06-13-2009, 09:57 PM
I agree with Giannis as to that porpax and seemingly many others being off-set to the right (if looking into the bowl of a shield you are holding). Why they are off-set is another matter. Giannis is correct that if resting the rim on the shoulder is a concern then the vertical placement might have been altered to match biceps lengths, but this is not so for the horizontal displacement. The only reason to off-set them horizontally is if the antilabe had to be a set distance not from the porpax, but from the rim, and the porpax had to conform based on forearm length. It is hard to imagine why the antilabe should require such specific placement, but perhaps it does due to its being associated, either functionally or aesthethically, with that rope that runs around the rim.
The only other reason I can think of for off-setting the porpax to the right is if the the shield itself had to lay in a specific way across the body. Perhaps it is as simple as the shield not extending too far to the right- so as not to hit elbows for example :wink: . If I am at all correct in my other ramblings, perhaps the shield must lay across the upper chest and upper thighs. This requirement then sets the placement of the grips inside the shield.
I traced the placement of the offset porpax Giannis first posted and scaled the aspis to an assumption of a 5'6" hoplite, then superimposed it on one of the archaic hoplite statuettes I had an image of to show possible placement. I left the arm as it was in the statue, but it could be rotated up without drastically changing shield position. Notice the wounds will be most common in the thighs, genitals, throat, and feet, just as we most often see them in the histories. Of course this exact position with the shield on the chest is only for when the men are packed belly to belly, shield to shield. If spear fencing at some 5' from the enemy phalanx, they are free to raise and lower the shield to ward off blows to the face as well as rearing back to strike with the force of their twisting torsos.
The only other reason I can think of for off-setting the porpax to the right is if the the shield itself had to lay in a specific way across the body. Perhaps it is as simple as the shield not extending too far to the right- so as not to hit elbows for example :wink: . If I am at all correct in my other ramblings, perhaps the shield must lay across the upper chest and upper thighs. This requirement then sets the placement of the grips inside the shield.
I traced the placement of the offset porpax Giannis first posted and scaled the aspis to an assumption of a 5'6" hoplite, then superimposed it on one of the archaic hoplite statuettes I had an image of to show possible placement. I left the arm as it was in the statue, but it could be rotated up without drastically changing shield position. Notice the wounds will be most common in the thighs, genitals, throat, and feet, just as we most often see them in the histories. Of course this exact position with the shield on the chest is only for when the men are packed belly to belly, shield to shield. If spear fencing at some 5' from the enemy phalanx, they are free to raise and lower the shield to ward off blows to the face as well as rearing back to strike with the force of their twisting torsos.
Paul M. Bardunias
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A Spartan, being asked a question, answered "No." And when the questioner said, "You lie," the Spartan said, "You see, then, that it is stupid of you to ask questions to which you already know the answer!"
MODERATOR: [url:2dqwu8yc]http://www.romanarmytalk.com/rat/viewtopic.php?t=4100[/url]
A Spartan, being asked a question, answered "No." And when the questioner said, "You lie," the Spartan said, "You see, then, that it is stupid of you to ask questions to which you already know the answer!"
