, indeed, all these weapons, precisely as Herodotus has described them, are still to be found amongst many savage tribes of the natives of Africa. The Lydians in their arms and armour resembled the Greeks. The weapons and armour that were characteristic of the Phrygians were the shield and the axe. The shield, circular, or nearly so, at the base, was cut off in two slopes to the right and left at its summit. The axe, or bipennis, was doubleedged, having the edges set back to back, and between them |