Linothorax design/construction

[Vishtaspa]

There's the Sophokles Epigonoi quote on woven "breastplates" that we've had before - see the article available at http://www.papyrology.ox.ac.uk/POxy/new ... ndent.html . The fragment includes the lines:

"And the helmets are shaking their purple-dyed crests, and for the wearers of breast-plates the weavers are striking up the wise shuttle's songs, that wakes up those who are asleep."

This is a wonderful find! I haven't see the trasncription, but in the Papyrus itself I clearly read:

"thorakophoroisi d' uphant..." ("for the wearers of breast-plates the weavers.." in the published translation)

In fact, "uphantes" means "weaver" from "uphe" "weaving, web"...

In the passage, this clearly implicates a method of construction, thorakes clearly made from textile. Sadly we haven't a more broad context, but the Epigones are a greek context, not an Asian one.

Regards