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Alexander the Great led one of the most successful armies in history and conquered nearly the entirety of the known world while wearing armor made of cloth. How is that possible? In Reconstructing Ancient Linen Body Armor, Gregory S. Aldrete, Scott Bartell, and Alicia Aldrete provide the answer. An extensive multiyear project in experimental archaeology, this pioneering study presents a thorough investigation of the linothorax, linen armor worn by the Greeks, Macedonians, and other ancient Mediterranean warriors. Because the linothorax was made of cloth, no examples of it have survived. As a result, even though there are dozens of references to the linothorax in ancient literature and nearly a thousand images of it in ancient art, this linen armor remains relatively ignored and misunderstood by scholars. Combining traditional textual and archaeological analysis with hands-on reconstruction and experimentation, the authors unravel the mysteries surrounding the linothorax. They have collected and examined all of the literary, visual, historical, and archaeological evidence for the armor and detail their efforts to replicate the armor using materials and techniques that are as close as possible to those employed in antiquity. By reconstructing actual examples using authentic materials, the authors were able to scientifically assess the true qualities of linen armor for the first time in 1,500 years. The tests reveal that the linothorax provided surprisingly effective protection for ancient warriors, that it had several advantages over bronze armor, and that it even shared qualities with modern-day Kevlar. Previously featured in documentaries on the Discovery Channel and the Canadian History Channel, as well as in U.S. News and World Report, MSNBC Online, and other international venues, this groundbreaking work will be a landmark in the study of ancient warfare.… (more)
User reviews
The authors, academics at the University of Wisconsin, Green Bay, decided to make linen armor and test its effectiveness. They first conducted extensive reviews of
Using linen produced in the traditional way, they laminated layers with rabbit glue. They then conducted penetration tests with bows of ancient design, firing arrows with bronze or iron arrowheads. Their results are extensively documented in tables and photographs. This chapter resembles an ancient version of the sort of ammo test articles one finds in firearms magazines.
The armor works. It works so well, that they actually shot each other with arrows at combat ranges, with no injuries. Among the many photos, some color, the one that will always stand out in my memory shows a guy with an arrow sticking out of linen chest armor. Well, Kevlar is a fabric, so I shouldn’t be amazed, but I am. (If you’re thinking of making your own, though, modern steel hunting arrowheads completely penetrated the linen armor.)
The book is somewhat dry reading, but the results are so fascinating, it is anything but dull. I hope their next project is re-inventing Greek fire.