Originally published in Slingshot issue 304,
January/February 2016 – the Journal of the Society of Ancients
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Statue of the Trojan Horse at Hisarlik, Turkey |
The Greeks
The Mycenaean armies
were mobilised using a mix of private and public/palatial means, with some
warriors providing part of their kit at their own expense. According to the Pylos tablets, every rural
community (δᾱμος/damos) was obliged to
supply a certain number of troops. The members of the landowning aristocracy
supplied a number their own retinues to fulfil military service.
The Mycenaean palaces
produced and maintained some of the equipment used in war, such as arrowheads,
swords, spears, javelins, helmets, chariots and corslets. Hence, in certain cases only parts of the
necessary equipment were handed out, such as a single wheel or horse, rather
than a complete chariot. Tablets show that palaces awarded some individuals
land in exchange for military service, for which they were provided with at
least part of the required equipment.
Sea power
The Greeks of the 1300s and 1200s BC were the first sea power in European history. They invented an oared, wooden ship, built for speed and mainly used for war and piracy: the galley. Early Mycenaean galleys were light and lean, with a narrow, straight and low hull to cut down on wind resistance and a flat keel line to ease beaching. Galleys had an open rowers’ gallery below the deck, through which oarsmen would have been visible. Viewed from the side, a series of vertical stanchions supporting the vessel’s superstructure created a horizontal-ladder like motif on many of these ships.
The Greeks of the 1300s and 1200s BC were the first sea power in European history. They invented an oared, wooden ship, built for speed and mainly used for war and piracy: the galley. Early Mycenaean galleys were light and lean, with a narrow, straight and low hull to cut down on wind resistance and a flat keel line to ease beaching. Galleys had an open rowers’ gallery below the deck, through which oarsmen would have been visible. Viewed from the side, a series of vertical stanchions supporting the vessel’s superstructure created a horizontal-ladder like motif on many of these ships.
A pilot stood in the
stern and worked the large-bladed single steering oar. Though in Homer’s days
galleys used double-oared rudders, in the
Iliad the author correctly refers to single-oared vessels as used in the
thirteenth century BC. To make it watertight, the hull was tarred black, often decorated
with a painted set of eyes in the bow and probably also adorned with an image
of the ship’s name, such a lion, griffin or snake. Typically, on the curved
stem post was a figurehead in the shape of a bird’s head.
Early Greek ships
probably had a maximum of 46 oarsmen, with a captain, two attendants (a
helmsman and a piper to keep time for the rowers) and a complement of extra
warriors. The captain’s cabin of wooden
poles, with oxhide stretched between them, was placed at the back of the ship. Each kingdom maintained pilots as well as
weavers and other specialists, naval architects, skilled woodworkers and other
specialists. It is estimated that it took six months for a team of a dozen
carpenters to build a Bronze Age galley.
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A Greek galley (Peter Connolly) |
When headed for Troy,
the Greeks probably landed north of the city, at the Bronze Age Bay. This stretched southward from the Dardanelles
nearly all the way to the city of Troy. Today,
this bay no longer exists, as it has been silted in by the flow of the
Scamander and Simoeis Rivers. Troy’s
regular harbour was located at around 4.5 km west of the city, at today’s Beşik
Bay. This location provided a favourable
last possibility to moor one’s ship, before starting the difficult passage
through the Dardanelles.
The Catalogue of Ships
A remarkably accurate
list of Late Bronze Age Greek cities appears in the Iliad, the so-called Catalogue of Ships (II.484-760). However, it is extremely unlikely that all Greek
cities listed in this catalogue also took part in the Trojan War. We only need
to consider the number of ships and troops involved. The catalogue mentions
twenty-nine Greek contingents under 44 captains from some 175 towns and
communities, accounting for a total of 1,186 ships. According to a plausible calculation, this would
result in a total of about 100,000 (!) men transported to the Troad. Even only half that number would have posed an
enormous logistical challenge.
