CONTENTS INTRODUCTION
3
• Emerge nce of Mycena e • M ycen aean dominance • The evidenc e: I lo m e r , a nd the ar chaeolo gica l reco rd
THE EVOUTION OF THE MYCENAEAN ARMY NICOLAS GRGURlC is an Austr.. l..... gradua te archaeolo9ist who wrote h is Honours thesis on the Myce.... ean a r my. He
ts.
w riting .. doctoral the si s on c ivi lian use of d eteonsive architectu .... In frontier Aust r a l ia. Hts oth er interests in clud e w arga mi ng, l iv in g hi story a nd coll ect ing black powde r f ireM",S. He l ive s in So uth Au stn. li ll .
• Xeoli thic and Early Bro nze Age • E.arl)' ~ I)'cenaea n armies: he avy in fan try. ligh t in fa ntry a nd chario ts • Respo nse to new challenges fro m c.1300 BC - fo rufica ucn , a mi di spc-rsed de ployme nt • The destr uct io n o f the palace-states
IDENTIFIABLE TROOP CATEGORIES
hi st ori<:
8
• H e avy in fant ry: sh ields - spe ars - h elme ts - tac tical implica tions - swo rds - ch a nges from <:. 1300 HC • Skirmi she rs a nd lig ht in fan try: arc he rs - light in fa ntry swo rds m e n - tactical im plica tio ns - j a\d inmen - changes from c.1300 BC • Chariotrv: the Aegean cha riot - box c hariots - dual cha rio t.. - q uadra nt chariot.. - rail cha riot.. - a rmament a nd poss ible tact ics - the chario t 'c harge' - the De ndra armour - late r chariotrv • Cavalry
MILITARY ORGANIZATION ANGUS McSRI DE Is one of the wortd's most respected
6
• • • • •
49
Battl e fie ld organizati on Co mm and str ucture I Iig he r o rga niza tio n: the evid ence a nd the a rg uments Un it sizes Issue s o f eq uipme nt
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
58
THE PLATES
60
INDEX
64
Elite · 130
The Mycenaeans c. 1650-1100 BC
N ico las Grguri c . Illu strat ed by An gus McBr ide Consultant editor Martin Windrow
O SPREY I-' U BLlS H I N G
FirSl puolSl>9d in Grea t B ritain in 2005 by ~ Pu boishing ,
Acknowledgements
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First and foremost the author w ould like to tha nk Michael Kum nick . without w hose artis tic skill the briefings tor Angus McBride's striking col ou r plates would not have been possible. and to r putting up with my nit -p icking . Thanks also go to Or Marg aret O'Hea of me Un iversity of Ade laide, who SlJpported and supervised my research on this topic as an Hof1OurS student: to Prof Or Ha ns-G Ontt1er Buchl'1oIz tor gran ting permission to use many o f hiS own images; t o the Hellen ic M iniStry o f Cutt lJre; and t o my fam ily.
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THE MYCENAEANS c.1650-1180 BC
INTRODUCTION he ~ Iycenaean civilization spa nned a pe riod of 4OD-!'>OO years, fro m the early lfith century BC un ul its d eclin e in the 12th ce n tu ry BC. DlII iul; ,hi~ uun; it e vol ved From the ro le o f e n vio us ad mire r of th e more adva ncec Mino an civilizatio n based o n ne a rby Crete , in to a civilization whose power and influence eclipsed th at of th e Minoans and d om ina ted Orccce and the Aegea n, 'The Mycc naeans' is not a d esigna tio n th a t would h ave been recognized by th e Classical autho rs. To the C ree ks, their earliest a n ces to rs Wt-"IT re ferred to vario us ly as 'Acbaeans', ' Dan a,ms ' and 'Argivcs'. These ' R'Te terms th at ca me down to the m th rough e pic poetry and nume ro us legend s, which we re o ften r ontradicrorv, Indeed , this pe riod re mained in th e realm o f lege nd un til the la te 19 th ce nt ury AD, when Heinrich Schl ie ma nn, in search o f treas u re an d physical proof of Ho m er 's Troj an War, bega n excavating the site ot Mycc nac . ..... hich Ho me r says was the seat o f King Agamem non. JU:>l ill :>il1e rhe chadel 's ~d h;~ S";: ll ic Jll<111 11 unear t he d ~C'YC' r
T st e aere cu p tl'om trMl Co-etan palace of Hag ia Triada, 16th ce n t ury BC, It show$ $OfT>e ............ts of C«'Ian military eq uipment sub seq uent ly adopted IIy the Mycenaeans. such as the long t hn>sti ng sword and, just visi b le a t the la ft, part of ill 'lower' shoeld. (Coul1e$y of the Heracli on Museum)
3
100 M i le,
Ce n tres o f MycenH an cl wllization. (George Mylonas, M tcena t!' and the
~rnIe.an
A ge , 0 1966 Pri ncet on Un ive rs ity
fo u nd to h ave been gre at palace-based cities o n a scale riva lling ~1 }'c<.'na e it-.elf, such as Tiryns and Pylas in the vtyce naean heartl a nd of the Pelopo nnese, wh ich we re es tablished around 1650 BC.
Pre S$; reprint e d by pe rml105lon 0' Prlnceton Unive rsity Pr ess)
Em er g enc e o f Mvc en a e
T he ea rly history of toe Mycc nacan p erio d is no table for its pe nch a nt fo r all things Minoan. T he Minoan civi lizatio n of Cr ete can be tra ce d as far ba d as c.3000 BC; it th e refore h ad m o re time to dewlop its culture th a n the m ainla nders, helped la a la rge ex tent by dose in te rac tio n with
4
surrou nd ing civi lization s in the fo rm of seabo rne tra ding. The Min oan c harac ter of earl y ~I}ce naean a n is so marked that it led some to believe that the so uthern pa rt of Ore ecc must have been a Cretan colo ny. It has since beco me appa rent that th is similari ty \',~A ~ .hl" resu lt of in fluence rather tha n colo niza tion . O ne disti n ct area of Min oan influen ce a ll the :\Iycc naeans was that o f warfa re; in deed. most of the earl y wea po n a nd a rmou r t}pes th at a re cha racteri stic of th e Mycen ac a n s ac tually o ri gi n a ted on Minoan Cre te. Onc no table ex ce p tio n is th e c har io t, howe ver, wh ic h appears to h ave bee n in troduced o n 10 Crete by the Mycen acan s rath er than th e other way around.
T he earlier Minoan culture was not Gree k, an d wro te using an as yet undecipbered syllabic sc-ript called Linear A. Th e Myce naeans, ho weve r, were Gree k, as was de m o nstrated by the d eci phe rme nt of the ir scr ipt known as l-inea r It T he la nguage of th is script is a n early fo rm of Greek, showing tha t the history' o f Mycen aean cu ltu re is both geogra ph ically and e thn ically pan o f the history' o f Greece. T he I.inea r B script comes to us in th e fo rm o f sm all day tablets m os tly fo u nd in the rui ns of (he palaces, (he most in form a tive com in g from Pylas and Mvcenaean Knossos. T he subj ect ma tte r of th ese ta ble ts is not na r ra tive but bureau crat ic: that is, they' reco rd the daily business of the palace-based socie ty and econo my. So me o f th ese table ts record aspects of the m ilita ry organizati on of the palace-sta te, an d h ave provi ded an im portan t source of information about the Mycen aean army. Mycena ean domin anc e
In aro u nd 1400 BC the centre of Min oan power 0 :1 Crete, Knossos . was destroyed . probably by a n eart hquake . It seems th at th e Mvcen aea ns of mainland Gre ece took advantage of this disaster to take over Crete ; they re built MOSSO,s as a Mycc naca n palace, a nd Cre te became a \ Iyce naea n :a ngdom. \\'ith the remova l of its main rival, Myccnaca n civilizatio n became the do mina nt cultural powe r in th e Aegea n . The Mycc uaca ns used the ir regional dom in a nce to expand their tradi ng netwo rks a nd devel o ped close co ntacts wi th surround ing civilizatio ns. notably those of th e Ne-ar East such as the lIittites, Syrians and Egvp rians. There is eve n evi de nce that the Egyp tia n and Mycenaean arm ies e mployed each othe-r's troops as me rcena ries . Although there is e vidence that the \ Iyccnaeans se nt a ll exped itiona ry force to the coast of An atol ia (modem Turkey) to lig h t th e Hini tes, th eir usual e nem ies were most likely co mpeting palace-sta tes, and 'ba rbarians' from th e less contro lled regi o ns of Greece. At times ;\l~'c en aean palace-sta tes seem to have forme d confederatio ns, as described in H ome r 's I!iad. The evidence: Hom er, a n d the ;:n c h a e o l o g i ea l r ecord
The wo rks of poe try att rib uted to Hom er have always bee n close ly associa ted with the study of Mycen aean histo ry', an d their relationsh ip with th e evide nce th a t co mes down la u s from the Mycen aea n period sho uld be un de rstood . Although Ho mer 's epic s are te nta tively set in the Myce naean period, it is ge ne ra lly be lieved th a t these sto ries origina ted much late r, in a roun d the Bth ce ntu ry RC, some 300 yea rs afte r th e en d of the Mycenaean civilization an d d urin g Ore ece's ' Dark Age' , whe re acc ura te refe ren ces to the Myce naea» pe riod are found in H om er, these m ust he th e re sult of fol klo re p reserved via oral histo ry. H oweve r, as a n h istoric al reco rd o f the Mvce naean civiliza tio n and of Mvce naea n wa r fare the grea t po et 's writin gs have lim ited value. This is beca use the accura tely rem embe red ele me n ts wer e com bin ed with in ve nti ons a nd po st-Myce naea n ele me n ts, as well as m uch la te r inclusio ns and adaptations fro m th e Cla.ssica l pe riod and late r. What we know of th e Mvcc naca n a rm y - a te rra use d in th is text for brevi ty, to m ea n all a rm ies of that broad civi lizatio n, across th eir whole tim espan - co mes to us alm ost e ntirely through archaeo logy. The so urces of such archaeologi cal evide n ce
.
.
•
of th e Linear B table ts: and finds of ac tual weapons a nd equipment Co mpared (0 cont<-"IIlporary civi lizations such as th e Egyp tians an d Hittites, th is o veral l bo d y of evidence is '"Crr limited , the pictorial c...-idcn ce is o ften h ighly sryli7ed and the textu al evidence Iragmentarc. Xevcrt heless, it is possible to reconstruct th e Mycena ean army in surprising detail fTOID the.' available evid e n ce . Onc of th e reaso ns fo r th is is th at th e evide nce wc.' d o have cove rs a ...-idc rar:gc of
a~pc c u
of
Mycc na ca n warri ors, from d res s a nd equipm e nt, th ro ugh fo rma tio ns and tac tics, to highe r orga n izatio n and logistics. There is a d istinct lack of seco nda ry info rm ation available fo r t1 11~ Myccnacan a rmy. This is a consp icuous omissio n in th e study of ancie nt warfa re, g-ive n the very m ilitaristic charac ter of Mycenaean culture. As Lo rd Tavlo u r says in h is Thl' M y t1'afa TU, 'It wo uld alm os t seem as if th t'} loved strife fo r its own sal e' . Previ o us bo oks o n the \tycenaean civi lization in ge nera l o fte n h ave 2. sma ll chapte r O il war fare a nd weapo nry', but th is 15 usually ei ther little mo re th a n a su mm a ry of th e type. of weapons and annour known, o r he avi ly infl uenced by Ho me r's heroic im ages of individual d uelling warriors. The characteristic ite ms of th e Mvrenacan war rior's equipment are a lways described - suc h as the boar's-tus k h el m e t, figure-of-eight shield, and th e ' De ndra Cui rasv' - bu t usually lit tle o r no a-te m pt is mad e 10 d iscuss where :hcse item s fined in to th e ove rall functio ning of the \ l yce llaea n army. Art icles in acade mic journals d escrib in g Mvcc nacan a rt efact forms, such as swords, are also plentiful, bur fail to co ntribute gr eat ly to o ur understa ndin g of wha t kind of sold iers used these swo rds and what the ir ta ctica l role was. It is only when all of th e evide nc e is observed as a whole tha t a more comp le te p ict ur e eme rges. T ha t picture is of a quite conventiona l La te Bro nze Age arm y, yet with un iquely Mvccnaea n ch a racteristics.
THE EVOLUTION OF THE MYCENAEAN ARMY The se limestone s lill9 stones art e..id ence fo r eany Gr98k
w u ponry. Mo st s uch projK t iles w er e m ad e of unfired ( la y: the se parti c ula r exa m ples c ome from T h. 8.... ly and date to the La te Nf oli t hic period , that is, be fore 2500 BC. lCou rt esy Profe s $Ot" Or H.Q.Buchh ok)
•
The ea rliest weapons kn own to ha ve been used by t he mainl and Greeks were slings and bows, with ba uleaxes and stone m aces for ha nd-to-ha nd comba t. T he earliest exam ples come from the Neolithic and Ea rly Bronze Ages (befo re about 2 150 BC). Th ese wea po ns sugge st a veIl' infor m al mode of war fare waged by tr ib al ho rdes rather th an by organized a rmies. Sling s an d bows con tinued to be use d thro ugh out the Myccu aean period; but as a r mies becam e more orga nized and formalized d uring the Middle Bronze Age (be twee n c.2150 and 1550 BC) , banl ea xes and clubs fcl l out of use. As bronze-wo rking skills .....ere
deve loped the se sto ne wea pons were r eplaced by swords an d spears. The ea rliest evidence fo r organized Myce naean armies comes from th e late 16 th century BC, and sh ows a stro ng: Miuoan influence which lasted throughout the pe riod. TIle ea rly armv of c.1600 to 1300 BC was co m pos e d o f a core o f heavy spea nnen supported b y swords men. ligh t infa ntry, skirmis hc rs and heavy ch ariots. This type of army was well suited to fig hting se t-piece battle s against similarly o rganized opponen ts suc h as riva l palacestates. The swordsme n and ligh t irf an try were also suited to fighting in rough terrain, :'>0 were use fu l to r ligh ting the ' barbarians' who bved III the mo untainous, semi-civilized re gions outside Mycenaean co n trol. Th is military organization , with .ts mixture of heavy speannen and chariots a nd .igh tc r auxiliaries, proved effective for a long period d uring wh ich the o nly enemies it faced we re o f the se t w-o type'> H owever; durin g the 13Th ce ntu ry BC the M ycenaean military system underwe nt a maj or c hange in equipment and tactics, m e reason for whic h may have been a facto r in rho eve n tual collapse of the civilizatio n. This new type o f army first a p pears in the archa eo logi cal reco rd in the artefacts from the palace a t Pylos that a re dated to the nth century BC. 1'),105 lie s in the re gion o f Me sse nia on the west coast o f th e Pe lo pon nese . When the palace was exc avated between 1939 a nd 1966 , it yield ed a large cache o f Linea r B table ts. an d fresco es with a m ilita ry th e me. T his evid en ce po rtr.tys a m uch lig hte r a rmy wi t h a fo cus on m obility, and sUHgests m o re di spersed mel ees. T his change in tactical d octrine may reflect a n in cre ase in seaborne raids along the Mycenaean co ast by fo re igne rs. T h is new th re at \\7\S possib ly caused b y the d.splacem e m of 'a rge num bers of people d ue to an inc re ase in na tur al dis asters a nd war throughout the lands su rro u n d ing th e Mediterrane an a t th is time . The l Sth cen tury BC was the time wh en m any of the Myce naea n ce ntres, Myce na e included, erected h uge stone r am par ts around their citadels, such fo rt ifica tio ns cle arly reflecting: a fear of impend ing attack. It was at this time th at the military leadership a t Pyla s issued ord e rs fo r thc deployment of bo d ies of troo ps alo n g its coastline to guard against seaborne invaders. What happe ned nex t is u nclea r, excep t fo r th e sign ificant fact tha t so o n a fter th e se o rd e rs ....e re trans c ri b e d on to day ta b le ts Pylos was d es troyed , in about 1200 BC. Xearly a ll o f th e o ther Myce nac an centres were also destroyed a t a ro u nd this time. The causes o f this pe riod o f d estructio n a re still a to pi c o f d eba te amo ngs t scholars. So m e possibl e explanati ons are tha t it was ca use d by wa r fa re . n atural d isasters, soci a l revolu tio n or a co m bi na tion o f the se factors. Some o f the cities were re b ui lt and re occ upied , b ut the Mvcenaean civilization as it had
Ivory p laq ue from Del os depicting an ea rly pt' riod s pe arman. Thi $ el ear ~ shows the three e ha racte ristl c elements of this t ro o p type: th e figure-of-eight sh ie ld, boar's-tusk helmet, and $pear. (Aft er Taylour, 1972)
7
'-Y
..."., d itiun .., . r¥'....
ot..eight sh iekl . Th is pteee nl ea SlJres 14.3c m
l(
9 .5cm and
"."y have been 8 tt&ched • p iece of fumit.....
Of"
to
used
a s a door h a ndl• • Such ivory mi n iat u res a re th e on ly three_ d imen s io n a l reprel>e ntations ot the s e s hield s t hat VIe have. T hi s pi e c e d a t e s fro m the
13th century BC, when t he fi~ure-ol-eight
$hle ld
"'ad l alletl
'fOft'I actua l u se but sllnrived 115 a religioys
o r decorative
moti f. (Co urtesy National Arc:haeoIogical Museum, Athens)
previously be en known was gone. Greece de scended into a dark age, he r eve nt ua l eme rgence fro m which is n ow kn own as the Classical p er iod .
