Slitherine

Hello!

I am in the process of making my 'Classical Greek starter army' and I notice the book calls for 2 BGs of Corinthian hoplites.

However, I am having difficulty finding reference images for the dress/appearance of Corinthian hoplites.

Obviously, the Corinthian helm is a given, but with regards to shield devices, clothing colours, etc. was there anything particular to the Corinthian hoplites which would visually differentiate them from, say, Athenian Hoplites?

The reason I ask is because there are several distinctive traits for Spartan hoplites - shield device, uniformity of clothing colour, long hair and beards - which are not shared with the other city-state's armies during the persian wars. I am wondering if there are distinguishing features for Corinthians as well.

Thanks!
Chris

I don't think they had a city emblem like the lambda for the Spartans. Check this site out for more info:

http://www.ne.jp/asahi/luke/ueda-sarson ... rns_1.html

Julian

Awesome link - thank you very much for that Julian!

I have been looking for a collection of shield devices too.

Any idea how I could go about differentiating the Corinthian BG's from the Athenian ones? I'm curious if Corinthian hoplites had a preference for tunic colours or if it was like the Athenians: 'anything goes'...

Thanks!
Chris

While there isn't a city shield pattern for Corinth, I beleive that Poseidon (Neptune in Latin) was considered the city deity while Athena was for Athens. Using a number of shield patterns for the relevant deity, e.g. a trident for Poseidon or an owl for Athena) could be an easy way to differentiate. Mix these in with other general patterns for best effect.

Chris

That's a great suggestion, thank you!

If you do a search for symbols for each of the gods, you should be able to find multiple symbols for each for some variety in your units. Alternatives for Poseidon could be a dolphin or a horse besides the trident.

Chris

cbaginski wrote:Hello!

I am in the process of making my 'Classical Greek starter army' and I notice the book calls for 2 BGs of Corinthian hoplites.

However, I am having difficulty finding reference images for the dress/appearance of Corinthian hoplites.

Obviously, the Corinthian helm is a given, but with regards to shield devices, clothing colours, etc. was there anything particular to the Corinthian hoplites which would visually differentiate them from, say, Athenian Hoplites?

The reason I ask is because there are several distinctive traits for Spartan hoplites - shield device, uniformity of clothing colour, long hair and beards - which are not shared with the other city-state's armies during the persian wars. I am wondering if there are distinguishing features for Corinthians as well.

Thanks!
Chris

Hi,

There are few citystates who had specific devices. The Club of Hercules for the Theban Sacred Band and Lamda for Spartiates are about it.

Subsequent to that each person would pick their own device usually to a favoured deity or mythical beastie.

Consider it very much like Somalia during the crisis there. Some people may wear a uniform, but most would wear whatever teeshirt was going. There may be an over-abundance of Coca~Cola teeshirts going because lots of people there like coke, or because it was preferred by the locals, but also there would be some who would wear billabong teeshirts because it was what their father had lying around.

Lastly, remember that the Corinthian helmet is so named because it was found in the area of Corinth. It could have actually been worn by an invader.

Basically your average Hoplite went to the local armour maker and said 'can I have a set of armour' and the armourer would say 'how many shekles do you have?' and the answer to that would determine how much/quality/type of armour he would be given.

Ian

Late reply, but I thought I throw in another idea. The Pegasus would also be a good symbol for Corinthian hoplites. The Pegasus is the most common symbol on coins of Corinthian origin, so it was probably associated with the city. Belerophon, the rider of the Pegasus, was the son of the Corinthian King, so the connection is pretty obvious.

I doubt Corinthian hoplites would carry the Pegasus exclusively, but a good number of those would be quite fitting and certainly produce a good looking unit.