Therefore, more
likely, the catalogue is nothing more than an enumeration of existing Greek
cities of the time and that the passage was interpolated by later writers. Everyone visited by a wandering bard
recounting the Iliad, would have
wanted their ancestors to be included in the war, if Homer had not already put
them in. This is all the more probable,
since important contingents listed in the Catalogue have no special part to
play in the Iliad. Whatever the
reason, it has been established that the majority of the place names listed were
indeed occupied during the Late Bronze Age.
The Greek soldier
Greek soldiers were the backbone of Greece’s land power. Troops were well organized into similarly equipped units. Spear and sword were the main weapons, though Homer also twice mentions a battle axe (XIII.612 and XV.711). Given the fact that battle-axes were frequently used in Bronze Age warfare, both Trojans and Greeks must have used them.
The Greek soldier
Greek soldiers were the backbone of Greece’s land power. Troops were well organized into similarly equipped units. Spear and sword were the main weapons, though Homer also twice mentions a battle axe (XIII.612 and XV.711). Given the fact that battle-axes were frequently used in Bronze Age warfare, both Trojans and Greeks must have used them.
In view of Anatolia’s
reputation as bow country, the Greeks would also have included contingents of
archers and slingers. But the main answer to Anatolian superiority in archers (and
chariots) was the still primitive form of the phalanx: a core of heavy
spearmen, supported by swordsmen. By the standards of the Bronze Age, however, this
was a formidable, cohesive, heavily armed and potent formation.
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Mycenaean soldier, ivory |
The Greeks fought in
some ways like the Sherden or Shardana troops, whose images can be seen in
Egyptian carved reliefs of the 1200s and early 1100s BC. The Sherden fought with
swords and spears, had no bows, wore short kilts, horned helmets and carried
round shields. Both Sherden and early Greek troops, wearing boar’s-tusk helmets
and ox-hide tunics, are recorded to have fought in the Egyptian army. Unlike the Sherden, some of the Greeks wore
heavy armour and excelled in fighting in close formation, letting well-armoured
champions take the lead.
dress
In the Annals of
Thutmose III (r. 1479-25 BC), Greeks, Cretans and inhabitants of other Greek
isles, are depicted with long black hair. They have a curl over the forehead, straight
or curled locks, clean shaven faces, gentle features and a soft,
dark-brownish-red skin, like Egyptian men. Their kilts are wrapped around the waist and
elaborately embroidered and they wear sandals combined with leggings. Other
types of shoes are small calf-length boots made of interlaced leather, mainly
of black or dark-brown colour, fastened with string of the same material. Some warriors on frescoes are depicted with
completely closed white boots. A common
characteristic of Mycenaean shoes is the typical curled-up toe, copied from the
Hittites. An Aegean garment in earlier
representations is the breechcloth with “codpiece” and backflap, supported at
the waist by a broad belt. Clothing was made from
wool or linen and was probably used as a sign of rank. Fully-clothed men may
represent high-ranking individuals. The
documents confirm that the military officers (heqetai) were distinguished by special garments: woollen cloaks
with white woollen threads or fringes, borders or ornamental bands and
undergarments of wool covered with some sort of natural grease.
On the mainland,
soldiers and retainers wore a short-sleeved (linen) tunic (often white) coming
down to the knees and cut to taper in around the waist and then flare out
again. A garment worn by light infantry
was a white cloth kilt, with a protective leather overlay cut so that it ends
formed pointed tassels hanging down. Rank-and-file soldiers
are always shown bare-chested and probably belonged to the lower classes. After
1200 BC warriors usually wore some kind of tunic and there was a great variety
of helmet types, while shields in various shapes and sizes are standard (cf.
the “warrior vase”). Kings, princes and
members of the ruling family were often distinguished by the colour purple, as
often mentioned in the Iliad and from
documents in Ugarit.
Arms and armour
shields, spears and javelins
Already long ago, archaeologists confirmed that the arms and armour described in the Iliad were indeed used in the Bronze Age, even though it is apparent from certain details that Homer described things he did not know. For example, in the Iliad the typical full-body shields are said to have a central boss, which was common only with smaller shields. Late Bronze Age full-body shields were shaped like a half-cylinder and protected the whole body of the fighter. The “figure-of-eight shield” and the “tower shield” of Ajax, however, predate the traditional setting of the Trojan War between 1250 and 1200 BC, and had been replaced long before the thirteenth century. The same goes for the “silver-studded swords” of various heroes, as described in the Iliad.