IDENTIFIABLE CATEGORIES OF TROOPS HEAVY INFANTRY The backbone of a Mvcc n aea n armv was its heavy in fan try. In the ea rly period (c. I 650-1300 BC) th ey were armed with a long spea r (rnkhos) as their m a in Wf'a pon , a nd a swo rd . Clo th in g was min im al, co n sisti n g only
of a cloth kilt or lo incloth . and w a rri o rs went barefoot; ho we ver, th is lack of bo dy armour was compensated for by a lar g-e shield ( Jalw.~) whi ch covered th e body fro m neck to shi ns, as well as a helm e t. The ide n tifica tion of th is t)p e of warrio r as a heavy infantryman comes fro m an analysis of the p ra ctical imp lica tions of h is armour a nd 8
A sel ection of socketed spearhea ds from the Mycenaean world. T hree are o f t he slitsocketed ty p e, which w er e e as ier to ...ake than the fully deve lop e d so c k et e d type. (Cou rt esy P ro fesso r HG .Buchholz, and the Briti sh Museum)
weap o nry. T his type of so ld ie r fo ug h t in the typ ical heavy infantry m anner, wh o se fu ndam ental characte ristics a re that h e fi gh ts 'sho ulder to shou ld er' in co m pact, m asse d fo rm ation s. T ha t thes e Mvcenaean 'warrio rs fough t in su ch fo rmatio n s is st ro ng ly sugg este d by their eq uip men t as well as by depiction s. Shields
One of the m ost diagnostic sig ns o f a heaw in fantrym an is his shield . T h is, in b o th of its p att e rns (i.e. 'figure-o f-eigh t ' an d 'tower ' sh ield s) , pro te cts the body fr om n ec k to foo t. T h ese sh iel d s app ea r to h ave been mad e of wickerwork u p o n a wo o den fr a m e ; th ey we re faced with o ne or m ore la yers of hid e , as ca n b e seen in sever al colo u red d epi ctions of them from fres coes. T h ey we re carrie d by m eans of a teiamorc. a stra p wh ich p assed over the le ft sh ould er d iagonally. Thus su p ported, the shiel d le ft both h an d s fre e . Such a lar ge sh ield tell s u s sp eci fic thin gs abou t its fu n ct ion . T h e wa rrio r wou ld h ave been very we ll p ro te cted fro m all m an n er of spear an d sword th rusts. j ave lins. arrows, sling-sho ts,
Drawing of a 's hoe - soc ket ed ' spearh ead, with r ecesses e it he r ,; id" ur Ih" bl"d " inlo whi ch" s p lit shaft waS fixed. This wa s the predec e ssor of the so cketed s p e ar h e ad proper. (After Ta ylour, 1972)
•
9
The 'Sea Battle ' fntsc.o fro .... Abo ti ri on the A egean i$la nd
ofThet"i1, 1500 BC. Th l$ ls _ of t1... very few surviving ~ pletion$ of a n act ual lonnation of
M:tcenaean heavy infantry. Each
o f the to w er shie ld s i$ eo.-.ed
with a different eolourfll
~
pa"emed h id e, fepnl6eflted .... bl ack., brown. grey a nd ye lk)w. (Courtesy Prehistoric N ,,"um of Thera)
10
e re. H owever, he paid for this protection with a se rio us re striction o f his mobility. O ne could im agine that if a warrior tried to ru n with such a sh ield while still h oldin g h is spear with both h a n ds . the fo r me r wo uld
bounce around YC f}' awkwardly, banging against his ann, lowe r face and, particu larly, his sh ins. It is impossible [ 0 kn ow whe n the lowe r shiel d was first in troduced into m e Ae gean: n o archaeological re ma in s o f such sh ields have been fo und (d o u b tles s d ue to the fac t that they were made o f pe rishable ma te rials), b u t the earliest d e p ic tio n s of th e m oc cur a t \ Iyce nae an d are d a ted to aro u nd 1600 BC. A bo ss is a co mmon fea ture of a h eavy in fa ntrym an 's shie ld th ro u ghou t th e a nc ient pe riod; it all ows th e shiel d to be used o ffe n sive ly. This fea tu re , a lo ng with the cu rve ofthe su rface. wo u ld have made th e figureo f-eig h t sh ie ld especially go od fOT p risin g a pa rt e nemy shield-wa lls a n d bre akin g into a d e nsely p ack ed fo rm ati on . In th is res pe ct it wo u ld h ave b ee n far su pe rio r to th e tower sh ield. The figure-of-eigh t shield is mo re tech n ically d eve lo p ed th an th e towe r sh ield, and is th erefor e likely to b e a so mewhat la te r in novatio n . As fa r as is kn own, the earli es t p ictu res of th ese sh ields date fro m around 16 00-1 550 BC a t Myccn ae , hut they are fo u n d in the sa me conte xt as th e towe r shi el ds. T h e figu re -o f-eigh t shield is n o t flat in oro flle as some tower shields ap pe ar 10 b e , bu t is co n cave; it would the reby afTo rd a d eflective ab ilit y th a t wo u ld greatly increase its stren g th . In ad d ition it h ad an elongated 'bo ss' , in th e fo rm of a raised ri d ge o f woo d or to u gh lea th er. T h is a n d the chara cteristic 'waiste d' sh ap e, we re d elibe rate e le me nts wh ich m us t have b e en d eveloped fo r p ractical reaso ns. The fu n ctio n of th e wais t cu t-outs is so meth ing of a m ys te ry, as there a re nu actu al d epi ctions sh ow ing th em be in g p ut to any di rect us e . If a lin e o fso ldiers fo rmed u p in cl o se orde r with figu re-of-eight sh iel d s, th e cut-o uts wo u ld fo rm a series o f rough ly diamond -shap ed h o le s. It is p ossible th a t th ese we re useful wh en th e h eavy sp eann an u sed h is sec o n d a ry weap o n, the th rusting swor d . Eac h soldie r wo u ld h ave une of th ese ho le s to hi s ri ght fron t, and could th rust a t hi s en e my th ro ug h it while still re ta in in g th e full -body p rotec tio n o f h is shiel d. This p ossib ility is fu rt her su p p o rted by th e fa n that the xtyce naean sword in use at th is time was in d ee d better suited to thrus tin g tha n sla shing .
O ne of the m ost s pect ac u la r fi n ds rel ating t o the Mycenaean m ili tary is t hi s 16th c e ntu ry BC b ronze d a gg er w ith a min ia ture fig h t ing scene inla id into its b lade , It sh;>W$ both the t ower a nd fJgu nHIf-eight shields., t he
way they _re worn by means of • re'amon, and l he way the spear
was wl ekted, It a lso 5hows an archei' woriJng in conju nction with the heavy in fant ry. lGeorge My401\llS, Mycenae a nd the ~ Ag&, C 1966
Pri ne e t on U~ity Preoss;
It is also conceivable th a t th e series o f h oles p r ese n ted in th e shield wall m ight have accom modated the 5pear, but th is seems unlikel y fo r two related re aso ns. Firstly, th e depictions d o not sh ow th e spea r bein g used this way; th ey sho w it bein g wielded wi th both hands, normally at sho u ld er level a n d wi th the sh ield worn around th e back. Secondly. th e spears used by th ese troops would have been both heavy and u nwie ldy for th e war rio r to g rip in hi s right hand a lon e, as he would bnve to if h e were ming it to thrust th ro ugh the sh ie ld cu t-out; and if h e held it near its central point of balance he would both waste half of iLS le n gth , an d d isru p t th e ran ks beh ind hi m , A que sti o n re mains as to h ow th e figure-of-eight shi e ld wa s distributed amo ngs t th e heavy infan try, It appears to haw been used at th e sa me tim e as th e to we r sh ield, but it is u nclear whether it was reser'ved for ~parate u nits. or mi xed in wi th tower shi elds to give the formatio n a 'b iting e d ge ' . Perhaps perso n al p referen ce o r wealth car-n o t be ruled out,
"pri"'ed by
penn~ion
of
Prin c e t on Univer.lity Press)
Boar's-I\lsk I>e"meL Th e p+e<:es o f I\l sk
we",
found in a
Mycenaean tomb a nd t he helmet was reco<'lStrucled ba sed on
d e pictions found on plaques a nd patlony. This one dates to the 10,.... M.,.oc noca" peri Dd ; n the 13th c en t u ry BC , l Cou rtesy N at ional Archaeological Museum, Athens)
Spears
The early Myccn acan ~pcar cons isted of a long wood en sh aft about 12ft lo n g ....ith a so cke t c cl spearhead m ad e o f b ro n ze , T h e earliest style of spearhead was of un usual fo rm and is sparsely rep re sen ted : the blade h ad a shoe-socke t cast o n on c o r both sides of it. into which the spl it end of th e wooden shaft W,L'i inserte d. Examples have be en found at Sesklo , Lcu kas, Asinc and Mycenae, and th is style o f spearhead seems to be of m ain lan d on gm, H oweve r, the m o re co m m o n typ e of spe arh ead , in use th rough ou t th e whole of the Mvcenaean period , was a narrow leaf-shaped b lad e ....i th a stro n g m id -ri b and a socketed base , T h is was secu red to th e shaft by a metal co llar at th e base o f th e soc ke t, as well M by h o les through th e soc ket for pins . The o rigin o f thi s type see ms to be Cretan . Several to n g , heavy spea rs of th is kind were b u ried in th e Sh ah G ra..-es a t ~Iyeen ae . a n d d epictions show it in use by heavy in fan uv. Most of the spearheads fou nd dale to th e early :\Iyce naean pe riod; not man y e xamples ha ve survi ved fro m th e
11
later penod , although it contin ues to a p pea r on later d epictio ns. The reaso n fo r this co uld be th e lack of rich gr.1ves from the later period . There we re two "'ays in wh ich th e socketed spea rh ea d co u ld be made. They could eit h er be cas t wi th the so cket com ple te . o r more -~ i lll rl y mad e with the soc-ket slit a n d fla t; rh is W·.1S then curved a ro u nd to form a soc ke t, ,.. ·it:t th e slit runn in g la terally a lo n g th e socket where the two ends were j oin e d . T he le ngta o f th e spearh eads fro m tip to base o r soc ket no rmally ranged betwe e n Bin a n d l al th o ug h some are mor e than 16in lo n g. So m e early d e p icuous sh ow the spear be ing" ,.. -iclded a t th e level of th e sh o ul d e rs wi th both hand s, wh ile others sccm to be h eld ill the rig-h t h a nd on ly. H o wever, th e metho d of holding the spea r wi th both h a n ds , hn rizon tal at th e level o f th e shoulder, is only ceeu wh en th e shi e-ld i.. sh mg a round 10 the spean uau 's back. Wh e n th e ....a rrio r is wielding th e spear in an y ot h e r way, h e is sh o ....-n wi6 th e sh id d wo rn in fro nt o f his bod y.
z!n.
The boar's -tu s k helmet
13th c:ent u ry BC ivory ......y d epic:ting a warrior _ .. ring
.. bQ.ar's- tusk helmet , from My cenae. This was probatKy one o f many used to d ecorat e 8 c he st or pi ec:e of fumiture. " o t e the ch e ek g uards f ound on 1.0 11'' ' exa mp les . (Co urtesy Nati onal A rehaeo log ic a l Mu" eu m , Athe" ,,)
A~
image o f a bQ.ar's-tusk helmel
e ngra ved on to a Cretin doubl.. 81e. (Co u rtesy Professor Or
12
H·G .B uchholz)
T hi s type of warrior d id no t n e ed to wear body ar mo u r be cause of th e full -body pro tec tio n affo r d e d by th e larg e sh ield. 1I0 ....'eve r; it was n o rma l fo r th e m 10 wea r a boa r's-tus k h el met. fo r the obvious reaso n th at th e h ea d was nut protected by the sh ield. .-\. series o f boar's tusk-s , neatly cut lengthwavs in to oblong p lates a n d pierced in t h e co r- ners "'; th h o le s , we re sewn on to a conical frame of leather. T h e d irec tio n of th e cm....e of th e tusks ....-as made to alternat e in each successive ro w, of wh ich th ere were norm ally fou r or Five. Th e crown of th e h el met was ei th e r ad o rn e d with a pl u m e or te rminated in a kn o b : and so m e h ad n eck a n d / o r c h ee k guards. Ne arly e"('IJ' re pre sen tation of a Mycen a eau h eavy in fan t ryman wea rs a boar's-rusk h el met. Th ese h elm e ts - a purel y Aegean co n t rib ut ion to th e historv of a rmour - would not o n ly have lo ok ed impre ssive b u t wo u ld also h ave be en ' ·ef}' p ro tec tive.
AnOll'l e r example of an ivory i nl ay p ortraying a boo r's_t us k h elmet, In th i ~ ca sa Irorn Mycena ea n Cre t e , 14th-1 3th centu r ie s BC. Th is Is o f re liiltive ly sim p le c on st N ct lon, havin g only t h ree rows 0 1 s liced tu sk .... wi1:to a knob a t t t,e top an d no cheeIt g....rd .. (Courtesy National Art::h a eologie al Museum, Athensl
T his type of helme t is fu lly described by H om e r, alth o ugh it had gone of use lo ng be fo re his day an d did not survive the Myce neean pe riod. It m ay have origina ted in Cre te, but it is impossible to know for sure d ue to a lack of relia bly da ted fi nds. One bronze do uble axe head, said to come from Knossos, has a bo ar 's-rusk h elme t en gra ved on both sides. Thi s a xe is da ted to be twee n 1700 a nd 1450 BC; if it doe s indeed da te back to 1700, the n it is th e ol dest known depiction of such a helmet, and s llg~ests that th ey d.d origi na te o n Cre te . Whatever th e case, the main land ado pted it not long afte r this; an ac tual e xam ple was fo u n d a t Mvce n ae , d at ed 10 soon a fter l !l!')O RC T he n " arc man y de pic tions of the boar 's-tusk hel met in Myce naean ar t: it is wo rn by ....-a rri ors depic te d on rings a nd e ngravi ngs . it is a pop ular mo tif in i~'0 '1' inlay wo r k, a nd it is figured on th e 'Siege Rh yto n ' cup fragmen ts. This typ e of hel me t's mos t po pula r period appears to have been c_1550-15oo BC, and n umerous fra gm ents of :h e cm and pierced tusks have been fou nd in tombs all over Greece. OUT
13
Sele ct ion of Lat e Mi noan and Myc ena ean helmet ty pes taken from depictions and ...."'ivin; examples. Fol lowing th .. discovery of a sui t olbro nn armour at Dendra, 'helmet B ' h",s actually b ..... n identi f ied as a sho uldK piece from such a s u IL•• Due to the ab&trMot n s t " re of de pictions suc h as 'F' and 'H', details o l l .... ir construc!lon :re un k nown . (Alter Ventrls &. C hadwick)
~.
v ...
A
Con ic al bfonz. hMmfll with cheek guards, lound in a warrior's t o mb on C ret e and recon slrucled from more I....n a hundred l ra gments. One 01 the rare surviving . ....ples of My<:enaean hel mets other than t he boar's-t us k type , it dates t o 1450-142 5 BC. (Cau "es)' Pl'OfesSG r Dr H·G .Buchhalzl
14
E
c
B
F
G
D
H
Ot h er helm ets
Besides th e boar's-rusk helmet, severa l othe r typ es a re known . A conical hel met of shee t bronze with cheek pieces ....-as fo und in o ne of the Knossta n warrio r tom bs; it is p ierced w'ith holes fo r aua cbing a fe lt or lea ther lin in g. Dated 10 abo ut 1450 BC, it th e refore pro bably belo ngs to the pe riod of Mycena can control mer the re gion . Othe r finds of parts of th is typ e of h elmct have bee n ma d e o n Rhod es a nd Cyprus. Two other 1)pes of helmet can he see n o n a go ld rin g and a seal fro m Crave Circle A a t Mycenae, 1>O[h dated to the 16th century BC. The heavy infantrym an o n th e seal wea rs a n odd type o f hel m e t composed of wh a t look like two th ic k ' ro lls' su rmo un ted by a composite kn ob and a horn, Th e he lme t worn by a swordsma n o n th e gold rin g- is of a simple de sign, possi bly m ade of bro nze or thic k lea the r and surmounted by what loo ks like a tufted cockade or po mpon . Another fonn of h elmet is sh own on a Crero-Myce na ean vas e fro m a tom b at Iso pata , ne ar Knossos . It has six co nce ntric bands wh ich som e int erpret as str ips of leather, and oth e rs as th ick padding- Sl 'W Il toge ther at in terva ls. A sim ila r helm et, whose sections h ave a mo re pronounced bulge, is sho....-n on th e fragm e nts of a faien ce re lief from Mycenae. Tactical imp lication s Mvcenaean warrio rs armed with a lo ng: spear, a to wer o r figure-ofeight shield and a helmet fulfilled th e typica l tactical role of heaw infan trymen. Thei r '\'eapo ns and armo ur tell us thi s: due to his relative lack of ma noeuvrability th is rypc of infan trym an needed
to be o rganized in a d rilled , close-ord er fonnati on in o rder to be effe ctive. A warrior accoutred in th is way and fig htin g o n h is mm wo u ld fall ea'}' p rey to ligh ter. m ore m ob ile infantry" and c ha rio ts. Standing alo ne , h is move ment is cl u msy an d slow because h e is h am pered hy his large sh ield and h is lo n g spear;
1\
i.1 ;i I' ,I •
,I
it is eas y for a ligh t swo rdsman , for example, to parry his spea r po in t with o ne blow fro m seve ra l fee t a"'ay an d th en close wi th him to stab a ro u r.d th e clu msy sh ield be fore h e CMl d ra w h is own sword to defend h imself. To use so me mu ch la te r a n a logies th a t d e m o n stra te sim ilar p ractical limitations: in the Napoleonic period, wh e n the lan ce m ad e a re surgence of popularit y amo n g lig h t cavalry; it was we ll known that if a caval rym an armed on ly wi th a sab re could ~c t pa~t the lance poi n t. th e lancer \\&> d o n e fu l. Agincoun (I-U.:'» p rovides an even more sim ilar paralle l. when the lightly armed , largely unannoured En g-lish archers closed with vc rJ h eavily armoured di sm ounted Fr e n ch l.n ig-h ts. and e xp loited th eir far gre ater agility to kill them in large numbers with suc h \,;ea pons ,IS dagge rs and hatchets. On th e other hand , if a h eavily equipped wa rrior is placed sh o ulder-to-s ho ulde r with seve ra l hundred like -a rmed co m ra d es a vel)· differe n t picture e merges. The large re ctangular and figure-of-eight shields h eld n ext to each other or even ove rlapping would p rese n t a n a rmoure d wall cove ri ng th e wh ole ba ttle line fro m ne ck to a n kle . T h is would not on ly rend e r th e fro n t ra nks a lmo st invu ln e ra b le to missile s, but would pre'i·e nt many missi les fro m pas sin g into rhe lea! ranks, whi ch Mlld lll: J shiek b, could I IO L tlo w effe ctive ly, 1he size o f th e sh iel ds may th us su ggest a co ns iderable mi ssile e xch an ge befo re co n tac t. In suc h a m assed fo rmatio n. severa l ran ks dee p, the c.12ft spear is far h o rn be in g im p racticall y lo n g , bu t is a per fec t weapon eit her fo r levelling agains t an o p posing" line of in fantry', or fo r d e fence ag ains t chario ts. In addition , the ligh t tr o ops wh o wo u ld h ave p roved so dead ly to a n iso la te d heal')' infan trym an in th e o pen would themseh-es be vulne rabl e if they a ttemp te d contact wi th suc h a fo rm atio n . Swords
Seco nd only in Importance to the long , heavy spear in th e Mycenaea n ar m o u ry was th e swo rd 0 1' pakrm a, of whi ch ab u ndan t examp les h ave bee n re cove red fro m th e Sh aft Gra ves - in which eve ry wa rrior was apparen tly equip pe d with ma ny m or e th a n he would have n ee d ed d uri ng h is life time. All show n o tice abl y fine workmansh ip , whe ther plain, p ra c tica l exam p les o r richl y d eco ra ted p ieces . T h e e arlies t swords (Typ e ;() A) h ave rou nded sh o ul d ers, sh o r t tan gs and p ronoun ce d m idribs: th e fo re bea rs o f th is type are cer tain ly Minoan. Alongs id e th ese thrus tin g sword s (whi c h h ave bee n confu sin gly described as ' ra p iers') in th e Shaft Graves was fo u nd anothe r I :'t, .of\ :. kin d (Type B) ; th ese are less wel l repre sen ted than th e forme r, an d only o n e examp le \\'3.5 foun d in th e earlier C rave Circle B. Sword Type B has square or point ed sh o uld ers. a lon ger tan g an d a sh o rter blade . It may h ave deve lo ped from the flange d
[ 1
~," ~ II W !, \':
'I ' I
p\
II!
