09-02-2009, 03:57 PM
Ruben wrote:
This is indeed new, at least to me. A note of caution though. "Greek City" could easily refer to a city in Anatolia,( or even Sicily or Italy) and we know from Xenophon that linen thorakes certainly existed in Anatolia.....it is indeed a pity that the reference is so vague, and not to a specific place. All we can say with certainty is that Aeneas Tacticus had heard of linen thorakes......
Quote:This is clearly a reference to a Greek city with Greek citizens and foreigners (likely also other Greeks, for it's hard to imagine significant numbers of non-Greeks attending a Greek public holiday around the time of Aeneas' writing, or their embroilment in such a scheme). I'm not sure if this episode has been linked with any particular one known from the histories, but many of the anecdotes Aeneas gives come from between 400 and 360 BC, with the majority coming from recent history for him (mostly the 360's). Also probably one of the earliest uses of "hopla" for shields here.
What are some thoughts? Is this new or am I just going crazy?
This is indeed new, at least to me. A note of caution though. "Greek City" could easily refer to a city in Anatolia,( or even Sicily or Italy) and we know from Xenophon that linen thorakes certainly existed in Anatolia.....it is indeed a pity that the reference is so vague, and not to a specific place. All we can say with certainty is that Aeneas Tacticus had heard of linen thorakes......
"dulce et decorum est pro patria mori " - Horace
(It is a sweet and proper thing to die for ones country)
"No son-of-a-bitch ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country" - George C Scott as General George S. Patton
Paul McDonnell-Staff
(It is a sweet and proper thing to die for ones country)
"No son-of-a-bitch ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country" - George C Scott as General George S. Patton
Paul McDonnell-Staff