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Figure-of-eight shields |
Full-body shields were
composed of multiple layers of raw-hide or leather, probably stretched and then
sewn, and glued over a wicker frame. Sometimes reinforced with bronze plates,
they were hung from the shoulder on a strap that passed diagonally over the
torso. When both hands were needed, the shield could be swung round onto the
back. As the shield was meant for full protection, there was no real need for
any other body armour, apart from a helmet. Hence, very few warriors holding a
shield in the Iliad are described as
wearing a metal breastplate. With the general introduction of bronze armour,
the large full-body shields went out of use.
Another type of large
shield was the proto-dipylon shield, a circular or oval body shield with two
cuts on both sides, which allowed it to be more easily wielded. Large or medium-sized square shields,
generally with fringes and two large cuts on the sides, like those used by
Anatolian populations, are depicted in some pottery fragments. These shields were sometimes reinforced with
metal elements and bosses. The smaller
and lighter circular shields often had a crescent cut out of the bottom, and
were made of several layers of leather, with a bronze boss and reinforcements.
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Reconstructed shield and bronze sword (Koryvantes Association of Historical Studies) |
The Greek soldier carried
either one thrusting spear, or two smaller throwing spears, like javelins. Spears
with six-inch bronze cast-socket leaf, or flame-shaped heads, were sometimes
more than three meters long. These were used
for thrusting and normally handled with both hands. Spears were preferred to swords, as the older pre-Naue
II type swords (see below under “swords and daggers”) tended to break off at
the hilt. Some spears were provided with
a piece of cloth to form a standard (the Homeric φᾱροσ/pharos). Javelins came in three
types: the long javelin, the short-and-heavy javelin and the light javelin for
long-distance throwing. Javelins were usually equipped with smaller points. Some javelins and spears had
butts.
butts.
armour and helmets
Elite troops would have worn a loose-fitting bronze breastplate and backplate, which could be extended by pieces covering the neck, lower face, shoulders, thighs and lower arms (cf. the Dendra Panoply). This type of armour seems to have been pretty widespread between 1500 and 1400 BC. Metal corslets were probably lined with leather, while holes were drilled in the composing plates to bind the constituent elements together, most likely with leather thongs. The plates of a complete panoply could move in an “accordion” like manner, while protecting the groin and upper legs and still allowing manoeuvrability. The front and back suspended plates were not bound together. The entire original suit of armour weighed less than 15 kg and both arm and leg movement was restricted only to a small degree. It is believed that it was difficult for the contemporary low-poundage bows to penetrate this 1mm to 1.5 mm thick armour, even at point-blank range. An alternative was a leather or stiff linen linothorax-like tunic reinforced with bronze scales to serve as a breastplate. An elaborate belt, perhaps red or purple, and decorated with gold or silver, would be worn over the tunic or breastplate.
Because a lot of excavated
bronze greaves are broken off at the top, we do not know if they stopped just
below the knee or whether they extended upwards to form a kind of kneecap. The bronze is thin and there is a series of
small holes along the side for the attachment of an internal lining. The Dendra greaves held on to the warrior’s
legs only by the elasticity of the metal, though additional thongs below the
knees and around the ankles may have been used for the fastening.
Ordinary troops consisted of various kinds of light-armoured soldiers, wearing linothoraxes without armour, a leather helmet and a kilt. Later Mycenaean troops commonly wore leather or stiff linen greaves, tied at the ankle and below the knee, and often reinforced over the shins with a bronze plate.
The warriors in the Medinet Habu reliefs all wear the typical Aegean-Anatolian feathered headdress, consisting of a bronze headband embossed with rings, triangles or vertical bars and notches, from which protruded flexible strips of leather, horsehair, straw or perhaps feathers.