:~
!11 '; :" III
' I'
1
.
1 I; , '
I,
,
"
,
11 ,I
;,~
&rty M i _ and Mya!naean sw o rds d ating f ...... between
e . 1900 a 'ld c . '400 BC. The shorter eQmpl e, third from right, w as acl .... lly found In Tul1<.ey to wh.... it h ad been traded. The rema'nGeI' w ere (I,sc ove red in
Greeee and Crete. (Courtesy
Profe-s$Or Or H-G .8uchholz) M inoan a n d M,cenaea n d a gge n;,
and sw ord !secon d from le ft). Th e left· ha nd dagger is fro m C re t .. and Is very ea rly, datin q t c
0. 2 150-1900 BC , lon g bef or e t he appearance of the My ce"aea"
civ ilizati on. The two at righ t date t o t he later Myc en aean period , c. 130 0-12oo B C. (Co urtesy Profe ssor Or H- G.Buchho lz)
!if ~ \ ~~, I'j" ' III i , IHi (I 'I' ~ H ''Ill, "
19, ,,
. ,-
ifV I.~
V
. /'
. .
c:...;
11 \ I
15
Fou r exc.avated swo rd s s pa nning the Mycenaea n pe riod. The left hand example Is t he earty long thru sting sw ord . The non t two date t o betw" en e.1400 and c .1200. The s ho rt sw ord at botto m is of t he w lde·bladed, u nf ulle re d , s las hing type which was intro duc ed in the later period . (Cou rte sy Nat ion ..l Arehaeol og ical Mu se um , Athens , and Mu seum of Th ebes)
16
d agger, o f whi ch th e re we re seve ral exam p le s in the e arlie r Grave Circ le , b u t it ca n also trace its o ri gin _~ 10 the Ne a r East. A varia nt o f Typ e B is th e ho rne d thrusti ng sword , the p o inted shoul d e rs b e in g e x te n d ed to fo r m two h o rns. T h e cn lcifo rm --sho u ld e red ra pie r also SlTIllS to he d e rived from Typ e A. Fro m the begi nnin g of tbe I-lth ce n tury BC a n ew ~pe o f "wo rd se ems to h ale been favoured , perha ps d ue 10 b roade n ing con tac ts with the Near Ea.st. The o ld th rusting s.....ord continue d in m e d uri n g th e l-tt h ce n tury BC. b u t was Ix ing replaced by a two-ed ged slashing swo rd . This new weapon h as sq ua re ..h o u ld e rs , an d these, as well as the hi lt . arc fla n ged.. T h e b lad e is b ro ad, with a widening towards th e tip , and has n o m id-rib . The ea rlies t examples m ost probably d a te 10 th e second half of th e l -tth century' BC. T h e a p peara n ce o f these slashing: swo rd .. i.. evidence fo r a change -h at Myce n aean heavy infa ntry und e rwent d mi ng rtlt'" later period, when warriors becam e ligh te r and m o re m o bile. su~cs l1 ng th a t they fo ugh t in more open fo rmauons than pT<....-irn c..ly, Myce naean infa ntry ca rried the ir swo rds in a scab bard , some times tar...scllcd. wo rn a t the left waist slung from a sh o ulder belt. This sword served as a seco ndary weapon for the ea rly h eavy mranuvman; it wo ul d h ave beer; usefu l e ither if the spe-odr bro ke. o r afte r th e in itial pus h of spc
period Examples of :n)()p ~ c anying the ro u nd shi el d can be fo u n d in fresco es from Mycc nae , T lryns a nd Pvlo s. It was large enough to co ve r ta e to rso o f the wa rrio r. hut a lso m anoe uvra ble e noug h to use in the in divi d u al co mbats th a t a p p ear to ha ve become mo re co m m o n in th e late r p eri od. The ce n tre o f th e shi e ld . being- raised , wo uld also have ser-ved as a boss, a nd its cu rva ture wo ul d have h elpe d to deflect cnemv bl ows .
F...."'o;o fT"gment depio;ting " later p eriod warrior with a roun d Sh ie ld. Since the exact positlon and lan gth of hi s w all pon een o nly b e guessed at. it i$ diffi cu lt to know wheth er h
I
;
or a spearman , alt h ou gh the presence et a shie ld makes
\
Department of Classics.,
the la"_ mora likely. ICour1esy University of Cincinnali)
The 'inverted pt'lIa' pa uem was alm ost round b ut had a cu rved cutou t in its lower edge. wnen ca rrie d in front of the bo dy it wo u ld protect th e warrior 's to rs o, b u t th e cu t-ou t wo ul d allow him to ru n without th e
lower rim of the shield ban ging int o h is upper legs . With these sma lle r shields ca me a need for body a rmour for th e heavy in fan try. and co rselets were in troduced fo r Mvcenaean warriors from c. 1200 BC. Th e re a re some excellent de p ictions of tm o p s acco u tred in this way o n rb e ~o-r;l llprl '\ V;.J n in T Vas p' a n d 'w a rri o r Src lc ' from Mycc n ac. These co rse lets appea r to have be en mad e of lea th er wi th co ppe r or bronze sca les sewn on . T he depict ed ...ear ners also wear lea the r skirts tha t re ac h to m id-thigh, which could a lso be reinforced wi th bronze scal es. A.hhough (he -nos t notable depictio ns of this dress com e from Myce nae. severa l o the r sires sh ow rroops sim ila rly eq uipped. sugges ting that its use was wide spread .
17
18
The later period also MW the introductio n of grt'a" I '~ fo r infan try, me tal greaves co m ing into vogue a ppa re n tly quite sudde nly in a round 1200 BC. The ad o ption of m e ta l grean.' s was p ro ba bly linked to the fan th a t thro ughout most of th e Mvce naean pe riod me n prot ec ted th e ir legs with lea the r ' spa ts' wh e n at wor k in the fields . Th e- bro nze greaves can not ha ve been very effective sinc e th ey were relatively thin, o ne ex ta nt pa ir being only 2mm thick; m ode rn experimen ts have sh own that eve n a thickness o f 3m m can be CUI thro ug-h entire ly with a slashing sword . Afte r the m iddle o f the 12th ce ntury BC preaves d isappe ar from th e arc haeological record, so it see ms tha t th eir use in the early part of th a t century' was a short-lived e xpe rimen t. The chara cte ristica lly Mycenaean boar's- tusk he lm e t re ma ined po pula r in th e la ter period , bu t new pauerns were also introduced . These arc kn o.... n as the ' horne-d h f'lm e t' an d the 'h edge ho!( helmet ', bo th terms being d erived from th e he lm eu' depicted appe arance . As we have no su rviving examples of these helm ets th e details of the ir co nstructio n a re unclear. Il is likel y, howev-er, that the )' we re formed from hard lea the r. Bo th the ' horn ed ' a nd the ' hed ge hog' hel me t a re wo ru by the o therwise id entically dresse d warriors portrayed o n the socalled "Var rior Vase' fro m .vrycenac, which is dated to about 1200 BC.
'Tho> Wa rrior Vauo': _
o f th..
most detailed depictions of Late M yeenaean soldiery,
this va se
s ho w s two units of s pe armen ....ad ing out o n cam p a ign . T oo wa rriors o n the side s ho w n h ere Wear 'horned h e lm ets', a n d on t he reverse Is a .. lm ildrl~ eq uipped Une o f w arrio.... wearing ' h e d g e hog h Alrnels '. (Cour1esy Na tional
A r<:haeological M u seu m , AthlH1sl
One of a pai r of bro....e grea..-
found in a t omb in ~ . It has noles aro und t ne edges through whtc:h bronze w ires were th readed fM attac: hment. tt d ales t o the e nd of the "'ye enae.an period. d"ri ng t l>e 12th century BC. lCooartn'l' Frofes SOl' Dr H..Q.B ud'lhotzl
The 'h o rn e d ' he lmet h as p roj ections at front an d rear wh ich come d own to protect th e b ro w an d the nape o f th e n eck , and an o th e r is drawn d own to protect th e temp le. There is also a c u rio us p roj ection o n to p of th e helme t, sim ila r in p ro file to a n axc hcad , 10 wh ich a flowing p lume is affix ed . The h elmet ta kes its n ame fro m th e fac t that two th in , curved h orns are sh o wn a ttac h ed :0 th e fro nt. \\ne ther o r not the 'h edge h o g ' h elm et was actuall y covere d with the spincd ski n of the an ima l is im possib le to know, but there is n o rea l reaso n to dismiss the id ea . The d ep ictio ns o f it on the Wa rri or Vase show it as being o f simple con ica l sh ape and con-red with sh ort sp ikes. It is o n ly from the la ter peri o d th a t evide nce is fo u nd fo r the ~Iyccn aean warrior using footwear. TIle so ld iers d e p ic ted on the ,rarrior Vase have cr oss-hatching on th e ir fee t. su ggestin g that they ale wearing sa n d als. T hi s is su pported by the dis covery at Mallia o t a m ode! of a sa n dalled fool. SKIRMISHERS & LIGHT INFANTRY
There are abou t as man}' d epictions of ligh ter type s of infa nt ry from the early pe ri od as there are of heaw in fantry n l is ~lIgg ...s t~ t ha t ligh t in fa n try played a sig n ifica n t rol e in :\Iycen aean wa r fa re . In al l exce pt o ne early example where light Iroops a ppear, he avy in fantrym e n are also associa ted with th e sce n e , suggesting th a t th e two troo p typ e s we re mutually su p p o rtin g one a n o ther in a tactica l con text. T h e lig h test warriors o f whic h we kn ow appear on the 'Siege Rh yto n ' fro m Grave Ci rcle A at :\Iycenae , whic h d a tes from the sec o n d h alf of the 16th ce ntu ry BC. Thes e warriors are interpre ted as being the ligh test troo p type ava ilable 10 the Mvcenaeans because th e)' arc actually n ake d . T h ey h ave n o defensive a rmo ur a n d no h e address, an d ca rry nothing but thei r weapons. Two weap o ns arc ShO\\11, the slin g- an d the bow; sin ce b o th arc missile weapoll s a n d the warriors ca rry ro sidcarms or C\UI d u bs . this stro n gly sugges ls that this l)p c o f fi~htin ~ 1I11' ll wen: no t intended '.0 e n ter in to h an d-TO-h an d com bat >- th at they we re , in fa ct, skirmishers. They are de p icted ti~hti n g- in a loose formation characteristic of skirmish infan try, An arch er can be seen be twee n a p air o f slin ge rs. an d two m o re behind them. suggesting th at th ese troops we re nol divi ded into separate un its based o n their armament b ut tha t all-p u rpose skirmish e rs we re gr ouped toge the r. T he fact th a t they a re fighting in a loose fo rmation is re in fo rce-d by th e in clus io n in the sce ne o f two heavy in fa n trym e n . with tower sh ields an d lo ng spea rs, sta nd in g in what cannot be interp reted as a nyt hi ng o th e r than a 'sh ou lde r-tosh o uld e r' formatio n . Wh e re th ese h eavyspea rmen
19
the cup. On the fe'latiYeIy 'a rge
"land in relatio n to the swarm o r skirmiahc ra i, also sign tncane th ey a re d rawn up be h in d th e m . This fits wi th th e n o nna l tactical role o f skirmishers, which is to rover th e fro n t o f th e main battle lin e a n d harass the o p poSing b attle lin e with mi ssiles, in orde r to break u p or d isorde r t he o p posin g fo rmatio n p rio r to co ntact with th e 'friend lv' h ea vy infantry, This tacti c was rc u tine in later an cient warfare , bu t th is d ep iction sh ows that it was also kn own an d emplo yed in th e Aegea n as early as the 16th ce n tury BC. There is a lso a figu re o f wh a t is p ro b a b ly a skirm isher 0 11 a n inl ai d d agge r fr om Myce na e. He wea rs th e rypic alloinc lo th o r sh o rt kilt a lso wo rn by h is h eavily a rm e d com ra des. H i.. o lll} \\capu lI ls a sho rt b ow, \ "Cl)' simi la r to th o se carried by the skir mishe rs o n the Sie g-e Rh yto n. a n d hi s pose is also H'ry sim ila r to th os e wa r rio r s, As in the Sie ge Rhvto n sce n e , ' fr ie n dly' h eavy in fan trym e n a re asso cia ted with t he a rch er, In th e inlaid d agger scen e the a rc h er is the th ir d fig- u re ba ck fro m the ' enemy' (who is d epicted a s a lio n ) , The warrio r s in fro nt o f h im ar e heavy infa n trym en , o f ....th o rn th e re is a no th e r beh in d the arch e r. The a rch e r is th e refore su ppo rtin g th e he avy infa n try, as o n th e Siege Rhvt o n . The fac t th at thi s Figure we ars tile sa me cl o th in g as th e hea vy infan try mi g ht sugJ;"est that h e is m o r e o f a ' re gu la r' th an th e n a ked ski rmi sh ers o f th e Siege Rhytc n .
frag m ent (rig ht) can be seen n..aked bowmen and sli ngers
Archers
s kl nnlshlng , as w el l as a ' unit' of tw o infant ryme n w ith t ow er shields.. Fro m the c ity wa ll s people appe.... to be throwing missile s lit the enemy. (After S.Chapmlln)
From the Myce n ae an period three main typ e s of bow a re known: a sim p le wooden 'self' bow made of a single stave of wood: a sin ew-ba cked bo w, Le , reinforced with sin ew glued to the back :0 prf'\'e nt b rea kage an d to increase th e bow's cast: and a co mposite bow, ....-hic h comb ines layers of horn, woo d a nd sin ew to cre ate a wea pon wi th a ba lance of
Th ese si mp le g rea ves fou nd at De ndra date to the early 14th centu ry BC, w hich makes them late r t han the suit of annour roun d .. I Lh......"'.. " it.... T h e y ... e cons t ruc t ed of ve ry thin bro nze pl at e. (After Astroml 'Th e Siege Rhyton' - a drawing o f the surviving fragm ents of
20
stre ngth under ten sile and compressivc forc es which provid es a hi~hly e tncre nt transfer of the e ne rgy stored in m e fully drawn bow. T he wooden se lf how is th e simplest and old es t fo rm . Since the earliest direct evide nce for woode n bows and arrow shahs da tes to the late Uppe r Pa laeol ithic pe riod (before c. 1O,550 BC) in Euro pe, a nd possibly to th e C ppt~ r Palacolithic an d Na tufian pe riods (c.l 0,550-8,0':,0 BC) in the Leva nt, we can he sure tha t they were also th e first type used in II H" A pgf' ;l1l , a nrl probabl y r-ame in to II S~ rh e-re <'1 1about the sam e t.me . T he sh ort wooden how is difficult to shoo t well, since sma ll variatio ns in draw le ngth lead to a great variation in arrow flight and velocity. A wooden lon gbow, measuring 6ft or m ore, sh oots bette r an d mo re evenly, but because o f its len gth im po ses a relative lack of manoeuvrability on the arc her. It is therefore llO accide n t that the appearance of a mo re accu rat e, re liable and manoeuvrable t}VC- the composite bow - can he clearly do cum ente d soon after the in trod uction of equid-d rawn carts in Meso p otam ian war fare ill the m id 3rd m illennium BC, an d following the appearan cc of h ors e-drawn chario ts in Egyp t an d the Levant a thousand yea rs late r. It is worth noting here that the sin gle depiction wc have in Myccnacan an of a n archer/ chario t co m bination is date d to this vel)' pe r iod (i.c. 16th ce ntury BC) , an d comes fro m an elite grave at Mycc n ac. T h is may te ll us two th ings. Firs tly, assumi ng th a t the Mycenaeans ac tua lly use d this combination , even if only fo r hu n tin g. it shows tha t th ey were fam iliar with th c latest tech nologi cal inuovatiu ns wh ich we re occurring in the contempora ry cultures of Egyp t a nd th e Levan t. Although the hfycenaean depictio n shows th e bow-armed chariot in a stag hu nt, at thi s time it was already be ing used m mant' in war fa re by th e Egyptians a nd I Ivksos.
