For those who are interested in the Persians I found the following papers (hardcopy and not electronic):
Neither the Less Valorous Nor the Weaker: Persian Military Might and the Battle of Plataia, Historia Band 61 Heft 1, 2012
Abstract: Argues that the technological differences between the Greeks and Persians was much less dramatic than is often assumed.
Herodotus, Body Armour and Achaemenid Infantry, Historia Band 61, Heft 3, 2012
Abstract: Argues that the Persian infantry of 479 BC did indeed wear body armour.
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Steven, is this a German magazine? I can only find a Spanish magazine of that name at my university. As online reservations have crashed, I will probably not succeed in checking the articles today, so if it is not a Spanish magazine, I will know I have to look at other universities anyway.
Dan wrote:
See this is why I wish I knew German... Do they argue that most Persian infantry wore armour? I can't recall anyone claiming that none of them did.
Although Historia is a German journal, both papers are in English. The paper on armour claims the Persians wore armour.
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Nice find Condottiero Magno.
It seems to take a rather mild and middle of the road view regarding armor, focusing primarily on the absence of an aspis as why the Persians were deemed 'naked' compared to the Greeks. Personally I feel like it's not all that controversial since like antiochus said I can't recall anyone beyond older sources or jingoistic ones that consider the Persians were entirely unarmored. The author doesn't seem to be making the case that they all wore armor, just that it could be comparable to the lack of uniformity in armor among the Greeks.
Was it Herodotus who noted the Persians 'adopted' the linen/fabric armor from the Egyptians? I've thought one could expect to have seen a similar quantity (or even a bit more) of quilted/fabric armor among the Persians as you would have seen Spolases/Linothoraxes among the Greeks. We're certainly not for wont of depictions that resemble it - I'm thinking of the vase pictures with the Persians wearing those boxes with studs (if memory serves with pteurges, so it's clear it's some sort of armor) or even an Achaemenid depiction of a Persian with a clear neck protection like you see with the Spolas.