Helmets generally were of perishable material, most likely leather or felt, with tubes projecting at the front like horns. Some helmets were reinforced with bronze discs, others were completely made of bronze and most probably had a felt inner lining. Helmets could have a central plume and/or (a) crest(s) of different shapes and sizes.
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Reconstructed Dendra armour (Koryvantes |
Association of Historical Studies) |
Ordinary troops consisted of various kinds of light-armoured soldiers, wearing linothoraxes without armour, a leather helmet and a kilt. Later Mycenaean troops commonly wore leather or stiff linen greaves, tied at the ankle and below the knee, and often reinforced over the shins with a bronze plate.
The warriors in the Medinet Habu reliefs all wear the typical Aegean-Anatolian feathered headdress, consisting of a bronze headband embossed with rings, triangles or vertical bars and notches, from which protruded flexible strips of leather, horsehair, straw or perhaps feathers.
Helmets generally were of perishable material, most likely leather or felt, with tubes projecting at the front like horns. Some helmets were reinforced with bronze discs, others were completely made of bronze and most probably had a felt inner lining. Helmets could have a central plume and/or (a) crest(s) of different shapes and sizes.
swords and daggers
Swords were suspended from a baldric, often described by Homer as decorated by silver bosses (ὀμφᾱλόι/omphaloi). Early swords had blades similar to a spit and were very sharp with a central rib. From the sixteenth century BC on swords with a rounded tip began to appear, having a grip that was an extension of the blade. In the fifteenth century BC two types with a stronger grip slowly substituted these early models. Successive evolution under the influence of the Anatolians led to a shortening of the blade.
After 1300 BC elite
Greeks warriors wielded a new type of Aegean sword, which was bronze and two
and a half feet long. Much more
efficient at inflicting slash-wounds than its predecessors, its blade also had
roughly parallel edges for most of its length, rather than the tapered edges of
a dagger, so that it was also good at cutting. With a single piece of metal for both blade
and hilt, it was less like to break than old type of sword. This so-called Naue II or grip-tongue sword originated
from central Europe (Northern Italy and the Balkans) and had spread to
Scandinavia and the British Isles, before it began to appear in Greece, Crete,
the Levant and Egypt between 1300 and 1200 BC. Two ivory hilt plates are the earliest remains
of a Naue II sword in the Aegean. Similar swords are worn by the Sea Peoples on
the Medinet Habu reliefs of Ramses III.
Swords found in
warrior graves and hoards of bronze objects have a strong blade with a low
midrib and elliptical section. The
handgrip and the hand guard are flanged. Microscopic examination has shown that two
individual parts across the swords were initially cast in separate open moulds,
and were afterwards welded with hammering. The hilt plates, made of wood or ivory, had a
forked wishbone shape and were held in place by rivets on the handgrip and the
hand guard. The scabbards were
made of wood and leather, sometimes decorated with cut-out metal pieces and
strips. Daggers were probably owned by a
few rich and high-ranking
people and came in various sizes and shapes.
slings, bows and arrows, axes and hammers
Slingers are shown on thefamous silver rhyton from Mycenae. They do not wear any helmets, no shields, nor any spears; only their bows and slings of springy, twisted wool. Sling bullets were made of bronze, led or stone, while many early arrow-tips appear to have been made of flint or obsidian. Apart from sling bullets, throughout battles all sorts of larger and small stones were fired in every possible way. Bowmen are depicted as firing from behind the front lines or from behind large shields.
people and came in various sizes and shapes.
slings, bows and arrows, axes and hammers
Slingers are shown on thefamous silver rhyton from Mycenae. They do not wear any helmets, no shields, nor any spears; only their bows and slings of springy, twisted wool. Sling bullets were made of bronze, led or stone, while many early arrow-tips appear to have been made of flint or obsidian. Apart from sling bullets, throughout battles all sorts of larger and small stones were fired in every possible way. Bowmen are depicted as firing from behind the front lines or from behind large shields.