Thl$ t 6th eentury BC g old slg nel ..... ., bea n the only
known depict io n 01 a Mycenaean bow-anned chariote-er. This is a hunting see ne , however, and a $ $ u<:h s hould not be regarded as evi dence that this c ombination . lIS use d iro My c en aea n . lI rlare. (Courtesy National Are haeol09l c al Mu seum , Athens)
21
~ m p l e" of early Myeenaean nint and obsidia n arn:>whead". of tangO!'d and recessed fo nns,
'rom various " ites i" Myo;anaea" Greece, a nd dating from between 2 150 and 1500 BC. Such arrowheads continued to be
used by ev en wealtl1y ""itfriors
....t.en b ronze had come into common use. Note th e va ry s killed "" orkma nshlp and I!lr tis tic fo nns of many in t he lower rows . (Courtesy Profe8ll or Or
.! ~ 1
J\' ~
H-G .Bu chholzl
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m
'"
JU
-"7
JU
"-
Jio"
A A •
m
m
,..
'"
JY ~
.l9 ~
m
m
'x
'" Secondly, sin ce the bow-ar m ed chariot wa s historically cor uempo ra neo us with the com po site bow, fo r r eas ons noted above. it suggests tha r the Mycenacan ch a rio t bowm an W
22
it
is only h alf drawn, b ut looks as if it .....ould beco m e se m i-
circular when fully d rawn . funher in creasin g th e likelih ood th a t it is supposed to be a com posite bow. Th e large grip vi sible o n thi s depictio n i s also a feature charact e ristic of composite bows a nd not foun d o n plain woode n stave bows. The Siege Rhyto n from Myce nae also shows bowmen. It is mo re difficult to suggest the type of how thes e warriors are using, du e to the vcry
san p ltsuc uea une ut. TI U:: <-!C
long bow. The fact tha t the bowmen are naked and in loo se form at ion tha t they are poor irregular troo ps who would presuma bly ann themselves with the chcapcst rcpc of weapon, the self bow. The arche r portrayed on an inlai d dagge r from the sa me grave as the above two artefacts is rela tively detai led an d less abstracted tha n th e other d ep icti ons, but de te rminin g the type o f bow shown i..still difficult. What is immediately noticeable is that it is quite small, whi ch in itself is an ind ication th at it is supposed to be a co mposite bow. The curve of the 00....·, although only half dra....'n . also loo ks like th a t of a co m po site bow, making this the mos t likely type . T his suggests that th e mo re ' regula r' skirmis hcr bowm en such as th is one migh t haw be en better a rm ed with compo site bows than th eir poorer. irregu la r com rades; it is even po ssible that the se bows were issued by th e palace milita ry organ ization . Turning to th e arro ws the mselves. the re is ample evide nce in the form of su bstan tial finds of arrowheads in several Myccna ca n s.tes. Alth ough bronze arrowheads became wid espread with th e developmen t of bro n ze-working tech n ol ogy. Flint an d obsidia n a rrowh eads presumably relatively cheap e r a nd more ex pendable - contin ued to be used alongside bronze down to abo ut 1400 BC. Unfortunately, a rrowheads ca nno t be used to form a chronological t:.p olot,')' on the basis of their fo rms. in the way tha t po tte ry. fo r e xample, ofte ll ca n . H istorical a nd e thnographic evide nce has shown that it was usua l fo r mili tary archers to ca rry seve ral d ifferent typ es of a rr o ws in their quivers a t on ce, so tha t they cou ld use heavy OiITOWS a t short ra nge to pierce a rm our; or lighter a rrows to ha rass an ene my a t lon g ran ge . s llggesL~
Developmerot of A egearo
arrowhead s, diagram o f types , EH/EM = 2500-2150 BC MH/MM = ' 1~ _ 1 f'i,f'i,n RC LHlLM I .
1 55~1500
se
LH /LM 11 .. 15 0 0-1400 BC LHlLM III A= 140 0-1 3 0 0 BC lHILM III B " 13 00-1 200 BC LHILM III C " . 200-11 00 BC (Cou rtesy Profe ssor Dr H-G,B u e h helz)
I
Pre-Pottery
N eo lithic Ceramic N eolithic
EH /EM MH/MM ,
,,
lH/lM I
~~~~ ~~ !j
lH/lM IT lH/lM illA lH/LM ill B lH/lM ill C Types:
1
~~ 4 Ij I 23
I
.-
Tan ged projecti le po int s. Th ese were simply c ut fro m bronze plate, . The two ~ st po;nb may be lig ht j avel in !le ads. (C The Tr\.
Museuml
Becau se flint co n tinue d to be use d for a rro whea ds even when th e me of bron ze was wides pread . it is a lso unconvincin g to crea te a ch ro nology o n the basis of wh a t arr o ws we re made of. The o nly rema ining m ea ns o f de termin ing th e relative age o f a -rowh ead s is th ro ug h strarigraphic dating {i.c. the sol level in wh ich the a rtefac t wa s fo und }, and suc h
reco rd s a r e often in com p le te . Attemp ts to di stin guish betwe en arrowheads a nd poi n ts assu me d to be j avelin head s fo und in th e same asse m blage. solely 0 11 the bas is of a rbitrary' size and weigh t lim its, must also be avoided in the abse nce of supportin g e vidence. whe the r made fr om bron ze or stone , t he re are thre e basic m ethods by which Aegean arr owheads were fixe d to th e shafts: by mean s o f a tan g, a recesse d base o r a so cke t Natu rally, sockc red a rrowheads are onlv made fro m metal, sin ce the sockcting of he ads \\'<\5 ma de possible by adva nces in m eta l cas ting techniques. Tanged and reces sed-based arrowhea ds a re found in both bro nze a nd sto ne examp les. T hese types of a r ro wheads see m to have been sign ifica ntly mo re nume ro us tha n the socken- d v :.I n p'}" pe rh ap s fo r eco nom ic re ason s, U nlike so ckct ed
2.
arrowheads, which had to be cast in special moulds, ranged or r ecessedba se arro wheads were sim ply cu t o ut of bron ze pla te. One o f th e earliest types o f a rro wh ead ....'as also the lo ngest-used . T hese were made from bro n ze pla te . tria ngular, ....i th a v-shaped rec essed base whic h formed ba rbs when at ta ch ed to the shaft This type was use d fro m c. 2~OO BC right down to th e e nd of the Myce nacan
The 'o altlft ,n thft Gl ftn' nng t ro m Mycenae, 16th c ent ury BC, Thi s is an interesting c omposit ion, show ing tw o swordsme n In c omba t wh il e .. spe arm an remains on thfl d flt fln Sn.. behind h is to_ shie ld . Note th
period. It is perhaps no coincidence that this was one of the o ld est and lo nges t-servin g bronze l}pes, since it .....ould have been th e eas iest to produce in large n u mbers, and th us the most suitable fo r large scale issue to soldie rs. It m igh t he logi cal to su p pose tha t th e cas t b ro nze a rr owheads which ca me into use fmm abou t 1500 BC onwards wou ld haec be e n e mployed ma-nly by th e upper classes o f warriors. In fact , however, mos t of th e flint an d o bsidian arrowhe ads kno wn to us .....ere fo u nd in the \'el")' ric h buri a s o f elite wa rrio rs. Sto ne a rr owheads fell ou t of use afte r a bout 1100 BC. Light infantry swordsmen
In additio n to skirmishers, th ere is also picto ria l evidenc e th a t th e vlycc nacans e m pl oyed a form o tba ule fie ld ligh t in fa n try, To d e fine our ter ms, light infan try are a type of tro o ps tha t fit so me.....he re be tween heavy infan try and skirmishers in te rm s o f a balanc e be twe en mobilire, p ro te ction an d offe nsive val ue. T hev are ge ne ra lly capa ble o f figh ting e ithe r in m asse d units or as skirmishers. Lig h t in fantry were us e ful to a ncien t armies fo r several r easo ns. Th e ir fle xibi lity o f e mpl oyme nt m ean t th at they could fill th e tactical ga p be tween (in th is ca se ) the m assed heavy infan try and the ve lY Lg h t sktrm tsh e rs. Be ca use ligh t infantry ar e so metim es required to figh t in m assed formations , they n eed to be more capable o f sn stam tng hand-to-hand co mbat th an skirmishers, who a re sup posed to eva de close combat. T his h an d-to-h and ca pab ility, coupl ed with th eir a bility to operat e in lo ose formatio ns, made lig h t infantry per fec t fo r fi ~h tin ~ over broke n or m ou ntainous te rrain, and one ca n e asily understand why the Gr eeks wou ld have fo u nd such tro o ps useful, give n the landscape o f the regio n. H e il\ Y in fa n t'}' a rt" u n euued
TO
fig h tin g f)w'r h rn k" n , oW' ry,r nw n or
Sl e ep
g rou nd be ca use o f the d ifficulty o f ma noeuvr in g in close o rder forma tio n in such te rrain , and beca use o f th e non-lin ea r na tu re of co mba t im posed 1»" such a n e n vi ron me n t. Ve ry lig:ll skirmishe rs a re sufficie n tly ma no euvrable to d e ploy in suc h cond itions with e ase , bUI becaus e of their lack o f m Hc e weapons a nd a rm o u r are u nsuitable if it is d esire d to d os e with th e e ne m y.
25
26
Th e earliest pic tori al evide nce for Mycenaean use of lig-ht infantry comes fro m the 16th century BC Shah Graves a t Mycenae . T his is in the fo rm of a cylind e r seal and a rin g, of which both seem to show a similar type of ligh t in fa ntry swordsma n. Tu rn in g first to the cylinde r seal, (he sce ne de picts a wa rrio r weari ng th e c ba rar-te-risric kilr an rl armed with a long, straigh t sword , stabbin g a heavy in fa ntrym an in th e th roat ove r the to p rim of the la tter's figu re-of-eight sh ield. Thi s scene vividly de picts the reaso n th at light infantry cou ld be useful against heaw infa nt ry: th e swordsma n has ma naged to g<-' t past the heavy infa ntryman 's spea r point, leavi ng the latter a t the me rcy o f h is more agi le oppone nt. This swo rdsma n is obvi ously ' lighte r' than his adversary; because he does
ABOV E Thi s fine ivory milTO r handl e tmm Cyprus is int eresting bec:ausll it portrays a eem men My c enaean motif, t h" t ot a s w ord sm an slayi ng 11 li on . Dating to around the 13th cent ury BC, this depiction Show " thal t he appea ranc e or Myc:en aun sw ordsmen d id not a lt e r mu ch throu gh out t he peri od . lCourtesy Dir e<:tor of Departmen t of Antiquit ie s, Cyp rus) ABOVE LEFT Lat er Myc enaea n dagg_s, da lo d 10 between 1400 and 1100 BC . La t er weapons s l>Ch as t ne- am c haract eriz ed by their one-piece c onslnJct>on and wide b lades. 1l'Iey would originallt have had inlaid grips of wood or bone. (Courtesy Professor H-G.B uchhol z)
not carry a shield. He cann ot be a skir-mixbe-r, be ca use h e does not have a m issile weapon and is e nga ged in d ose com ba t with a heavy infan trym a n . Th e fa ct th at a l.gtu infan tr yman was given suc h pro m inence in ar t as to be sh own slaying a h eavy sp ca rma n su ggests tha t ligh t infa ntry we re respe cted in Myce naca n war fare; o n th is seal the ligh t s....'o rd sma n is clearly th e ' hero ' of th e sce ne. Histo rica lly, more often than not, the ligh ter the troop type , the poorer an d less respe cted ti ll::,. were; a nd apan from their lowly soc ial stat us, skirrnishc rs who did not close with the ene my were sometim es regarded as using cowa rdly or 'dir ty' ta ctics - that was how Classical Greek ho plitcs saw light tr oops.
Ttte fresco " _....nt lrom ~ ean
I( nossos., 1450-1 400
BC, n amed 'Th e Captllln of the Bl a cks ' a cent ury ago. This shOws what ap pear.;.; to be a Gntek javelinman le ading a unit ot African mercena.ws; the main figure 's sk in colour ... brown,. t hat 0' t l>e o thet' logoure, black . The yellow/or an ge 'k ilt ' ha S a blac k and white b ord er. {Cou rt e sy A shm olea n Muse um '
27
F~
from
~os.
13th century skinnish ~ Myeena~ tight Infa mry and ·ba ~ '. Th is shows the Pyli;on 1igh1 inf antrymen in very unifonn d ~S. The s lTaps acroaa t heir chests ani for the sword scabbard , and note dult on e c arries a spear. The 'k il U, ' ha ve a bl ac k over1ay, p roba bly of leath er. See Plate F. (Co urtasy Department of Class ic s, Un "'er slty of Cincinn;otl)
Bc., d ep icting a
28
Th e evidence from th e Mvcenaean world , ho weve r, con tradict... this attitude; it even see ms th a t lig h t swo rd sme n actually enjo yed hi gher status th a n the speannen of th e line , be in g regarded as 'ch am p ions ' (promarhm). In Mycenaean depictions light infantrv are portrayed with respect fo r th eir bravery, an d given a promine nce that $ugges b that they wer e an integral pa rt of the army as a whole. An other and sim ila r depiction of this type of light in fantrym a n ca n be see n on the so-called 'Battle in th e Gle n ' rin g. Like the previous exam pl e, it co m es fro m a Shaft Grave at Mycenae an d is dated to the second half of th e l fith ce ntury BC. H er e too a swordsman is de picted in a heroic lig ht. Th e sce ne sh ows, on the left, a fa llen man - no weapon o r anTum r i~ visible , bu t he is p robably a warrior. A ce ntral fig ur e i'l arm ed wi th what ap pea rs to be a sho rt swo rd or lo ng dagger, a nd wea rs a kilt and a bo a r's-tu sk hel me t. This warri o r is about to stab anothe r swordsma n , who i> kneeling and trying to sta b hi!> atta cker wit h a lo ng stra igh t swo rd; thi , m an also wea rs a helmet, though it does n o t appear to be of th e boar 's-tusk t}pe. At far righ t is a heavy in fan trym an wi th a towe r sh ield, long spear and boa r's-tusk helmet. adopting a defe nsive
postu re. This S(."(.'II{' is Int eresti ng in th at it sh ows ( WO ligh t infantrymen in combat against on e an o ther with th e heavy infantrym an m o re o r less on th e sidelines. Due to th e specific su bj ec t ma tte r o f th is scene , it p ro bably d e p icts a lo ng-lo st sto ry o r myth ; h oweve r, it is still a \'er;- use ful d e p ictio n of \ l ycenaean light in fa n try. It sh ows th a t they co u ld wear h el mets, a nd if so-ne rea lly di d wear th e boar's-rus k typ e it re in fo rces th e id ea th a t th ese troo ps ha d a relatively h ig h status. Tha t th ey wear helmets bu t d o not carry sh ields is in kee p in g with th e ne eds of th e ligh t in fa n trym a n to have so me protection while needing ( 0 re ma in lightly equ ipped a nd mobil e . T h e p resen ce o f a h e avy in fantrym an in th e sce n e fu rther sup ports th e like lih ood th a t ligh t in fa n try worked in su p port of a n d in conj u nction wi th heavy in fan try, It a lso sh ows tha t ligh t In fa n-rv sometimes con fron ted each other, wh ich is understan dable if both . .ides Mere us ing the sa me tactical doctr ine . T he we apons shown in the hands of these wa r rio rs a re also characterist ica lly Mycenaean , i.e. the lo ng, straigh t stabbi ng sword an d th e sturdy dagger o r short sword . It m ay even be possibl e to id entify the swo rd types used in th e se d epictions fro m actual examples. For exa mple. the long , straigh t sworrl h eld by th e kneeling warrior in rh c Battle in th e Glen ring cou ld he th e so-ca lled Sandars Type A, o nc of whi ch was ac tually found in th e same gra\'c circl e as th e ring , a n d is of conte m porary d a te, The swo rd being wielded by the swo rds ma n O il th e cylin d e r seal fro m th e Sh aft Grave has a ye ry dis tinctively sh a ped h ilt , which looks \'ery' close to th a t o f the Sandars Type CII swo rd. H oweve r. (his presents a ch ro nological p ro b lem: m e CIl swo rd is date d to around 1400 BC, whereas the seal is from th e se co n d half of th e 16th ce n tury' BC. Perh aps th is seal is evidence th at th is pa llt' nI o f swo rd was in trod u ced m u ch earlier th an was p revi o u sly tho ugh t. TI le type o t's hort. wide-blad e d d agger with wh ich th e other swo rd sm an o n th e Ba ttle in th e Glen ri ng is armed was a co mmo n Myce n aca n weilpo n , as a ttested by n um ero us fin d s in th e Aegean regi on. A th irrl p n",,,,ih lf' j'x;\m pll' o f rhi ", r}lw o f wa rri o r i s rle p iCl e rl 011 ar- cuhcr 161h centu ry cylinder seal fro m Mvceuae , al th o ug h - sin ce he is d epi cted fig h ting a lio n - h e is stric tly speak in g a h.uuer ra th er th a n a warrio r. H oweve r, h e is a rm ed and dresse d ex a ctly th e sam e as the parallel ex am pl es discussed above . He is not weari n g a helm e t. Like th e r ing d isc usse d above , th is scene p robably relat es to z story or myth , and th is id ea is supported by the d epiction o f a very sim ila r sce n e o n a n ivory m ir ro r h a ndle fro m aro und 1200 BC. T h e similari rv o f the pose of both man an d lio n in bo th de p ictio ns, th ou gh [OUT cen tu ries ap art, is striking. Alternatively, th e lio n may be a sym bol of ' the e n e my'.
