12-27-2006, 05:24 PM
Quote:So, in short, a hoplite could turn up for battle with a hoplon, a spear, a loincloth, and a dagger, and he'd pass muster...?
It sounds as if you're being facetious, but, if you substitute "chiton" for "loincloth" and put the helmet back in, you'd be there - at a given date.
I'm inclined to think that the only time this would be regarded as a panoply would be in the Pelopponesian Wars and only in the latter part of those. Generally speaking, you couldn't class yourself as a hoplite in full panoply unless you had some form of body armour. If you didn't have same, you were an ekdromos (possibly still a kind of Hoplite, but a specialised form).
I'm beginning to think that the linothorax/helmet/shield combination would be the panoply most likely to "pass muster" for the widest period. Greaves are nice, if you can get them, but seem to have gone out of fashion for most Hoplites before the Pelopponesian War (somebody correct me if I'm wrong about this).
Even so, if we're talking about the panoply of a Hoplite of the Classical Age (and, indeed, what might be termed the Classic Hoplite Look) then I'd say helmet/shield/muscle cuirass/straight sword/spear and greaves.
As Matt pointed out, the question doesn't admit of simple answers!
