(08-28-2016, 07:49 AM)Paullus Scipio Wrote: The Penguin classics translation is "...a thickly qilted linen corselet which had been among the spoils captured at Issus...." whilst the Loeb has as you correctly posted the more literal translation "...a breastplate of two-ply linen from the spoils taken at Issus."
It is also the only time a Greek or Macedonian is described wearing a 'linen corselet', and it is not Greek, but a captured Persian example!
Does it say the corselet in question is Persian? Thousands of Greeks fought on the Persian side as well as the Greek General Memnon of Rhodes.
It is also not the only example of Greeks wearing linen upper body armor, see Cornelius Nepos, Iphicrates 1.3-4.
Although Connolly gets the majority of credit, or blame, for starting the idea of "glued linen" upper body armor in the Greek context, the idea was actually around for a much longer period.
From 1871 Arms and Armour in Antiquity and the Middle Ages
books.google.com/books?id=WrBCAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA51&dq=linen+armour+glued+layers&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiX9rrr0uLOAhUPx2MKHbRpCNoQ6AEIGzAA#v=onepage&q=linen%20armour%20glued%20layers&f=false
From 1875 The Encyclopaedia Britannica
books.google.com/books?id=XjVnAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA554&dq=linen+armour+greek+glue&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi-0M7LzOLOAhUX02MKHZHVAeQQ6AEIJTAC#v=onepage&q=linen%20armour%20greek%20glue&f=false
My friend who brought these to my attention is trying to source the statements regarding the use of glue to "harden and cement" the layers of linen.
Joe Balmos