Tactic a l implications T he most like ly tactica l me o f such sword sm e n as d epicted on the Shaft G rave goo ds was as a kind o f ligh t infarrrrv wh ich foughc aga in sl, a nd in conjunction with , th e h e avy in fa nt ry. T h ey see m to haw h eld a relat ively h ig h sta tus , partly bec ause they went in to battle wi th out shields and too k on heavy in fa n try (an d, most likel y, c hariot" too ) . They wo ul d h aw been most e ffe c tive if ga th e red in fa irly large u n it" in a lo ose , ye t o rganize d forma tion. Xot being 'sc re e n ing' troo ps like skirmish crs, they wo uld n eed to be in massed units in o rd e r ( 0 h aw enough solid ity a n d impetus
29
El engage effe ctive ly in melees wtrh heavier infa ntry, T h ey would have been extremely effect ive against disorde red hcaw in fa n try'. breaking into the lauer's form a tion and cutting it apart. If hcavv infanuv were f.cei ng. a tim el y rush by a fresh unit of light swo rdsm en wo u ld be ab le to outrun th e m with le th al re sults. Another like ly deploym ent mig h t have bee n to guard the Fla nks ofthe main hea w infan try battle lin t' from en e my attac ks - one o f th e main h istorical ro ll' s o f light in fan t ry, both in Orcc cc a nd els ewh ere , sin ce a closely ordered bat tle lin e of heavy infantry' is inh eren tly vulnera ble to flan k attack. III su mmatio n , u.c sc s·....o rd sm en wo uld have p layed an importan t ro le in ~lyc en aeall war fare, wh ich m ay also expla in their p romi nence in the a rt istic record.
Jav e li nmen Bes id es swo rd sm en , th e so-cane d 'Ca p tain o f th e Blacks ' fresc o from
Myccnacan Knossos sh ows a no ther t)PC of lig h t infantry - j aveli nmen. The fr esco fra gment sh ows a runulng ma n in th e u sual mal e Flesh colou r of redd ish-bro wn , but also th e u p p{'r leg" o f an oth er nian with black skin , as well as a fr agment of th e latter's hea d. Sir Anh ur [van s, excavator of
30
Knossos . saw th e brown (i.e . Gree k) war-rio r as the offi cer o f what h e be lieve d 10 have h t' c'!l a li n s- o f Afri c a n m e rc enaries. h e n ce rh e n ame given to th e fresco , h was co m mo n in a n cie n t wa rfa re for j avel inmeu to ca rry two light javelins (Mvce n a ean . pil laja) . The main figure 011 th e fresco carries j us t such a pair of ligh t javelins and this. coupled with h is lack of an y armo ur, id entifies h im as a light in fa ntrym an. Be in g so armed h e could tech n ically b e a skirm ishcr: but th e a ppeardnce o f th e bl ack-skin ned ma n 's te g dose behm d h im , weari ng a sim ila r ki lt a nd in the sam e pose , sugg ests that the two a rc p art o f z. unit and in an o rd ered form at ion , Th e black warrio r show n on [he fre sco fragm ent is gene rally cal led a Nubi a n m erce n ary. Ap a r t from 11'.(' skin co lo u r, the o ther r eason fo r this is the t.....o feathers wh ich can he se e n in th e ha.r of bo th the G reek a nd the African be hi nd h im. Some have in te rpret ed the warriors as wea ri n g a ' h ri <,rly h al ' with horns, bUI lh is lo o ks ra th e r mo re like the warrior's hair; ancient depictions o f Nubians do not sh o w them " 'caring h orned h a ts. but e ithe r le a rn er caps o r head bands wi th one o r two stan d in g feathers. Nubians wore re n own ed as good light tr o o p s an d were e m p loye d as me rce n ari es by th e Egyptians. T h e most likely inter p re tati o n of the fres co is th erefore th at it shows a u n it of Xuhian javchu m en . wean n g native headd re ss a long with a Myce n acan kilt. 'i h ey arc le d b y a Gree k officer, wh o wears th e Nu b ia n feathers as a bad ge of h is uni t an d 10 tden ufy h im a s th e ir o ffi cer. The re is a lso a n o th e r obscure fresco fragme nt from ~ I rcenac.'an Kno ssos (c a lled b} Eva n s 'Wa r rio n; H ur ling j avelins'} , showing what are probably j aveli n -armed ligh t in fa n try. T here arc several sim ilarit ies be tween this and the fr e sco discussed above, wh ich in rlica re tha t j avelin a rmed liHh t infantry we re a n actual troo p typ e , n il' two frescoe s a rc.' pain ted qui re d iffere ntly, sh ow ing that th ey d o n o t co me from th e same sce ne. Some o f th e: war ri o rs in the \ \'arno rs H urlill t{ j avelins fresc o are wearin g white ' n e cklaces ' o f the same tn)e a s th e Capta in of th e Blacks, an d all arc wea ri ng til l' sa m e kil t. T h ey are portrayed in a rather de nsely pa cked u n it, hurling j avel in s upwa rds at abo ut a l:l----deg ree angle, p ossibly a t an e lle m y banlemem o r perh a p s over tin.' h ead .. of o ther
infantry. T h e re is also what can only be an officer standing with a lo ng staff o r- javelin. All th is su ggests th at th ey are ligh t infan try of the same Mvcen ae a n troo p type as the suppose d Nubians; however, they a re not Africans but a G ree k unit. Changes from c.1300 BC
Dep ictio n s fro m the la te r Myce naean period are conspicuous fo r th e p r ed omina n ce of lig h te r equ ipped warriors. Un like th e h eavy in fa n try, later Myce n aean li gh t infantry d id n o t undergo an y r adical tran sformati ons in their equipment or tactical doctrine. T he short explanatio n fo r th is is th at th ey d id n ot n ee d to : it was the cu m b erso me h eavy in fantry th at needed to become m ore mob ile to confront changing enemy tactics, n o t the alre ady well-d evel op e d light infantry. H owever, th ere are so me notab le changes in their d ress an d eq u ip m en t that firs t ap p ear d uring th is la ter period. Many Mycenaean ligh t infan tr ymen in th is p eri o d wore a tunic, p robably of linen. T h is garmen t was sbo rt-stee ved , cu t to la pel' in aro u n d th e waist and then fla re out agai n, a n d ex tended to just above th e knee . Another garmen t wo rn by th e lig h t in fan try of the p a lace o f Pylos was a white cloth kilt , with a protective leat h er ove rlay r ill so rhat its ends fo r med pointed tassels h anging d own . La te r Mvcenaean ligh t tro o p s also common ly wo r e lin en greaves, tie d at th e a n kle a nd
Gravestone f rom a 16th century BC shaft grave in the Mycenaean citadel. This is one of the earliest depictions of the chariot in Mycenaean art, and shows a box chariot riding down an enemy swcrceman, (Counesy National Ar chaeological Museum, Athens)
below th e knee a nd re in fo rce d m-e r th e sh tns. T he boar 's-tus k helmet re ma ined popular; a fresco from Pylos de picting ligh t infa ntrym en armed ....-irh ~pear and swo rd fighting 'barba rians' sho ws the troops all we a ri n g th e MOle pattern of boar's-tus k helmet. De pictio ns of later light infantry sh ow th e m armed with a sword . an d a sh o rt spea r or j avelin . The swo rdsm en continued to carry th e ir weapon in a scabbard worn from a shoulder belt. Although th ere ar e no depictions of later arch e rs , th ei r exis te nce is att ested by th e dis covery of mall Y m ass-p ro d uc ed arro whead s at Pvlo s. Like wise there is no p icto rial evidence (or ar chae ological , for that m atte r ) fo r stingers in th e later Myccnac an army. However, a n expl anation fo r th is may be that sling-cl'S we n: recruited from th e civilia n population wh e n the need arose an d sup plie d their own weapon , as in th e early period. CHARIOTRY
The Greeks were quick to adopt th e chariot for IL'e in warfa re. In th e 16th ce ntury BC. m-er little more tha n a hund red years , th e spoked-whcct wa r chario t became fam iliar in a n area extending from Greece 10 Ind ia , and fro m south RIL,,-, ia to Egyp t. TI le apparent abruptness of ti lls widespread appearance. a nd th e d OS{' ,i m i1:l riry in fn nn berwe en chario ts over the whole area at the beginning of the La te Bronze Age. has long encouraged the view tha t th e ir sp read m us t be atrrib u red \ 0 a specific people. In fact, thi s was th e seco nd , nOI the first na ge in a process of innova tio n a nd diffusion in wh ich ~ any fa ctors ar e still obscu re . Wh at we do kno w is that the fully d evelo ped war chario t is sho wn o n severallate 16t h ce n tu ry BC gravesto nes fro m Myccnac, as we ll as on a ri n g fo und in one of th e Shaft Graves. Llns IS r o ug hly the same time th a t it a ppea re d in Egypt. Although most probably d iffused from th e v ea r East a fte r the Middle Bronze Age (c. 192>0-1550 BC) , as a result of xtyce nae's likely tra d e co ntacts with tha t re gio n , no single e thnic o r linguistic group see ms to haw bee n the m aste r innovator in the history uf ho rse-drawn chariotry in the Near Eas t. In te resti ngly, unlike most Mvccn aean mili ta ry .r-chnn lngy. ' he ch<'l riOl does not seem to have com e to th e m ainla nd via Cre te . but th e ot her way a round; it was not u nt il th e mid- Ifith ce ntury.' BC th a t it appea rs o n th a t island , listed on th e Mycc naean Linea r B tablets. The Aegean char iot
whenever possible, the baul cgro und chose n by Mycen aca n armies was a re lati vely level and open are a o n which o pposing fo r ces could a rray the mse lves. Du e to the se t-pie ce, line ar n atu re of an cient wa rfa re th ere was no q uestion of an ex te nded fron t over un p repar ed gro und . Th e reaso n fo r this W'L' sim ply th a t if one side offered battle on te rrai n which wo uld se rio usly ham per the ad versa ry's a billw ( 0 use h is troo ps etfecuvelv, th e adve rsa ry would re fuse battle. n "" pitl: the apparently b ru tal simplicity o f such confronta tions. they did involve q uite complex calculatio ns which took into ac coun t various factors such as tin-e restrictio ns, th e ultimate o bjectives of the particular cam pa ign. lin es of co m mu ni ca tio n, and eve n weath e r; The basic goal was to fo rce the en e my into baule o n te rrain th at was di sad va n tageo us to them. Th e fact th at banles were fo uzht o n r- hose r; a round rather than 32
(CoJll i lllm l Im 1"'1<' 4l )
-
.,.ARLY INFANTRY, c. 1500 BC
1 : Tho'!ora.n he avy spa
2: Sw«dMlan
- "
3: Heavy speannan
i. .
;.-
A
B
~-"--
EARLY MISSILE TROOPS , 16th- 15th CENTURIES BC 1: Regular arche r, 16th century BC 2: Irregu lar slinger, 16th cent ury BC 3: Nub ian mercenary javeli nman , 1 45O-~'<7'_ .
-
,
.-
-.
c
D
f
PYlIAN 'U
GHT INFAN TRY & 'BA R BARIAN S' , c.1250--1200 . _ BC
--
. light
eS
•
3: ~ <~'--r; "' 1-( """"""" \
F
i
"
'
RAIL CHARIO
~.
I: Charlou- T. e.1 2S0-1 150BC
2: Spearman
G
1: Mounted_warrioc. (;:1200 BC
i:
Mycena&a n woman
a
• H
randomly is important to the understan d ing of the use of th e cha rio t in :'o.1}"cenaean warfare. Alth ough no one can cred ibly argue that c ha riots were not used m masse in the contempora ry armies of the Near East. man y have a rgu ed that th e}' could not have been used in a similar ....-ay in Greece. o n the grounds tha t Gree ce 's terrain is too mountain ous to accom moda te tactics developed on the broad, flat plains of th e Xear East. This argumen t is u nconvincing for several re-asons. It is true th at chariots only work effe ctively on relatively open ground; bu t a study of the topograph y surround ing important Mycenacan and Minoan centres shows that they all bord e r plains. Mycenae and Tiryns have the Argive Plain . P)'IO!i the Messcn ia n Plain . Phaestos the Plain of Messara , and so forth. These level areas d id not h avc to be as large as those of th e Nea r East to be suitable ba ttlegrounds, be cause the armies Involved would o nly have ta ken up a rela tively limited a mount of spACe. While th e Myce naea ns had im mediate access to am ply-sized plains just outside the gates of th eir citadels, the fact remains that these plain s were still ge nerally rougher, rocki er and mo re broke n than those of th e Nea r East. H owever. the Mycenacans evidently did not le t this stop the m fro m w ing massed cha riots; the y simply made their chariots heavier and more robust than the-ir ligh t Egyp tian and Near Eastern conte m po ra ries. The Aegean chari ot, fro m its earliest d epictions at .\treenae in the 16th cen tury BC and through ou t the Myce naean period, kept the fou r-spoked ....h eels seen on other cha riots . but made the m stronge r and more robust, a ch aracte ristic visible when con-pared with, for insta nce, Egyptia n cha riots. The draug ht pol e was strengthened by a wooden suppor t with
t 3th centuly BC fresco from PyIos showWig a dual chariot in
use On the later period. Although of an ok! type, this e:um ple
appea .... _
lightly
_n..
b ucteo!
than earty dual c hariots; perhaps it w as now used more for transporting infantry than c harg ing - the spearmlln
marching behind the ch.ariot is the kind of warrior who would ride in it. Note the waisted tunics c n.r-rteri3tH; of cMpOc;ti0n5 of l a t ~ tn>op$:
and the boa.....tusk helmets., both wittI
neck guards, one with a knob at
the ape" aod one with a curved tusk. (Courtesy Department of Cl assics, University of Cincinnati)
41
\
Fragments of a cera mic vessel from Tiryns,late 12 th cent ury BC, appa re ntl y showing , a il c hll r iots. In the ch ariot t o the tight, part of an infantrym an with a round shield and $pellr ca n De se en ri ding with th e dri ller. These were t he last type of My<;:en aean c hariot to '" IISeCl and were o f t he l>ghl est c onstruction. (Courtesy NaupUa Museu m)
42
c ross-b rac ing. It is possible tha n this cha ra c te ristically Ae gean sec o nd shaft ex te nd ed bac kwards as an in teg ra l pa rt of th e struc ture of the cab. If the se ch ari ots had only be en em ployed to drive the e lite alo ng th e Mycenaean ro ad system, there would have been no ne ed fo r such stre ng th en in g. Th ro ug hout th e Myccnaean p e riod o nl y the two-h o rse c ha rio t was use d , but va rio us types a re di stinguish able. The ea rliest typ e that ap pear.; in th e Myce nacan perio d is te rm ed the box ch a rio t, who se period o f use was c.1550-H 50 BC. It is so named be ca use th e cab was bas ically box-shaped. ha ving a more or less rectangular p rofil e . Its side s rose u p to h ip hei ght o r so m ewh a t lo we r and wer e covered ....tith sc re e ni n g m a te ri al . po..."ihly wir-ke-rwo. rk . Al t h o ugh this type of c hariot is of orienta l origin, its proto types appearin g o n Syri an seals o f the 18th- 17th centuries BC. it a lready displays typica lly Aegean fea tu re s. The d ual ch ari o t, used c.1450--1200 BC (with possible ex te nsio ns at ei ther e nd o f that tim e ran ge ) , is so nam ed be cause its cab co nsis ted o f two d istinct parts: the cab proper, and cu rved exte nsions o r 'wings' ad d ed to th e sides at the rear. The floo r was Dehaped, p robably being m ade of inte rwoven leather thongs which would have served as a kind o f suspension syste m fo r the occ upan ts. The sid ing extended around the fron l a nd sides and ro se to appro ximately hip he ight. The curved side proj ections may have mo re clums ily served the sam e p urpose as the sweeping handrail fo u nd o n Egyptian chariots. T hese wo uld have been o f great assistance both in mou nting the chariot, and as guards from the whH'l ~ sh ould the horses at any mome n t turn o r back. unexpected ly. In addition they may have acted as 'mudguard..' against flying sto nes and d UL The sides and win gs were covered by som e so n. 0: screening: ma terial such as lea th e r o r line n. Doc uments d escribe these chario ts as being painted vario us shades o f red, some be ing deco rated ....ith ivo ry inlay. A ra re typ e of cha rio t, known only from on e o r two ca rved r epresen ta tio ns, is termed the q uadrant chariot; its representatio ns date
to c. l4tlQ-.- l:r/5 KG. Un like other Myce naean ch ariots th is type is only shown ca rryi ng o ne occupan t- T h is co u ld m ea n that it was not used in war. It appears to have had a D ehaped floor like th e d ua l chariot. Its siding consisted o f what were p ro bably h eat-bent rail s. the roun de d profile ap proach ing the qua d rant of a circle. like the o ther chario ts its sides r ose to ap p roxi mat ely h ip h eight and we re cove red with scre ening. TI lt" I" "T 'lpp of \ lyce n aean chario t to a p pear was th e rail ch ariot, da ted fro m c. 1250 BC d o wn to 1150 BC. Its cab co uld h o ld two o ccu pants ab re ast. This was a n ex tremel y ligh t ve h icle, its sides co m p nsm g an ope n framewo rk o f rai ls rising to appro xim at ely h ip h eigh t, with a rou n ded p rofile. Ch ariot armam ent
\Ye h ave se en h ow th e form of th e Aeg ea n ch a riot was a d ap ted to th e loca l terrai n by mak in g it he avi er an d m o re ro bust. This, a n d the a rm ament of th e ch a rio tee rs wh o rode in th e m , can su gges t the mo st likel y tactical use of th ese ch a riots in wa r fare . There seems 10 be only o ne in d ubitable example of a chariot crewed lY,' a n arch e r in ~l)'c enaean-Min oa., re presen tatio ns . This comes in th e fo nn o f a gold signet ri ng fro m Myce n ae a nd is d a ted to around I :J50-1500 BC. .-\11other depictions o f chario ts in this e arly perio d sh ow the m carryi ng warri o rs a rmed wi th a lo n g spear, sim ila r to that carried bv the he avy in fantry. A ca rved gem fru m Vap b eio on th e so ut h ern tip of Greec e sh ows th e d rive r as well as th e wa r rior. It wo uld h ave be en ab solute ly n e cessary ro h ave a separa te d river for a wa r chario t, because it woul d be im p ossible to co n trol th e chariot an d wield a weapon at th e same ti me . T h erefo re , wh e n only the warrior is de p icte d - as in th e example o f a sculp ted gravestone at Mycc nac - it must be ass um ed that in reali ty th e re wou ld have bee n a d r iver as well. (This d e picti o n is hig-h ly stylized , wh ich m igh t also ac co unt for th e lac k of a de picted driven) Altho u g h some have a rgued th a t the Mvce n ae an spea r-a rmed chariots we r e used fo r d ispl ay a nd tr anspo rt to and fr o m th e bat tle gr o und, the evi dence stro ngly suggests that spea rs ...'e re actually use d from the chari ot. The gravestone refe rr e d to above actua lly shows the ch a rio t warrio r im pal in g a swo rd-armed infantryman with h is spear. T h is te lls us fi rstly th a t th e lo n g spea r was use d fro m th e ba c k o f th e char iot in d o se com bat, a n d sec o n d ly that chariots cou ld h e used in th is way again st in fan try, not j ust op p osin g ch ariots. Un fo rtu n ately, it may n ever be po ssib le to di sce rn any o f th e spe cifi cs of Mycenae an ch ariot tactics d u e to th e ex tre me lack o f d e scripti ve evid ence . Some ba sic q ue stio ns can n eve rt heless be answe re d di rectly fro m th e avai la b le e viden ce, and o thers are im plied by suc h evide n ce as the relevan t Linear B table ts from Kno ssos . Tu rn in g first to th e se tablets, th e large number o f c hario ts listed (-IOO--p lus a t any one time ) suggests th at th ey were used m /M.W. Such n umbers wo u ld be m uch m o re th an th ose n e ede d only for th e tran~port of n obles, even allo wing extra ch a riots as spares. Fu rth e rmo re , th e chariots in wh ich the noblca/comma nde rs migh t have rid d e n ac tually see m to be listed se para tely in th e se tablets, in the term o f 33 ch a riots inlaid with ivo ry. These in laid chariots m ay also h ave be e n fo r purely cere m o n ial u se , b ut that still leaves at le ast 367 o ther ch ariots asse m bled at Knossos shortly before its final d estruc u o n . while it m ust be co n ced ed
43
This scene showtnv an e a rly period Mycenaean bo. chariot is fou n d e n graved on
a camelian
$NJ from Vapheio doIted to the 15th ce nt u ry BC. Th l. i. one o f t he few d e p ict io ns th a t . h o w s t ha s pearma n as well as the dl1var in t he c na nor, T he stu rdy dou b le upper-a n d -Iowe r d rau g h t pole with la s hed bra.,es Is very p romi nently s hown . tCourtesy National Archaeological Museum,
Athensl
that th is n umber of ch a rio ts is still immeasurably smalle r th an th e bodies or ch ariotry d eployed by th e Egyp tians and l liui tes o n the more o pen battle fields of Syr ia, thi s in itsel f does not preclud e the ir use as a massed shock fo rce. Such a force could be use d to delive r the coup de gmcewhe n th e e nemy was re coiling or about to b reak, to outflan k th e e n emy bat tle line, or to pursue a broken encIIlY fo rce . The use of ch ariots against disorganized troo ps is relatively well attested in ancien t literature, both th e ancie n t Chi nese a nd the Hittites being aware of their ben efits in th is role . Th e roughness of the Gree k plain s and the limited space fo r th e massed use of cha rio t" may have been a n important reason for the relatively smal l n umbers o f the m fielded (as reflected in the KnO SS
44
\\b y they did not form th e backbone of th e ~1 >·cellaC".m tactical doctrin e, as was th c case a mon g the Egvprians a nd Hiu nes. Experiments in reco nstr ucting an 18ft-lo ng Macedo ni a n .sarissa (poss ibly of sim ilar le ngth to the :\Iycenaean chariot spear) sho wed th a t it h ad to be he ld near its centr e to stop it overbalan cing to the fron t. T his would certainl y be a pro blem if it was held with one hand,
bill n ot so if it was held with b o th h ands in a similar m ann er to th at h eld by heavy infantrym en . The car n e lia n gem fr om Vapheio shows a c hario t wa r rio r h old ing: th e lo n g spear n e ar its rear 'with both ar ms partia lly e xte nded in th is m a n ner. O n th e o th er hand , th e m ort' stylized Mycenaean gra vesto ne sh ow'S a spea r being held wi th th e ri gh t h and on ly (th e left is gr aspin g a sheath e d swo rd ). When tr yi n g to in te r p re t stylize d de p ictions it is poss ib le 10 wo r k out Ih t> m ma li1: ,.ly rea listic ele ments, d isting ui sh in g th o se features tha t wo u ld ac tually 'wo r k in real life from th o se th a t wou ld not, By these crite r ia , th e m or e rea listic pose is th at sh ow n o n th e Vap hcio gem rather th a n that o n th e grave stel e . In order to use th e two-h an d ed spea r effe ctively from the chariot, the Myce naea n s would have h ad to find a Y.-ay to d eal with th e p ro bl em th a t d ue to the r ockmg mouon o f the chari o t, and the j olt re cei ved when the spear struck home . the warri or who h ad no h and free to ste ady h imself would lo se his bal ance . Pr oj e ctin g fro m the un d e rsid e o f some d ep ictions of dua. ch ariots ca n be seen a sm all ' spu r ' ; no o n e is sure what this was o r what its fun ction mi ght have been. O n e pos....ibiliry is that it is the c nd of a central rail, a co n tin uation o f th e pole-stay, wh ich p ::l",. .rd th roug h rhr ('~h hf.n''''''l;'n the two occupants. The warrio r could h ave used this to brace h is re a r leg when d el ivering a thrust, thereby p re ve n ting h is uninten tio n al ex it to the rear.
