A complete Spartan suit of armor in 20-gauge steel, standing
70 inches on the included wooden stand and built to be worn.
Supplied with shield, your choice of xiphos, and every fitting needed to
assemble it.
What's included
- Full body armor — cuirass, shoulder and limb defences
- Helmet
- Shield
- Your choice of xiphos short sword
- Wooden display stand
- All fittings and straps
Specifications
-
Height on stand: 70"
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Material: 20-gauge mild steel
-
Construction: Handmade
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Sizing: One size fits most
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Styling: Greek Spartan, based on artifacts from Spartan sites
The hoplite panoply
A Greek heavy infantryman was defined by what he carried, and the word for
it was panoply — the full set. Helmet, cuirass, greaves, shield, spear,
sword. A man who owned one was a hoplite. A man who did not, was not.
The pieces changed over three centuries. Early hoplites wore the Corinthian
helmet, which enclosed the whole face and left the wearer nearly deaf and
half-blind; later generations moved to the lighter Chalcidian, and Spartans in
the classical period often to the simple conical pilos. Wealthier men wore
bronze cuirasses, bell-shaped or sculpted to the muscles of the torso. Most wore
the linothorax instead — layered linen about half a centimetre thick, cheaper
than bronze and very nearly as good. Bronze greaves covered the shins.
The shield was the point
The aspis ran 80 to 100 centimetres across and weighed 14 to 18 pounds:
a wooden core, faced in bronze, lined in leather. What made it work was the
Argive grip — an armband at the centre and a handle at the rim, so the weight
sat on the forearm rather than the wrist.
That grip is why the phalanx existed. Held on the left arm, the aspis covered
its bearer's left side and his neighbour's right. Every man in the line was
partly protected by the man beside him, and the formation only worked if nobody
stepped back. It also produced a famous quirk: phalanxes drifted rightward as
they advanced, every hoplite edging a little closer to the shield of the man on
his right.
The xiphos
The sword was never the main weapon. That was the dory — a spear between
2.5 and 4.5 metres long, with a leaf-shaped head and a bronze spike on the butt
for planting it upright or finishing a downed enemy. The xiphos came out when
the spear broke or the line collapsed into a press too tight to use it.
Greek xiphoi generally ran about 60 centimetres in the blade. Spartan ones
were markedly shorter — 30 to 45 centimetres — which contemporaries found worth
remarking on. The story goes that a Spartan asked why his sword was so short
replied that it was long enough to reach the enemy.
Completing the panoply
This set covers armor, shield and sword. The one piece a Greek hoplite would
notice missing is the spear — see our
hoplite dory spear
or the full spear collection.
Wearing and display
Built to be worn, not only looked at. One size fits most adults, and the
wooden stand is included so it can be displayed fully assembled between uses.
At 70 inches on the stand it reads as a standing figure rather than an ornament,
so allow the floor space.
Care
Mild steel will rust if it is left damp. Wipe it down after wear, keep a
light film of oil on the metal, and store it somewhere dry — a garage or cellar
will find every unprotected surface. Do not put it away still damp with sweat
after an event.
Browse the rest of our armor and
shields, or read our guide to the
Spartan
shield and helmet.