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Boar tusk helmet (Mycenae Museum) |
cavalry and chariots
There is little evidence for cavalry troops, though there are indications that mounted troops must have existed. The plain of the “horse-pasturing Argos” (Odyssey 3.263) must have been able to field a great number of chariots. In Pylos, Linear B tablets mention wood for the making of 150 axles, 200 pairs of wheels and 120 chariots.
In Greece chariots were used as tank, jeep and armoured personnel carrier. Though the warrior might fight from his chariot, it is assumed that, unlike in the “chariot kingdoms” of the Near East, it was more usual for him to dismount and exchange blows on foot. This will not have been the case for chariots manned with archers. Drawn by a team of two horses, Greek chariots were wooden carts, covered with either oxhide or wicker work. Chariot crews consisted of a driver and a warrior. The four-spoke wheels were wooden; in the thirteenth century BC the original heavy box and so-called dual chariots gave way to the lighter rail chariots, which looked similar to the well-known Egyptian chariots and were more mobile. Unlike later Egyptian chariots which had the axle positioned very close to the rear to make it more versatile, Greek chariots had the axle placed in the centre. Greek chariots were sometimes painted crimson and inlaid with ivory and gold.
The Trojans
A generation ago scholars still thought that the legendary Trojans were Greeks, like the men that attacked them. New evidence, however, suggests that around 1200 BC the inhabitants of Troy were an Anatolian people, who either spoke Luwian, the main tongue of southern and western Anatolia, or Palaic, the main language of northernAnatolia, which were both Indo-European languages closely related to Hittite. Greek is likely to have been a frequently used foreign language and there must have been many business ties between Greece and Troy.
Troy
The settlement called Troy has a long history. Founded by a Neolithic people from Kum Tepe near the Dardanelles in around 3600 BC, it was destroyed and resettled at least nine times, before being eventually abandoned a few decades after the fall of Constantinople in 1453 AD. Formerly it was thought that Troy was just a small citadel of only about five acres (20,000 square metres). Now we know, however, that Troy was about fifty acres (200,000 square metres) in size, and that its location was eminently suitable for agriculture, stockbreeding, fishing and hunting. It held 5,000 to 6,000 people, which made it a big city in Bronze Age terms and was a regional capital which was in its heyday during the Late Bronze Age.
Situated at the entrance of the Dardanelles, which links the Aegean with the Black Sea, Troy was strategically located. For a long time, this would guarantee Troy its position as a wealthy commercial centre and a powerful political city. In a purely material sense, Troy may well have been comparable with the largest of the Mycenaean palace centres. Numerous spindle whorls indicate a flourishing textile industry at Troy. Also horses may have provided the (ἱππόδαμοι, or horse-taming) Trojans with an important export market.
Due to the strong
counter-current in the Dardanelles over a distance of seven miles, combined
with strong averse winds during the sailing season, ship captains preferred to
wait in Troy’s harbour on the west coast – today’s Beşik Bay – until the wind
fell (cf. Homer’s description “windy Ilion” as in e.g. Ilias III.305). Beşik Bay,
which is shallow with sandy beaches, remained of maritime significance even
into the nineteenth century. In ancient times, ships laden with foreign goods
and merchandise, forced to bide their time here, must have traded their goods in
return for water and provisions, or even surrendered them as toll for passage
through the straits.
Archaeological evidence is sufficiently strong to
be sure that somewhere between 1200 BC and 1180 BC “Troy VI i” (formerly known as
“Troy VIIa”) was destroyed by a raging fire. The presence of arrowheads, spearheads, sling
stones and unburied human bones points to a sack. According to a recent archaeological survey,
the other towns in the Troad may also have been abandoned around 1200 BC, which
is consistent with the raids of the Sea Peoples. “Troy VI i” may well be identical with the
Troy that has been identified
by archaeologists like Carl Blegen as “Homer’s Troy”. Probably first weakened by an earthquake, it was attacked by Mycenaean
marauders, who removed the survivors, killing some and enslaving others, before
putting it to the torch.