The char iot ' c ha rg e' Earl y Mycenaean ch a rio ts wo uld nor have c harged at speed at e ne my form a tio ns in the ma n ner o f med ieval cavalry, This wo uld have led to t he m c rash m g int o opposing c ha ri o ts a n d in fan try wi th terrible d est ruc tio n to oolh sides, and would re sult in the ....-arri or becomin g d isarm ed o n ce h e h ad struck with th e sp ear fo r th e first tim e . It is m ore likel y th at th ey would ha vc taken the m ore se ns ibl e approach o f star tin g at speed . to minimize the cas ua lties su ffered fro m missiles. and slm,ing d CW:Jl j us t befo re contac t with a line of in fantry: Eve n a t a tro t th e irnpr-rns o f two h o rses a n d a chario t bearin g d own u po n foot-sold iers would sti ll be co nsiderable - an d especially so if the infan try werc disordered. while it is we ll kn own that cavalry h o rse s will not willingly run str aig ht in to a mass o f infantry, th e psych ological threat posed by a ch arge h as ve ry o ften p rove d sufficie n t to d isorder in fan try fo r mat ions j ust before actu al im pac t. A line of chari ots attackin g in such a way wo ul d be able to ac h ieve th e same, e specially given the we apo ns rea ch affo rd e d to th eir crews by long spears. T h e n e ed to d efend ag ai nst th is could be o ne of th e reasons that th e Myce nacan heavy infan try' wer e equipped and formed in th e way they were - with lon g spear an d large shiel d, in close-o rder formatio ns. Of co u rse , the chariot team s - like all war h o rse s - wo u ld ha ve to be well tr ain ed in this form of a tta ck to sto p them from swe rving o r bolt in g. Confro n ti ng o pposing c h ario try the ch a rio tee rs wo u ld p ro bably have tried to avoid crashing in to e ach o ther, th e ....a rriors usin g: their spears to strike at the oppo sing horses a nd crews . The fac t that th e e arl y Mycenaea n chario t warriors a re no t equip ped wi th sh ields ca n be recognized as evide n ce th a t th e)' fough t from th eir chario ts. As ....-ith th e h eavy infantry. th e long spears with wh ich the ch ariot warriors were armed wo uld be an imped im ent to a foot-sold ie r unless h e also had a
45
The 15th century BC articulated bn>nze c:ornelet fo und at Dendra. This masterpiec:e of Myc:enaean
broNe-worki ng is the most comple te e ~am ple found, althou gh there Is evide nce that suc h armourS Were not un oommon in t he My<;e...... . .. army. Their \K8 w as probably li mited 10 tt>e highest d
46
large shield and fou gh t in d ose o rd er wnh likearmed comrades. If these cha rio t spea rme n had d ismounted to figh t wi tho ut shi elds th ey wo uld have been nearly useless . A de pictio n of an early chariot on a carved grave sto ne from Mycenac shows bo th a warrio r armed with a lo ng spear a nd a ~ Ilf':.l tht"d s.....ord attac hed to the ou tsid e of th e chariot cab, in a manne r re minisce nt of Egypuan a rr ow quII·cTS. This is most likely a secondary weapon , logically provided for use if the spear wer e lost o r broken or if the warrior ha d lO abandon th e veh ic le . A mid I fith ce ntury BC ring from one o f the Shaft Graves at Mvcenae de picts a chariot crewe d by a driver and an a rch er. This is one of th e ea rl iest de pic tions of a t.lycen aca n c ha rio t, rough ly co nt e mpora ry' with th at on the ca rved gravestone. Unlike the in laid dagger described earlier, whic h a t fac e va lue dep icts a hu nt b ut p robably h ad a rlt>f" p l"r mean in g , th is ri ng does no t sugges t th a t it is d epictin g a nything mo re than a noblem an 's hunt. Also unlike the inlaid dagge r, the weapon a nd equip me nt shown are perfectly suited 10 huntin g. an d th e em p hasis place d o n the ch ariot horses rathe r than the cha rio t itself also conveys a con-m ilita ry fee ling. None of t he three chariot-scu lpted sha ft gravestones show archers; however, this signe t ri ng cam e from th e grave of a m a n who can have been a t no grea t te m po ral re move fr om the introduction of this Asiati c co mbi na tion of bow and chariot. The fact that this combina tio n was sh ow n nm TPm porary wi th a n in d ubitable example of a spear-armed c hariot wa rrior in warfare fu rt her suppo rts th e likelihood that the signet ring's subj ec t matter wars intentionally th at of the h unt. This being the case, the r e is no credible evidence for :\Iyce nacan chariots being crewed with bowmen for wa r fare - a maj or d iffere nce between Myccnaea n chari ot tact ics an d th ose o f Egypt, for exam p le. The D endra armour
At Den dra, ne a r the :\Iyce naean citadel of Midea, Gre e k a nd Swedi sh excavations fo und a ch amber lamb which containe d a suit of bronze armo ur wh ich is dated [0 a bo u t 1400 BC. This set o f bro nze plate defen ces displays adva nced skills in m e talworking and armo ur design . The vari ous 'pir-r-es, eg sh o ulde r guar ds, skirt, en d cuirass, we re fitted to o ne anoth er and attache d wirh lea ther th ongs, allowing th e various pla tes ( 0 slide over one another and affo rding th e wearer so me limited movement of the hod)' and limbs. The pieces of a bo ar's-tusk h elmet with bron ze check guards were fo und wi th the a rmour; as were a bron ze nec k guard which sat a to p the sho u lde rs, bro nze grca\'es and arm gua rds . A knife or dagger '.\11h a single cutting edge was also fo und .
There was ongtnauy a sword in th e tomb, of wh ich o nly two gilded rivets fr om the hil t survived ; and th ere may also have been an arrow qu ive r and a shield, th ese last two items only survivin g as pa tch es of blac kish material. (What so me h ave sugges ted was a shi eld may in stead have been a cover for the large two-handle d basin also fo u nd in th e tc rnb .) This is by no rr.eans th e only example of Late Bro nze Age Ae gean hrn n7f> arm o ur to have been found . Xine o th er sites h ave yie lded exa m ples of armour made fro m bronze plate. These include gr ea"es a nd helmets, as well as pieces .....hich see m to have come from the same typ e of a rmour as th e De nd ra example. Phaistos, Mjcenae a nd another to mb a t Dend ra have all revealed pieces like thi s. This typ e of armour seems, then , to h ave been in reaso na bly wi de sp read use betwee n c.1500 and 1400 BC in the :\l ycenaean wor. d. T he use of piale fo r armo u r co n tinued th ro ugh o ut the re m ainde r of the Mycenacan pe riod , but what is sign ifican t here is the fac t th a t it was so develo ped in th e early part of the pe riod. This shows tha t the Dend ra pan o ply w-as nor a 'o ne-off' c reated fo r an in nova tive warlord wh o took it 10 the grave wi th him . Ra th er, it see ms to have been a relativel y well establish ed type of Mycen aea n m ilitary equip me n t. In ter estingly, th e Linear 1\ table ts from Knossos and Pyla s both ha ve ideograms whic h see m to ind ica te these a rmo u r co rselets. The Knossos table ts show the issue of at least 36 corsele ts, an d on ni ne tablets the co rsele t h as be en er ased an d an in got in se rted instead . T his m ay be inten de d to be a n issue of me tal req uired to make co rsele ts. In th e majori ty of cases the re leva nt nu m be rs associa ted with a co rselet ideogram have been lost. so it is unknown how many m ore m ight h ave
15th ce nt ury BC bro nze f or earm guards f rom Dendra. Defen ce s s uc h as these w ere probabl y wo rn wit h t he bronze c orsele ts . (After As lrom)
47
u' lhe , .. re d .. p6ctl...... ur horse-suldier$ In Mycena ean art,
0...,
from a late period vase frag..... nt. The artis1'S unfami liarity with the s ubject ma"er may be the re ason for the wa y the ' rider' is shown be ll lde t he ho rse, alt hough he Is ho lding the reins . (Courtesy National Arch aeo logi cal M useum, Athen s)
bee n listed. The Pytos table ts list 20 corsele ts; and in ad ditio n, the Pyla s corselet id eograms have a triangul ar shape o n to p of them. This loo ks like a he lm et, an d the Pylas table ts ac tually m ention h elmets alo n g wi th th e corselets. A clu e as to the use of the Knossos co rsele ts m a}' he fo und in th e fact that eac h of those tablets is in troduced by a man 's name, a nd itemises corselets, wheeled ch ariots and horses. This strongly suggests that the corsel ets we re worn by at least some chariot-ho me w-arri ors. Eigh t of the table ts list 'one corse let ' and 14 list ' 1\\'0 co rsele ts'. Th is could mean eith er that some men were issued with two co rselet>; fo r th em selves, or that some me n were issued with o ne corselet for th emselves plus o ne for the ir drive r; Those crews who did no t pos.'ieSS a ~ll i l ()f hron l~ annom- (presu mably th e majority) wore minimal dothing typical of ea rl}' Mycenaea n warriors, consisting of a cloth kilt-like garmen t and hare upper body Later chariotry
48
As with all of th e oth er Myce naean troo p types. in the la te r period th e Myce nacan chariot beca me lig hte r and more mo bile . Th e previous heavy box chariot and d ual ch a riot !{ave way to the lig-ht r ail chario t, wh ich a ppe are d in th e 13th centu ry BC. The a ppearance of th is new style of ch ariot acco m pa nied a major cha nge in the tactical rote of ~Iyce n ae-.m cha rio t!"}'. Un like in th e ea rly period, ch ariot-bo rn e wa rriors we re now expected to dism o unt to Ctght.. ma kin g them in effect m o unted infantry, This can be see n by th eir eq uip men t. wh ir h beca me the sam e as that o f the in fa n try - a sho r t spear, hel m e t, body a rmo ur, kilt , greaves. and a round sh ield . A fresco from Pylos also shows a som ewhat lighter ch ariot-home wa r rior who wears th e cloth tunic in place of bo dy ar m o ur. These changes refl ect th e mor e mobile n at ure of warfa re in th e la ter period . Such a fo r ce wou ld have been useful for rushi ng tr oop'" to a reas wh ich had come u nder sudden a ttack, as well as fo r la un ching such a ttacks.
CAVA LRY The rroop type fo r ;·vh ich there is th e least evidence is eavall)', of which our knowledge is limi ted to what can be gleaned from a handful of pottery fragmcn ns. Thes e date to the cud of the ~f )'c t'nacan period. givi ng so-n e ind icatio n of the spread of the an of h o rse- rid in g: to Greec e . As regards dre ss, o n e rel.uivelv de tailed d epic tio n fro m Mvce nae sh ows the cavalrym a n
wt":l.I; nl~
h'TP'I'l:l"S, th e familia r la te p e riod tu n ic, a n d wha t
a ppe ars to he upper-body armour. Stirrups were as yet un known , saddlery hein g: in its infancy. The h o rse was fitte d with a sad d le pro ba bly consisting of little m o re than a pa dded blanket. Th e re ins a nd bridle were probably rela tively developed owin g to the long trad ition of chariotrv in Mvccnaea n G reece. Exam p les of b its h ave be e n fo u nd , al t.h o u gh whether th ey come from saddle hors es or chariot horses is un known . lhc role of sad d le horses in !.Iyce naea n war fare is a matte r io r co nje ctu re, sinc e no depictions or descriptio ns or co m ba t involvi n g cava lry a re kn own . No wea po ns Gm he see n in the few d e p ic tions. Altho ugh this mi ght be ta ken as evi de n ce tha t th ese war rio rs did not carry spears or javelins , it ca nnot be said for sure that they were no t a rm ed with swo rds. Due to the highly stylized and fragm e nt a ry na tu r e of l h t' p ictorial e vide nc e, as we ll as th e unfam ilia r s u bjec t fo r th e ar tist, th e swo rd may have been omitted as it was h id de n by the figure 's righ t side (the de pictio ns show the figures facing to the ir left) . If they di d carrv a sword , it is possible tha t these warriors fough t a.. cavalry, H oweve r, it is equally possible th at the warriors sh own mounted re prese nt a class who . alth o ugh not rich o r prestigio us e noug h to 0\\1\ a cha rio t, could affo rd a horse to ca rry the m aro u nd rathe r tha n walking. T he third possibility is tha t these warriors co nstituted a force of m oun ted infant ry, This wo uld tie in to th e evid ence tha t som e char iots in th e later peri od we re also des ign ed simply for swift transpo rt. Such a force wo uld have been p art icu la rly suite d to respo nd ing to the kind of raids th at see m to have been oc cu rring in the late r pe riod .
