Round Peltast shields

[sitalkes]

Peltasts did carry shield devices because IFF was essential then as it was now. Each Thracian tribe also had its own emblem.

As far as I know, that is pure speculation. There is no evidence for this; The few Thracian warriors shown on vases with shield designs visible usually have no shield design or a very simple shield device such as a face or eyes. Thracian peltasts are not shown on Thracian art.

With so few examples known, you can speculate that: It is obvious that certain animals (such as the boar) were very significant to Thracian warriors, so it is not unlikely that they should paint such animals on their shields. Other tribal cultures are known to have favoured certain animals as their totems so maybe the Thracians did, too. To say that each tribe painted a particular animal on its shield you would have to argue that we do not have a fair sample of the evidence, that with more surviving vase paintings we would see the Thracian shields more elaborately painted and with certain tribes favouring a certain design. However, we do have many Thracian cloak designs, which also were probably worn on a tribal basis, and it is impossible to look at the cloaks and see any tribal resemblance or difference between vases.

Chris