After its destruction “Troy
VI I” was rebuilt, but the new “Troy VI j” was not as rich, and from the point of
view of workmanship, there was a considerable drop in quality. The new domestic structures were a lot
shabbier and smaller, while the rebuilt houses are partitioned. All the evidence points to an increase in
population, similar to what can be observed in Tiryns, for instance, during
that period. The new city was not
inhabited by the same
people, but by a mixture of old Trojans and newcomers from the Balkans.
Troy’s defences
Troy had two sets of walls: an outer perimeter protecting the lower town and an acropolis with an inner citadel called Pergamos, half an acre large, to which the defenders could retreat. In the Iliad, the Greek Patroklos makes four attempts to mount Troy’s walls. Had its walls been vertical, this feat had been beyond even the most agile warrior, especially one bearing weapons. However, as we know now, the walls of Troy VI were indeed sloping, like those of some of the earlier levels of the citadel.
At its highest point, the Pergamos must have been well over
20 metres high. It had an underground
spring, reached via a network of manmade tunnels, dug some five hundred feet
into the rock. At nearly a mile in
circumference, the 9 metre high outer wall was more difficult to defend than
the compact circuit of the citadel. This
wall consisted of a high stone foundation, on top of which lay sun-dried
mud-bricks. Made of a mixture of mud,
sand, straw and manure, these bricks were cheap and easy to manufacture. Moreover, they cushioned the shock of
battering rams, but since mud-bricks are vulnerable to sappers, the higher the
stone foundation of the walls the better. Several watchtowers were built into these
walls, while five gateways provided access to the citadel. The most important was the southern gate, 3.3
metres wide, protected by a tower and giving access to a broad way ascending
steeply into the citadel. Bronze Age
fortifications often had a postern tunnel, which provided the defenders access
to and exit from a besieged city, either for gathering food or for making
surprise attacks upon the enemy. However, no such tunnel has been discovered in
Troy so far. Troy’s lower city was
surrounded with palisades and two trenches cut into the bedrock, eight feet
deep and ten to eleven feet wide, probably built to stop siege towers and to
make it difficult to use battering rams. At intervals the trenches were
interrupted for access to the gates.
people, but by a mixture of old Trojans and newcomers from the Balkans.
Troy’s defences
Troy had two sets of walls: an outer perimeter protecting the lower town and an acropolis with an inner citadel called Pergamos, half an acre large, to which the defenders could retreat. In the Iliad, the Greek Patroklos makes four attempts to mount Troy’s walls. Had its walls been vertical, this feat had been beyond even the most agile warrior, especially one bearing weapons. However, as we know now, the walls of Troy VI were indeed sloping, like those of some of the earlier levels of the citadel.
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The walls of Troy |
The wooden horse
Thanks to its massive defences, Troy must have been very difficult to take. Moreover, if Troy’s gates were all constructed like the east gate of Troy’s citadel, the use of battering rams at the gates would have been impossible. The east gate could only be entered through a 2m wide L-shaped corridor between two high overlapping walls, with the entrance placed at the “toe” of the L. Still, some scholars think that the wooden horse may stand for a battering ram and archaeological evidence from Troy itself allows some room for the idea that the walls were breached. Battering rams were already widely used in the Near East, more particularly by the Hittites and the Assyrians. On the other hand, as Luce rightly states, “the whole point of the horse is that it was a vehicle of deception not violence”.
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The Hollywood version at Canakkale, Turkey |
Another theory is that
the wooden horse was a life-size wheeled wooden libation vessel. A similar
bull-shaped wheeled cult vehicle has been found on a relief in Alacahöyük, a
former Hittite settlement in modern-day central Turkey. Last but not least,
the tale of the horse may be connected with Poseidon (Po-se-da-o), who used to be part of the Mycenaean pantheon. In
Arcadia, in central Peloponnese, the god was always worshipped in the shape of
a horse, in other parts as a horseman or master of horses. For country folk he was Hippos, the horse. But
Poseidon was also regarded as the originator of earthquakes. Might the horse stand for an earthquake that
breached the walls of Troy, throwing down the mud-brick superstructure of the
main wall, so that the Greeks could enter the city and sack it?