M ILITARY ORGANIZAT ION T he ~Iycenaean a rmy was not com pose d of a horde of individ ual noble warriors who d ressed and a rm ed th emselves however they liked . Instead , the liter ary an d a rchaeolo gical evidence shows that it was composed of seve ral well o rgani zed an d equ ipped troo p types, each ....-ith their own cha racteristic formations a nd tactical uses. These troops were o rganized into units of those similarly equipped, and m ust therefo re have been 'd rilled' a t leas t to so me extent. In this respect Mycenaea n armies were similar to those of more imperialist contem po raries ouch as th e Hit utes and Egypti ans. A degree of organization was clearly nec essary to a m ilitary culture which retained power in its 0"'11 homelands fo r ce n turies, a nd se bed a n d co n tro lled o ther a reas suc h as the Aegea n islands ancl Cre te. There fore , it follows th a t each Mvce nacan an n}' would need to be supported by a com mand and logistics system eq ually well develope d, by the standards of its age. 111is issue has been more fully addressed in the previo us Mycc nuean scholarship. T he m os t usefu l p rim a ry evidence of ~ I yce n ae an o rgan ization co mes fro m the Pylos and Knossos Linear B table ts. Some info rmatio n abo ut
49
Mycenacan mili tary leade rship G ill a lso be glea ne d from de piction s. The la te l Sth ce ntury BC Pvlo s tabl ets provide us wi th a grea t deal of info nnation on th is topic. Although Myce nae an tactica l d oc trine ap pears to have u nde rgo ne a signiricarn c ha nge in th e 13th ce n tury BC. such aspe cts as hi gh e r command structure and logi stics may be presum ed to h ave re mained relatively u ncha nged fr om th e ea rlier pe riod. a t least a.s far a" lh ~y _<,t" ~m to fi t rh f' o ther evidenc e . The Linear B a rc hives pai nt J. pictu re of a h igh ly develo ped burea ucracy dea ling with milita ry m a t ters. Th is in itself su ggests tha t th e Mycenae an a nny must have been well o rganized and institutionalized to warrant such a palace bu reaucr acy to suppo rt it. Th e rel evan t tablets deal with such th in gs as unit co mpo siti on , deploymcnts, garrisons , e q uipping of tro ops, and su pplies. Th e 'Li on Gat e" at IAyeenae. This w a.. the main ent rance to the c itadel. of wt>ictI the ma .......... $tone c ircuit wa ll s _re b<.Iilt In t he 13th century BC. The sc ulpt ure above the illte ma y ha .,.. been the c ity's or rule r'$ ba dge . IGeorge MytonitS, Myeenae and l he Myce~an Age, 0 1966 Prince t on University Pmss ; re pri nted by permission of Pri nc eton Unlven ity Pm ss)
50
Battlefield organ iz at ion Th e Myce naean milita ry system was composed of man}" un its or va rious troop I)pes which had to work in conjunc tion with o nc anot her o n the battlefie ld in o rd er to fu lfil their vario us tactical roles. In th e ch ...sic field battle the h eavy infan try which seem to have fonned the core of th e army wnlllO h ::l\"t> been drawn up in line in th e cen tre . Th e h eavy infan trywoul d mos t like ly have bee n o rganized into a n um ber o f units with in th e ma in battle lin e. for reaso ns of co mmand and co n tro l. Beca use swo rds me n see m to have fough t closely wi th and aga in st heavy infan try, un its of suc h tig-hter troops we re probably deployed amongst the heavy infa n try units or
arou nd the m. O n th e flanks of th e ma in battle lin e wo uld have been o ther ligh t infa ntry such as j avclinm e n and mo re swordsme n . The skir mishers , being scre e ning troops ~. na ture, would have b een deploye d in their loose fo rm at ions across th e fro nt of the a nn}', from wh ere th ey could scree n th e troops behind th e m fro m o pposing m issile fire a nd hara....\ the enemy with the ir O\\-TI arro....'S and sling bulle ts. The heavr c b ario try of the earl ie r period, also organized inro one o r more uni t.. (d e pe nding o n how many we re fiel ded ) , could conce ivably have been d eployed in any of three "'-aY's : either in front of the heavy in fa nt ry, beh ind them , o r 0 11 th e flanks. The first would h ave allowed the cha riots to c harg e dire ctly int o either th e e nemy ch ariots o r heavy infa ntry. This does no t seem likely, since it wo uld involve cha rging fro mally agains t we ll o rd ere d spca m le n o r c har iots. Chariots see m to ha ve been most effect ive agai n st diso rdered o r o utflan ke d troops - the Hini tcs and eve n the approxim ately co n te m po rary Ch in ese used th em in th is way. If the chario ts were depl oyed beh in d the main battl e line th ey could ha ve be en use d to de liver th e cou,fJ de grace after the heavy in fantry and swords me n bad done their wo rk of brea king up and disor de rin g: the enelllY line. Th e re is a p roblem with th is, h o weve r: how wo uld fri cudlv infa ntry he able (0 get out of the way of th eir mm cha riots cha rging: from beh ind th e m ? On the o th er hand , sho uld fri end ly in fa n try p ut th eir oppone nts 10 nighl a nd cre a te a g".tp fo r th eir cha rio ts, th e la tter would have been very usefu l fo r pursuing th e fleeing foot. The third possibility, that of the chariots being de ployed o n o ne o r both of th e fla nks, would have given them th e o pporruniry to de feat th e ene my's flan k troops and turn the flan k of h is main battle line . Th is therefore seems th e m ost probable use of h eavy chariots in tactical warfare. In deed, at the battle of Kadesh (1300 BC) the H ittite chario ts struck th e first blow of the battle b; charging th e unguarded flan k of o ne of the Egyp tian divisions. The point of th ese speculation s is 10 grce an apprec iation of wh~ th e ~t}'ccn aean a rmywould h ave required a n o rganized co m ma nd st ructu re in order to get the ir various troop types la wo rk toge th er as a n ann)'_ Certain functio nal appoin tments would have been unavoida ble : there mu st h ave bee n a co m m an d er-in-chief and at least one office r fo r e\'e'Y un it ill th e army. Th e co m man de r-in-ch ief' sjob would be, presum ably, to pla n the ro utes of march of an army on campaign , and to devise th e plan of attack once the battlefield had bee n chosen (as well as take the credit for victo ry and the blame fo r defeat, no do ubt). He wo uld give these ord e rs to the un it commanders, who in turn wo uld order th eir units to move in acco rdance wi th th e pl an and som e req uired tim e table . Comm and s t r uc t u r e
The h igh est rank in the Myce n aean a rmy was most likely the umnax (c hid) of o ne of the rich palaces suc h as Mvccuac, N I U ) ) U ), e re. Alth o ug h we kn ow practica lly no thing about th e «aaakae ex ce pt from the tabl ets th at record thei r p rivilege s. a nd H o mer, who m ight have pr eserve d their names, th ey were probably the 'own ers ' of the forces in the ir re gion. The rich burials of the :\Ir cenaeans are ge n erally accepted to be tho se of th e hi ghest IC\-e1 of soc ie ty, and th e gra \'e goods in ma ny of th ese paint a picture of a m ilitari stic m ling class. He ads of state were
51
the usual command e rs-m-cruet ot most an cie n t armies, in cludi ng those of th e con tem porary Egyptians and Hi ni tes. This was natural, since rhe v had to be seen as mi lita ry leaders who co uld p rotect th e ir people. Ho me r tells us mat for the Trojan expedi tion th e many Acbaean kin gdoms were u nited in a confederacy led by the king of Myce nae. However. even if -his confederacy is not a fict ion bu t a pi ece o f hivorv wh ich curvive-rl th ro u g h the oral rrad irion d O"'1:1 to H o m e..r 's d a y, it probably d a tes to at least the late l. Srh ce ntury BC - quite la te in the Mycen aean ch ronology. Th e u ni formity of military dress and cqu ipn-em in Myce naea n Gr ee ce , Cr e te an d th e Aege an in g-enera l d oes n o t necessarily imply th at th e re was one ci ty or king co n trollin g- a ll of it; rathe r, it sug-g-ests a co m m on Ach aean m o d e o r wartare . It is possible tha t allia nc es an d pact.~ we re fo rmed betwee n palace s, as seen in th e ma inland's co ntrol of Knossos. Mycen ac an Gre ece was ma de up of sm all auto no mo us Slates ruled by independ ent chiefs. Th e re ma y have bee n family ties betv..e en them, b u t noth ing d e finite is known about the rel ationsh ip of one settlement to a nother. C iven a good set o f rich graves. like those o f Mycenae. at other sites , it m ight have been possible to extrapol at e th e rela tive wea lt h o f th ese settlemen ts and th erefo re their r-e la tive po",·e r. b ut un fo rtunatel y th i,; is no t the case. The evide nce a t Mycen ae is la rgely m issin g and all of its tholoi (a l)pe o f tom b) have been looted . T he fact th at the finest array o f mil ita ry eq uip ment of the period was fo und at De nd ra is simply a matter o f ch ance , and te lls us n ot h ing abo ut the ranking of Argolid sites. Thes e stat es may have ha d lOOM:: m ilita ry associa tio ns at one tim e or anothe r, which may be the orig-in o f H o me r's id ea of a co n fed e racy; but it mus t be im agin e d that over ce n turies such allianc es wou ld so metime s have broken down , resulting in inter-sta te wars and the re arraugcmc nts o f suc h relationsh ips. The wanax probably held su p reme a u thori ty ove r the fighting: fo rces an d ca me from the hi g hest clas,s of soc iety, I lis immediate d e puty was the lawav tl' (o r (qrla) , tra nsla ted as 'lea d er o f the fighting people ' . This pu rely m ilitary figure was p robably th e r eal ' bl-ains' behind th e ar-my's stra tegy an d tactics, since he was free o f th e m uch bro ad er co nce rn.. o f the wanax. H e wou ld p resumab ly have bee n of high birth to en tid e him to hol d suc h an impo r tant positio n, and m igh t we ll have been a m e mbe r of th e wanax 's family, Be lo w th ese lead e rs of the sta te th e 'r egim en tal' co mmanders and the basileis must have o perate d . Th e basileis in cluded ad mi nistra tors o f provincial estates, whom we fin d being given new lan d in the P vlos table ts. Due to th e expe nse and pr estige o f chari ots. the warr io rs who we re m o un ted on them were probably from the upper class o f soc ie ty. T h is co uld in clude land own e rs such as baslleis and oth e r high-born and the refore wealthy me n . The pal a ce se rve d as the administra tive, co m ma nd and supply ce n tre of the a rm )'. Ch ariot un its were o rga nize d an d co n troll ed by m e palace. as the ta ble ts show. Higher organization: the evidenc e and the arguments
52
The role of the palace as th e ' ge nera l head q ua rte rs' o f the Myceuaean a rm y, issu ing d etail ed o rd e rs for the de p loym ent o f troo ps, ca ll be see n in the Pylos ta blets o f the 13th cen tu ry BC, ar.d may pe rhaps be presu m ed fo r the ear lie r pe rio d . Th e tab le ts rec ord th e installat ion at
several places along the vlessen ian coast o f bodies of troops each consisting of a com m a nder, several o fficers a nd a number of soldiers. Each co n tinge nt is accompanied b y a nobleman wi th the title ftJ,ta. Som e have in te rp re ted th e hJrln as a kind of liaison officer be rween the field un it a nd the pa lace, o thers as the commander of a re gim e nt of the anny. Sinc e each gro up lists an officer as well as an eqao; the fo rm er interpre ta tio n seem s more likel y. T his doc um ent, co mprising five tablet.", is h eaded 'Th us the wa tch ers arc guard ing th e coas tal regio ns ' . It tells m that Pylas, bei ng a n nnwalled coastal city, feared an att ack from th e sea, and that the authorities a t th e palace decided to send out small unit." to watch "o r ra ids. T he whole coast was divid ed into te n sectors; th e name of the official res ponsible for each sector is listed , fo llowed by a few other n ames who are presum ably h is subordinate officers. In a world without maps, th is shows a hi gh level of organi zation. T he palace bureaucracy also records th e issue of wha t appears to he clothi ng to b e distribu ted to th e f qrta an d keseno (see below) at Kn ossos. Th ese do cuments form part of a series of tablet." that d ea l with a specific kind of textile o r ga rmen t called p a wfa. This garme nt/ textile is furthe r defined by adj ectives such as fH'1U'weta (twith wedge pa tte rn ' ) , a roa (' of better q uality' }, reukon uk u ( '....-ith whi te fringes' ). euta rapi (,with red patter n ' ) , and ot he rs , It has already been suggested tha t the eqetae wc rc high-ranking comm and ers. K l') t7/Q, on the other hand , seem to have been a so rt of alterna tive to the l' qt'( l(! but ofa lower ra nk, since th ey are neve r issu ed with ga rmen ts 'of be tte r qu ality' , but with those of rath er un ifo r m decoration. It is likely th at the word kesrna was the d esignation fo r fore ign wa r rio rs who we re supplied wi th garments fro m the palace. Th is is sup po rted by th e Ca ptain of the Blacks fresco from Knossos,
A re eonstn ,,;t io n of th e c itadel of MyeenM .s it INIY h~ o p pco rod I.. Dbou1 1 300 B C .
(from a pa,n li n 'll by Alton
S.Tobey)
53
5'
....hic h sho....-s the Xubian ....-arrior wea rin g the same type o f wedgepatterned Mycenaean kilt as hi s Gree k lead e r. Fin ally. the total am ount of stor ed paweQWJ.~ proba bly about 453 ite ms, th e large num ber Ixing an ind icat io n tha t we are d e alin g with u n ifo rm s. A Mycen aean army composed of most or all of the d iffe re n t tro op t~ves ident ifie d h er e would h ave co ns iste d of seve ral thousan d so ld iers of all ran ks. Because o f th is, it is impossib le tha t its warriors could all ha ve bee n d ra wn from th e lo cal regio n 's ruling elite. Some d isagre e ....i th th is. believing th a t the Myce nae an so ld ie r was firs t re p re se nted by the in d ividual aris toc rat from th e tim e of th e Shaft Graves. followed by a n elite corps at the time of the fall o f Knossos, and that it was not u ntil the 13 th ce ntury BC th a t units o f commo n m en developed. tra ined to Ilgh r o n foot a nd le d by h o rse -ta mi ng o fficers. H oweve r, th is model is un likely to be a ccu r at e. It so uucb, heavil y in flu e nced by the H o m er ic 'heroiziug' of Myccuae an 'Warriors a nd H o m e r's picture of individ ua listic warfa re . Co uld the individual aristocrat o f the 16th ce n tu ry BC have exerted enou gh po we r o ve r the population o f h is re gio n to co ntro l th em. interact wi th fur-off kingd o m s, an d retain hi s position, without a n actual army beh in d him? As for th e sugges tio n that the individual aristocratic warrio rs had d evelo ped in to an e li te corps b y the time o f the fa ll o f Knossos (c. 1400 BC) , it ha s since be e n shown that alth o ugh the g ra'-es of th is peri od d o seem to represe nt part of an ' aristoc racy', the exclusively mili tary ch arac te r o f such a class ca n no t be d e m o nstra te d. Altho ug h it is pro bably correct that in th e 13 th ce ntu ry BC so ld iers were o rganized into u n its o f tr ained com m o n men, the evidence .':I ugg~$U rhar thi$ was
~\
'-.!...-....LL~--=L-
"'
~_ =~
Altho ugh th e c...-idc nc c for a n ins titutio nalized m ilita ry o rgan ization on the main la nd is not a t all co nclu sive , the fact that suc h a n orga n ization was se t u p at Kn ossos u n d e r Mycenaean co n trol, in thei r :a n g ua g c . ....Ju v.:. d Lvu fiucU l illfl:H:ULl: U ldl :' UL1I a leve-l u f u l g d u it a u ulI also existe d on the main lan d . Th ere is also the argument from need :
suc h an organiza tio n woul d be necessaI1' to eq ui p , train and com mand
__--'
Uroe.. r B bblel rrom Mycenaea.. K nossos, one of the m a ny t h at
de al wM military equipment. Thi s p.;or'tku!;w " )lam pl" reeeees the Issue '0 ;I w;lrrior of a dual c ha riot, a n armoured col'$elet a nd hol'M'L (Aft er Pal m er, 1965)
armies like U10 ..e o f N IOSWS and Pvlos - armies of several thousand
sold iers, o rganized into like-armed units of va ri o u s types. This prompts th e question, who mad e u p the rank a nd file of the ~ Iyce naea n arm)'? If some (probablv m ost ) of these soldiers were drawn from the com mo n folk of a give n region, it would have been nccc;sary for th e 'sta te' (ce ntr ed on th e palace ) to arrange for hund re ds of shields and weapons to be made and issued to th e recruits. In o rde-r fo r a unit of ~ l}'ce naean heavy infantry 10 pe r form its tactical role cffec rivclv its shields ....'o uld a ll have to be of a rela tively un ifo rm size and its spe ars of th e sam e le ngth . This is certainly the case with the 161h century BC w; rrrio rs de ple ted i ll a fi esco f l U III Akro urt U II The ra (th e prcscllt ~r Aegean isla nd of Sa n to nni) , as well as fo r th e Knossian de pic tio ns of light infa ntry, a nd th e heavy infa ntrym en shown o n th e ea rlie r Siege Rhrto n . In add ition to arming a nd equ ipping such a force, th e Sla te wo uld h ave to o rgan ize th e trai ning of th e soldiers accordi ng to th eir par ticular troo p lype, to fight in a ppropriate for mations an d 10 m anoeuvre wi tho ut falling into d iso rde r. In short, they would have to be d rilled , an d in orde r to ach ieve this a we ll orga ni zed militar y system woul d have to be in place. Re tu rning to the q uestion of whether o r n ot such a mili ta ry organization existed in othe r Mycenaea n ce ntres be sid es Knossos, th e ar c hae olo gical reco rd o f Mycen aea n plate armou r m ay also be sign ifican t. At KJlo~ sO S we have docu ments listin g th e issu e of co rse lets, but no archaeo logical evid en ce. At nin e other Mycenaean sites we have arc haeological evtdence o r corsele ts, but no doc ume ntary eviden ce . Knossos te lls us that these corsel e ts were dealt with by th e palace bure aucracy, even th ough none may have actu ally su rvi ved fro m the re, It is th e refore r easo nable to suppose th at , having th e ac tual rem ains of corsel ets a t o th e r sites, th ese too wo uld originally have been issu ed by the local palace. Afte r all, as h as bee n see n , th ese co rselets were used by expen sive cha rio t-bo rne sold iers, and wo uld themselves have been difficult a nd e xpe nsive to ma ke. O ne cha rac teristic o f the Mycenaean anny co mpared to th a t of the co nte rnpora rv Egyp tia ns o r l l ittires is that the forme rs ' eq uip ment is co mpa rauvelv less u nifo nn. It may he th at di ffer ent palaces had sli.;htly di ffere nt patterns of shiel ds, helm e ts, e re, which in turn sugges ts a n um ber of h igh ly ce ntra lized states.
