constructing and mounting a porpax

[PMBardunias]

All things being equal, I'd rather go out to face a horde of enemies in a panoply than, say, dressed as a Persian Immortal (according to Herodotus). The bow is nice, but the scale shirt and wicker shield will not keep me alive as long as the bell corselet and the Corinthian helmet and the aspis. Put on a pair of greaves, give me a spear--wow, I'm as invulnerable as the 6th C. can make me and I can still move fast.

I can't speak for other authors, but for me the comparison is simply between a hoplite with an aspis and a hoplite with a single, center grip shield like a thureos/scutum or the perfectly good center grip shields that the greeks had before the aspis. I have yet to meet a reenactor who would rather fight one on one or one against a group with an aspis than a scutum.

Comparing across types that are so divergent is not as informative as comparing along the line of development of the greeks themselves. At some point in the 8th c there were men who probably wore the same armour, but changed their shields to the aspis. In my opinion this made them less capable as individual fighters, but better in groups.

This does NOT mean incapable. Obviously out-runners could still be quite effective. Much of this is probably due not to the panalopy, but the man bearing it. We tend to be too deterministic about weapons systems and forget the men inside them.