BOOK  VIII

WAR^
CHAPTER  I

AKMOUR  AND    DKILL

Foot-soldiers  were  either  heavy  armed  (oTrAtrat)  or  light  armed
(xj/iXot).  For  a  picture  of  the  hoplite  and  a  description  of  his
armour,  the  reader  is  referred  to  p.  62  supra.  Here  he  need  only
be  reminded  that  a  hoplite's  armour  consisted  of  helmet,  corselet,
greaves,  shield,  sword,  and  lance.  Helmet,  corselet,  and  greaves
were  usually  made  of  bronze.  The  greaves  protected  the  front
of  the  leg,  from  the  ankle  to  the  knee,  but  left  the  foot  ex-
posed. The  corselet  consisted  of  two  pieces,  a  front  piece  and  a
back  piece,  which  were  laced  together  by  thongs  passed  through
eyelet-holes  made  down  the  sides.  A  leather  girdle,  strengthened
with  metal  plates,  served  to  hold  the  two  pieces  of  the  corselet
together  yet  more  securely.  From  the  bottom  of  the  corselet
hung  a  row  of  short  broad  strips  of  leather,  everlapping  each
other,  which  allowed  freedom  of  motion,  but  at  the  same  time
afforded  protection  to  the  lower  part  of  the  body,  and  the  upper
part  of  the  leg.  Of  helmets  there  were  three  kinds.  The
simplest  was  that  worn  by  the  Spartans,  the  ttlXos,  which
protected  only  the  head,  and  in  shape  was  not  unlike  the  stiff
felt  hat,  round  in  the  crown,  worn  at  the  present  day,  except
that  a  projecting  rim  was  not  always  found  on  the  bronze  ttlXos.