The Trojan army
The Trojan army
In preindustrial societies, typically a little more than twenty per cent of the male population
was of military age (between 18 and 49), so that of an estimated population of
5,000 –6,000 people the Trojan army must have consisted of 600 to 700 soldiers.
According to Homer, the Trojans also had
allies on their side. Homer states that some of them came from Europe (the
Thracians and Macedonians), but most were from Anatolia. The Iliad mentions fifty-men Trojan platoons
and hundred-men Greek companies. Linear B tablets list what may be military
units ranging from ten to seventy men, in multiples of ten.
Though Bronze Age
warfare is very well documented and the richest evidence comes from the ancient
Near East, we have hardly any information on the Trojan army. On the other
hand, in the 1300s and 1200s BC Bronze Age civilisation was international and
that there was a lot of cross-fertilisation through trade, diplomacy, dynastic
marriage and wars.
Like the neighbouring
Hittites, Trojan soldiers were probably black-haired, clean-shaven and might
have worn their hair long at the back often in a thick plait, as an extra
protection against arrows, spear thrusts and sword slashes from behind. They
were probably equipped like the average state-of-the art Anatolian soldier, with
sword, javelins and/or spear and/or battle-axe. Likewise, they probably wore
neck-to-ankle sleeved garments, a long coat of scale armour, or short kilts,
belted at the waist. They may have had medium large round or rectangular
shields with concave sides, made of leather, stretched over a wooden frame, or
of bronze or wicker. Helmets and greaves were made of leather or bronze with ditto
cheek and neck-flaps. The richer soldiers probably wore gold earrings, an
embroidered kilt and Hittite-style shoes with upturned toes.
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Dual horse chariot (Andrea Salimbeti) |
Organic armours were
probably more commonplace in the Late Bronze Age than metal ones. Due to the
material used, organic armour is more perishable than its metal variety and
hence fewer examples have survived. An exception is the well-preserved suit of
raw-hide scale armour collection from the tomb of Tutankhamen, as well as a
fourteen-layer thick fragment of linen from a shaft grave at Mycenae, broadly
similar to the Classical linothorax. Similar armour will have been used by the
Trojans.
Living on a wide plain,
the Trojans must have been great charioteers. Trojan chariots presumably looked
like their Hittite counterparts, which was a robust vehicle with a car mounted
on a wide axle with six-spoked wooden wheels. Pulled by two stallions, Hittite
chariots were manned with a driver and a fighter. By the time of the battle of
Qadesh, the Hittites had introduced an extra shield-carrier to protect the
driver and the fighter, so that both the driver and the fighter could concentrate
on their main tasks with the shield-bearer fending off missiles and
spear-thrusts. Though tank-like charges of a mass of chariots in order to break
the enemy’s line played a big role in Hittite and Egyptian warfare, this was
not to be found at Troy.
Future research should
clear the still many outstanding issues regarding the Trojan War, as well as
the reasons behind the destruction of the many palaces and cities in the
eastern Mediterranean not long after 1200 BC. In essence, the highly developed systems
of the globalised ancient Mediterranean world were not much less complex than those
of our world today. When they eventually collapsed, they created a path for new
developments.
Sources and further reading
Sources and further reading
- Ancient Warfare (AW) magazine Vol IV, issue 4 – Darkness descends: End of the Bronze Age Empires
- Mark Schwartz – Darkness descends, pp. 6-9
- Josho Brouwers – Palace Warriors, pp. 13-19
- Duncan Campbell – Homes for heroes, pp. 22-26
- D’Amato, Raffaele & Andrea Salimbeti – The war of the eighth year, pp. 27-33
- Binsbergen, Wim M.J. van and Fred C. Woudhuizen, Ethnicity in Mediterranean Protohistory, BAR International Series 2256, Archaeopress, Publishers of British Archaeology Reports, Oxford 2011
- Bryce, Trevor – The Kingdom of the Hittites, Oxford University Press, Oxford 1998
- Bryce, Trevor – The Trojans and their neighbours, Routledge, London and New York, 2006
- Bryce, Trevor – Hittite Warrior, Warrior Series no. 120, Osprey Publishing Oxford 2007
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