Glued Linen Armour- a simple test

[Paullus Scipio]

Scott wrote:

I find it odd that we pay close attention to authors like Polybius, Frontinus or Polyaenus, who wrote just before or shortly after Cornelius Nepos, but conclusively reject writers like Cornelius Nepos because he is deemed as 'late'.

All these authors must be examined critically, and a number of factors taken into account when attempting to assess their accuracy. For example Polybius (writing c.160 BC) experienced some of the events he wrote about, and spoke to witnesses a generation before about others, as well as having written works to consult. We must be careful with collections of stratagems by those such as Frontinus (late 1st C AD) or Polyaenas (late 2nd C AD), for inevitably some of their sources, taken from all over the place, will be good and some bad.
We do not 'reject' Nepos (late 1st C BC) at all, and certainly not because he is "late". We may doubt what he wrote about Iphicrates however. Compare our two sources, Nepos and Diodorus, writing both in the 1st C BC.

Cornelius Nepos' Life of Iphikrates, 1
"For example, he changed the arms of the infantry. While before he became commander they used very large shields (maximus clipeis), short spears (brevibus hastis) and little swords (minutis gladius), he on the contrary exchanged peltae for the round ones (peltam pro parma fecit), for which reason the infantry have since been called peltasts, in order that the soldiers might move and charge more easily when less burdened. He doubled the length of the spear and increased that of the swords; he changed the character of their armour (loricarum), giving them linen in place of bronze or chain armour (pro sertis atquae linteas dedit). In that way he made the soldiers more active; for while he diminished the weight of their armour, he contrived to protect their bodies equally well without overloading them".

Diodoros 15.44 records the following:

"Hence we are told, after he had acquired his long experience of military operations in the Persian War, he devised many improvements in the tools of war, devoting himself especially to the matter of arms.1 For instance, the Greeks were using shields which were large (megalais aspisi) and consequently difficult to handle; these he discarded and made small oval ones (peltas summetrous) of moderate size, thus successfully achieving both objects, to furnish the body with adequate cover and to enable the user of the small shield, on account of its lightness, to be completely free in his movements. After a trial of the new shield its easy manipulation secured its adoption, and the infantry who had formerly been called "hoplites" (hoplitai) because of their heavy shield (aspidon), then had their name changed to "peltasts" (peltastai) from the light pelta they carried. As regards spear (doratos) and sword (xiphous), he made changes in the contrary direction: namely, he increased the length of the spears by half, and made the swords almost twice as long. The actual use of these arms confirmed the initial test and from the success of the experiment won great fame for the inventive genius of the general. He made soldiers' boots that were easy to untie and light and they continue to this day to be called "Iphicratids" after him.2 He also introduced many other useful improvements into warfare, but it would be tedious to write about them".3
(translations courtesy Luke Ueda-Sarson's site on Iphicrates reforms - recommended reading)

In comparing the two, one might conclude they were drawing on the same or a similar source....but Nepos makes some glaring careless errors. He speaks of 'doubling' the length of the spears i.e. from 8ft or so to 16 ft, and such a weapon needed two hands, as the Macedonian 'sarissa shows, whereas Diodorus talks of 12 ft spears, which is just about the maximum that can be handled single-handedly. Then he apparently throws in an anachronistic detail - not mentioned in Diodorus' account and hence likely to be Nepos' "invention". He refers to "chain armour"/mail, which was the common equipment in his own day of heavy Infantry, but which didn't exist in Iphicrates day, 250 years earlier, being replaced by 'linen' armour! It is this clear anachronistic error which makes Nepos' accuracy doubtful.