Hoplites of the Archaic Age

[Chris B]

So I tryed to see Paul's & Stefane's point

Sorry to come in so late in this post. I think your diagram might be backwards from everything I have seen and in my experience playing with it. My own Boeotian is only comfortable with the porpax placed center and the grip for the hand on the furthest edge of the shield which would place the elbow in the center of the shield. Then it would resemble many of the grips I have seen on vases you all posted when I made the shield. Holding it away from the body like in the sculptures shown in previous posts isn't really uncomfortable.

You have to rotate the arm upward when using it in front of the body though. Kind of like a martial arts lead hand block across the face. It is really quite comfortable and feels VERY solid this way. Because of the added oblong length of the shield, it still covers to knees held either way.

To the left side, the arm is extended downward along the body when carrying it and the top edge of the rim sits very comfortably on the shoulder just like an aspis. When you rotate it 180% on its axis to bring it to the front of the body, it still covers the same portion of the body because your fist is at your face, but the space not occupied by a portion of your arm rotates 180 degree downward to cover your legs anyways. Then you sort of get a very solid couched position behind it.

I am in no way a historical knowledge equal to any of you, but I have heavily trained in various martial arts and currently still train with a professional UFC veteran for MMA. I feel very solid using the shield this way. I think it could resist considerable force with it being braced from behind like this. It is very quick to move the shield in any direction.

Also, the way your showing it here would hit the ground if you relaxed your arm and let it hand freely. Also think about this. If your fist is at the center, you would not have much control over the edge without an arm under it. Your hand is the fulcrum point for the lever so to speak. Any blow to the opposite side would be hard to defend and the shield would be very heavy. With the grip I have described, the full arm supports the shield from behind it.

I was asked a while back to post pictures for this so I will do one better. As soon as I get home in about 2 hours, I will upload a very short video of me with the shield showing all this to make my case. I think it will become pretty obvious then. I know it did as soon as I picked the shield up for the first time.