[split] Phalanx warfare: use of the spear

[Paullus Scipio]

Dan wrote:
"You don't need armour to stop sword cuts and spent bullets. A winter coat will stop sword cuts and spent bullets. Buff coats were not armour and were never intended to be used as such. They were designed as a replacement for their textile coats because leather is not susceptible to powder burns. Armour during the Civil War consisted of steel cuirasses."

Sure, at Balaklava in the Crimean war, British Heavy Cavalry had difficulty cutting through heavy Russian winter coats, which led to much swearing by the troopers......

I'm afraid we are going to have to differ. Originally  'Breast-and-Backs' were worn over the buff coat, but once it was realised that the buff coat provided sufficient protection, 'breast-and-backs' were generally abandoned. I'm not going to split hairs over the definition of 'armour', suffice to say that if something was specifically worn for protection, then it is 'armour' regardless of what it is made from - so a steel 'breast-and-back' and a buff coat are both forms of 'armour'. And I don't believe 'powder burns' are a reason for wearing buff coats. 

Dan wrote:
"If a hoplite was worried about weight he would wear a bronze cuirass. It weighs significantly less than any armour made from cloth or leather. Why do you think they went to the trouble and expense of using metal? "

That is another generalisation that I don't think is necessarily true. The lightest bronze 'thoraka' I'm aware of is the 8 C BC 'Argos' Bell cuirass, which weighed a little under 4 Kg/slightly under 9 lbs ( but we must make allowance for corrosion - originally it will have been somewhat heavier. Muscled cuirasses varied considerably, some being as thin as 1mm average, others 2mm and hence twice the weight The heaviest described was an iron muscled cuirass, at 40 lbs/18 kg, supposedly proof against catapult bolts:
Plutarch: Demetrius 21.3
"3] For his use in this war there were brought to Demetrius from Cyprus two iron 'thorakes/body armour', each of which weighed only forty pounds. Wishing to show their strength and power of resistance, Zoilus their maker gave orders that a catapult's missile should be shot at one of them from a distance of twenty paces, and in the place where it struck the iron remained intact, although it did get a faint scratch, such as might be made by a graver.
[4] This 'thoraka' Demetrius wore himself; the other was worn by Alcimus the Epeirot, the sturdiest and most warlike of all the men under him, and the only one whose suit of armour weighed a hundred pounds (the rest used suits of fifty pounds weight); he fell in battle at Rhodes near the theatre.

Unfortunately, of the 50 or more extant Greek, Hellenistic and Italian examples, few weights are published. However a weight of 5-7 Kg/ 11-15.5 lbs would not be untypical, which is broadly the same as the 'spolas', especially a re-inforced one, though the muscled cuirass is slightly heavier it seems.

Xenophon describes one that definitely was. As the 'Ten Thousand' were retreating, they needed cavalry to chase off enemy light missile troops, and a troop of 50 were formed. [Xen III.3.20]
"20] These proposals also were adopted, and in the course of that night a company of two hundred slingers was organized, while on the following day horses and horsemen to the number of fifty were examined and accepted, and 'spolades' and 'thorakes' were provided for them; and Lycius, the son of Polystratus, an Athenian, was put in command of the troop."

Now 'spolades' are the familiar Tube-and-Yoke corselets, including composite ones. We know of only two types of 'hoplite' armour for this period and the other is the bronze muscled cuirass, so these must be the 'thorakes' referred to. The cavalry needed heavy body armour because they did not carry shields. Notice that were fewer than 50 'thorakes' in the entire army.

Later, in the Soteridas incident I referred to above [III.4.46]:
" [46] And Xenophon, riding along the lines upon his horse, cheered his troops forward: “My good men,” he said, “believe that now you are racing for Greece, racing this very hour back to your wives and children, a little toil for this one moment and no more fighting for the rest of our journey.
[47] But Soteridas the Sicyonian said: “We are not on an equality, Xenophon; you are riding on horseback, while I am desperately tired with carrying my shield.”
and he, on hearing the reproach, leapt from his horse. In another instant he had pushed Soteridas from the ranks, snatched from him his shield, and begun marching as quickly as he might under the circumstances, having his horseman's cuirass [θώρακα ἔχων τὸν ἱππικόν ]to carry as well, so that he was sore pressed; but he continued to cheer on the troops: exhorting those in front to lead on and the men toiling behind to pass him by, as he could but ill keep up the pace. Soteridas was not spared by the rest of the men. They gave him blows, they pelted him, they showered him with abuse, till they compelled him to take back his shield and march on; and the other, remounting, led them on horseback as long as the footing held; but when the ground became too steep, he left his horse and pressed forward on foot, and so they found themselves on the summit before the enemy.

Now clearly Xenophon's bronze cavalry muscled cuirass is heavier than the infantry 'spolas'. Overall, there doesn't seem to be much difference between the weight of the 'spolas' and the weight of the bronze 'thoraka', especially given a broad range of variation in both.....
There could be many reasons for preferring a bright, shiny expensive ( because it had to be tailor made, as our sources tell us) bronze muscled cuirass, but clearly lighter weight wasn't one of them.

I'm really beginning to hate this new format, which won't allow 'cut and paste' at seemingly random times, the cursor going back to the beginning of the previous paragraph, instead of a new one, and all the other annoyances that make posting here awkward and difficult!