Linothorax vs Spolas

[Giannis K. Hoplite]

@Paul, i agree, but still using the word spolas in Xenophon's meaning is better that the use of the word linothorax. After all, we could be speaking with at least ONE ancient person from our time period, and we would understand eachother!
Now, the use of the word from Xenophon means that a wide range of military people would understand him.
And Pollux' source is clearly not Xenophon. For Xenophon never states that the spolas is attached to the shoulders. He merely uses a literary example, like we also do todat in lexicons. He does the same with other garments, first describing them and then adding one use of the word in Aristophanes, when Aristophanes never bothers to describe the garment.

@Bill, a chlamys is understood to have been a very specific type of garment, worn in a specific way. Anything that was worn over the shoulders and closed with a brooch was not called a chlamys.
And such a peculiar kind of clothing as an animal skin would not have been called so.
Pollux's lexicon goes in great depth to describe the different types of clothing, mentionning their material, thickness, way of wear, even colour/pattern some times. This is to mean that the greeks were actually quite specific with the names of their garments. Unfortunately all modern translations greek or foreighn go in no trouble to explain the exact meaning of the word. They just say "cloak" or whatever.
In that respect, there is no evidence that there were leather chlamydes, but i absolutely agree that some times animal skins were hung from the shoulders, like a said in my previous e-mails.

Khairete
Giannis