55
(
1\
/)
/-L ine a r B ideogram s of eorselets fro m Kno<:<><><> and Pylo~ T he .... come from tabl e ts recording the
a lloc.at ion of military equi pment 10 "".. wriors., and are • ..,idence of. well-deYeloped My<:_ an mil itary orya nization. (A tter Ve n trts & Chadwick)
T he breeding or importing of h u nd reds of h orses to d raw chariots. as well as th e actual tr ain in g o f th ese horses (a highly ex pensive and specialize d skill) , wo uld likewi se ne ed to be o rganized u nd e r some central autho rity. Evide nce fo r m e allocation o f ch ari o t ho rses can be fou nd in the Knosso s table ts, whi ch show ho rses ite mi zed a lo ngs ide corselets and wheeled c hariots, togethe r with a man's nam e. The re ar e about 11 entries with ' a single horse' , an d a t least 2;') wi th ' a pair of ho rses ' . This smal l num ber o f listed horse te ams. as compared 10 Iht" ove rall listing of 'lOO-plus cha rions, m ight be explained by the sim ple possibility tha t most o f th e ta ble ts reco rding horses d id not su ....-ive the d estr uc tio n o f th e palace - such sur-riva ls a re , by definition , rand om. We know from depiction s th at th e chario ts had a te am of two horses, so why were so me m en on ly issued with or-e ? T h e a n swer could lie in th e fact that the sam e applies wi th regard to th e issue o f corselets. A possible e xp la nat io n is th at th is se t of tablets ar e ' tying up the loose ends' 1Il the general e q uip ping o f th e Kno ssian chariot co rps. The fact tha t in so me cases a bronze ingot id e og ra m - enough for a pair o f co rse le ts - is inse rted instead is also in kee pin g with this in te rpretatio n. U n i t si z es
It was the usual practice in o rganized an cie n t a rmies
56
To haw' at leas : a n om inal o r sugge sted se t o f unit stre ngth s. It is not easy to reco nstru ct normal uni t sizes fo r a ny o f the known vtycenaean tro o p typ es , bu t wha t litt le e vi d ence can be g lea ne d from th e Pylos Lin ea r B table ts o f c. 1300 BC is quite in te res ting. These troo ps were always d ivided into m ultip les o f ten , so it a ppears th a t th ey organ ized th ei r u n its ba sed on th e d e cim al syste m . It is like ly that at th e tim e of the Pylo s ta blets the actual st re n gths of vari ous types or units d iffered fro m th ose of the ea rlie r pe r io ds before the im plied cha ng e in methods of wa rfare. H oweve r, the fact tha t th e a rm y (a nd hence the pal ace mi li tary o rga n iza tio n ) use d th e deci mal system is so me thing so fu ndam e n tal and re mote from tac tics tha t the re is no reaso n to d oubt th a t it also ap pli ed e a rlie r, In tc resrin gfv, U "'f" nf th ,' r1p('ima l s~~tc m fo r un it organtaadon see ms to have bee n co mm o n in Bronze Age a rmies. As a contempora ry e xam ple . the H ittites had o ffice rs in ch arge o f 1,000 and 10,000 men in a risin g hierarchy of co m m and. Even th e Tai KUllg's Six Seem Tmr hings, an a ncient Chinese boo k on th e art o f war, states : ' Fo r th e cha rio ts - a lead er fo r five chariots, a capta in for fifte en , a co mmander tor fifty, a nd a ge ne ral fo r one hu n d red.' Ad miued ly; this book 's cu rren t rcccnsion
or'o'babl v da tes to m,llly cen tu ries afte r tlrc Late Bronze Age ; but i t none the less co n tains co nce p ts ori gin a ting early in the e ra of Chinese cha rio t warfare. In conclusion, alth o ugh we ma y never have any hard evidence fo r the size a nd orga nization of earl }' Myce naea n units, it does seem likely th at they were based O il the decim al sys te m and th at th ere was a rising nierarchv of com ma nd, wi th eac h h ighe r ra nk com m a ndin g a grea te r numbe r of soldi ers. O n a purely prac tical level , this is the most efficient ~'\;
The war ri or gJ
of the Linear B doc uments, sh ow u.s som et hing of th e upper classes of :he Myce naean arm y wh o would haw provi ded the ch ariot corps and :h e officers; but ....h at of the rank and file? It is unlike ly that common soldie rs wou ld be ide ntifiable as suc h in :he graves. The buria ls furnish ed with swords [i.e. the Wa rri o r Gra \t.'S at Knossos) a re not those of poor m en . The rank-and-fi le was probably co m po sed o f th e com m on people who made up the great maj ority of the populati o n of any Aegea n kingdom. :\Ios( wou ld be u na ble to affo rd the necessa ry eq uipment, bUI all were necessa(}' to ma ke up th e numbers o f a ny army. Therefore th e ir wea po ns, shields and helm e ts wou ld have to be paid for by the sla te, a nd wo uld probably ha ve 're mained th e proper ty of...' wh ichever palace supp lied th e m. (T his would also e nsure th e n ece~ary unifo rmity of equipm e nt.) T h is see ms eve n to have been the case to some ex tent for th e upper class of soldiers, since som e of their equipme nt (e.g. corsele ts) is also listed in the palace archi ves, whic h suggests tha t th e pa lace owned it a nd was issu ing it. If eq u ipm e nt was ce ntra lly provided. it is logi cal th at a co m mon soldie r wo uld not be at libe rty to have his mi lita ry p anoply burie d with him; in such syste ms it would be norm al for it to be sto r ed in th e p ala ce a rsena l. Th is may ex pla in why the m aj ority of th e soldiers of th e Mvcenaean :lnny are no t visible in th e archaeological re co rd . The palace see ms to have bee n the ce ntre of productio n orweapon s fo r the mili ta ry. Th e evide nce for this co mes mostl y from th e Knossos tablets, but also fro m a rchaeological finds. ' Ve have evide nce fo r th e prod uc tion an d inve ntory of arrowh eads, sp carhcads. j avelinh eads a nd swords, thus broadly covering the wea ponry fo r all th e kn own troop t}pe s wi th the exce ptio n of stingers. (Th e absence of sling ammunition fr om in ven tories a n d graves ha rd ly weig hs against the gen e ra l argumen t, howeve r. Slin ge rs we re, after all , p ro bably loosely o rganized an d locally raised irreg ulars, and th ey m ay well have co ntinued to use the earlie r unfircd clay or knap pe d stone p roj ectiles rather than cast Lead bulle ts like the late r Gree k and Roman gUmrlJ'.\.) As fo r th e ot he r t}p cs of ligh t infantry' and skirrnishers , i.e. a rchers, javel inm e n a nd sword sme n, th e fact that their wea pons we re made of bronze meant th at th e palace di d direct thei r p rod uc tio n . Turning aga in to the Knossos table ts, Sir Art hur Evans fo u nd a cache of tablets .... hich show id eogra ms of what appear to be swords ; a tablet se rvi ng as a total to this se ries lists so me 50 of these. T h is relatively sma ll num ber has
57
been sug ges ted to be a n inve n to ry of m e eq uip mcm of a ru tc rs bodygua rd; but once again, it sh o u ld be stressed tha t th e scarciw o f ;m y item in th e a rch aeological record is not in itse lf a ' p roof o f a negative'. It is n o te ....o r thy that the number o f s.....o rds liste d suppo rts me evid en ce th at Mycenacan un its w e re organized in mult ip les o f te n . Al th ough it see ms th a t in ge neral th e palace may h ave issued swo rds to soldiers, th e ir p re sence in e lite b urial s sUj1;gesu that th ose who we re wea lthy en ough lO p rovid e their own a rm s did so . T h e Knossos tab le ts also list numbers o f javel in s an d arrows . Evans fou n d so me seal impressions with the word potaj a an d an id e og ra m of a sho rt pointe d stick , a n d in associat ion ....i th th ese , finds th a t h e d e scri be d as a rrowh eads. It was th erefore in itially th ought that pataja meant arrows. Howeve r, there is an other ideo gram with Ilig fus on th e tai l which looks m ore li k e an a r ro ...., !!ou tl n: potmed stick la be lled patoja is m ore p robab ly a lig h t j ave lin . This is sign ificant because it tics in w-ith th e d ep ictio ns ofwarrio rs a rmed wi th suc h weapo ns , n o ta bly th e Cap tain o f th e Blacks an d War rio rs H u rling j avelins fr esco e s. It also shows th a t th e pa lace equi p pe d these troop t}p es. N o t su rp r isin gly, in addition to light infan try an d skirm isher weapo ns, th e Knossos tablets sh ow th at the palace con trolle d th e su p ply of the h eavy inf an try 's main ann, the large spear. This is dea rly ....th at is called mJrJws on the tablets - the sam e wo rd as in the Classical period. Fin ally, turnin g to the a rchaeo logical evi d e nce. fragme nts of swo rd s were ac tually fo und in the sam e corri d or at Knossos as the clay Lin e ar B seal imp ressio ns which listed swo rds. The most in d isputab le evid e nce tha t th e palace stored wea pons in b u lk co m es fro m the 'Arm o u ry' at Knossos , w h e r e LL H ; C se a l im p ressio ns we re fo u nd attach ed to th e ch arred rema in s of (\\'0 woo d en boxes contain in g carbo n ized a r row sh afts an d arrowh ead s. In the sam e b uilding was found a tab le t wit h th e a lTOW symbol followed by the h igh nu mbers 6,010 a nd 2,630.
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
58
The fol lowi ng a re som e of the m ain so u rces which have proved useful in the re sea rch fo r this book: Ande rsonj .K , ' C ree k Ch a rio t-Bo rn e an d Mounted In fan try ' , 11mnicQ n Journal of Archaw logy 79:175-187 ( 19 75) Asrrom, P., The Cuiras s Tomh and Other Finds at Dendra (Coe teborg. 19 77) B uch holz, H .G. , & V.Kar ageorghis, Prehistoric Greece /lnd L)prus (Lo n d o n, 19 73) Ch ad wick].. The Mycm atan UOrid (Ca m b rid ge, 1980) Drie ssen,j. M., & C.Macdonald , ' Some Military .\5peCLS of the Ae gea n in the L ite Fiftee nth and Early Fo u rtee n th Centuries BC' , A nnlUll of rk British School at .-\thnu 79:4f'-.74 (1984 ) E\3IlS, A J ., The A llRlUll of tbe British School: at Ath" H, Nn fY, Sen ion 1899-1900 48:U Q-1l 3 (Lo n d o n , 1900 ) n eA nnual or the British School at A thens, No. W, Session 18 99-1900 48 (Lo n d on, 1900 ) Crecnhalgh , PAL., 'T h e Dendra Cha rioteer', Antiquity .:)4:21Q-5 (19 80) Early Gm k Harf are: Horsemen and Chariots in IM Homeric and Archaic Ages (Ca m b rid ge , 1973 )
Lang, M ., Th e Pa!
T he Frescoes (Pri ncetcn , 1969 ) Linaue r, 11., & J .H.Crouwel. ' Char io ts in Late Bro nze Age Greece ' , A ntiquily57:187-9 2 (1983 ) Man ni ng, S.W., ' The Military Fun ction in Late Mino an 1 Cre te : a note' , 1l0rld Arrhorology 18, volume 2: 284-88 (Cambridge, 1986 ) Ma tz, E , Creu and Early Greece, TJuPreLude to Greek A.,.-t (H olland , 1962) Mille r, K , McEwen , E., & C.Bergman , ' Expe rime ntal Approaches to Ancient Near Eas te rn Archery', llOrld A rchafflLogy 18, volume 2: 179-95 (Ca mbridge, 1986) Minist ry o f Cultu re - T he National He lleni c Committee - I CO ~I , TM .\fycmMan Wodd , Fivt Cmturin of Early GTffk Ouuure 1600-11 00 BC (Athe ns, 1986) vtoorey, P.R.S.• 'The Eme rgence of the Ligh t, H o rse-D rawn Chario t in th e Near East (. 2000-1500 BC'. UQrld A rchaeology 18, volume 2:
197- 215 (Cam b ridge. 1986) Pm,,·e11. T.G.E.• 'Some Implications o f Chariotry', in Cullu'ft and Enoimnmau. F.ssays in Honour et Sir CyriLFox, ed . I.Foster & LAdcock , 153--69 (London , 1963 ) Sch liemann , 11.• A~)'CtTIlU; A. .Narrative of Researches '1.nd Discooeria at M yu ruu and Tiryns (Lo ndon, 1878) Schuchhardt, C.• SrhLinnann s Excauations, A n .4. rrJuu oJogical and Historical Stu dy (Ne w Yo rk, 1971) Taylo u r; W.D., n , Myunamn-S (New York, 1964 ) Th ursto n , 5.• ' LBA Chariot Warfare - Part 11' , 11J1lJw. LivingHinoryJo.uk ( 1100--1500 Articles and Resourusj ( 1999) Ve u u i." , M.• & J.CII.u lwio..l , I ftJc u 1IU"u l!. i n ,;\ I)l¥ / llM!Ult G If:l'k (Ca mbridge , 1973) Verm e ule , E.• GI?fU in tM Brrmu Age (Lo ndon, 1972) Wec!>. 11. va n , 'Kings in ('..o m bat: Battles a nd H eroes in th e Iliad', rlllSJical Quarttrl) 38: 1- 24 (1988) Weingan n cr, S.• "In th e Near Eastern Bron ze Age, ch ariot tactics wer e more sop h isticate d than previously supposed ' , MiLitary' Heritap;e, August 2002: 18--22, 79 (U SA, 2002)
59
THE PLATES A : E A RLY INFA NTRY. c .1500 B C
The in$porabon for th s scene was taken from a seal fo..nd in Shaft Grave III at Myoerlae. It shc7.Jo-s a WIfY ightly attired swordsman stabtli~ a heavy spearman in the ttYoat O\ffl'r the nrn 01 the latter'!: figure-. es plumed; It is not knOW n what Mycer\aea"l plumes were , or whethef trletr cololr was ~ted to any orgcPzahonal system. He has a simple, probably early-pattern of 'tcwe- shield , camed - or rather worn - by means of a leather strap (telar.JOfJ) which passes over his left shoulder and under his right arm . His asb wcoc spear Is tipped with a 'srce - soc eet ec' brttlze head , this also being 01 an early design. The fresco from w hich he comes is unIQue in that il actually shows the spearmen 's sw ords, in I~ather scabbards w ith decorative tassels. A2: Swords man This fi«ee character may be represented as a member- of somett1il'lg of an elite, pertlaps even Simiw in temperament D the Vill.lng These I,lflprotected swordsmen were apparently regarded as Vety bra ve; apart from attacking Ileavy irltantry. as here. there are several deOiCtiOI lS in Mycenaean art of ttis type of warrior flgh l lng a ion. His ' 1On'led' sVll'Ord is carried in i!II'l unusuaIy ornate scabbard.
eooo-
'ee-sexe-.
0\3: Hravy spearman ThIs warrior w ears the UflKluely Aegea n flgure-of-eigt1t 5tlleld, so named for its shape, and m ade from wi ckerworK on a wooden frame, cov ered with cowhid8. and with a raised boss-l ike central rib. Uke all early Mycena ean heavy infantry sh iflld~ . th i~ tyf)"l was worn by moan s of a IQ/am on.
He too weaB the ch¥acter'ist1Ca11y Aegean ' boar's-tusk' hel rrwt. HiS spear had the socketed speartIead which was a development of the earli~ shoe- or doublesccket ed type. 0 ; EA RLY I NI'A HTftY, 16th.U5th C EN TURIES B C Th is scene is Inspi red by 0 00 fol.Jl'\d on a decorative gold rilg fro m Myceoae, now cal led 'The Banle in the Glen ' ring , ana dated to the 16th cen tury BC . On the ring the dagger-aIlMd w arrior is portr~ as the 'hero ' :»f the sc ene, s1ayi:'lg ano ther swordsn".an and resculllg an una rmed man . For I-e sake of variety tI'Ie second swordsrTBn has been replaced nere Oy a J8ve1ltWna1, and a heavy spearmatl looks on; perhaps they beIoog to a defeated aro "eeinQ anny. B1 : Ught in fantry swordsman, 16th century B C This heroiC warrior Is armed with a type of triangular ~er found In large rorrcers on Cret e. He wea rs the m inimal clothing cnsractetstc of earty light in'a nlry. The fact tha t he has a boar's-tusk helmet is not un Ll5ual: mo st sw ordsmen found in dep icti ons are so ecuiccec. Thi s an d th e promirtence with whic h they are po rtrayed sug gest that such lig ht tro ops we re held in relat ively high reg ard , possi bly due to the da ngerous and individ ualistic natu re 01 their lactical rol e. B2: Creto-Mycenaean )avelinman, c.1450 BC Tlw$ t1gln is laO;81 from an coscee fragrnertl of fresco fou ~ in Mycenaean Knossos, and named by its discoverer. Artt'lu" ~ 'WlImot"';. ........ing J avMns". !t depicts. a ~ mass 01 these ja\elirtmen Ialroching their weapons high n o the u . This sk..mstler" wears a white ~ band" apparen1y a charaCleristic: of Mycenaean javeirmen - It may even ha-Ie been a badge of thetr trooP type . 83: Heavy spearman, 16th century BC This warrior cart es th e fully dev elo::>ed pattern of tOVoQ" shield , of curved sec tion and shaped into a raised neck guard 01'1 the top rim. Th e carrying st rap « llowed thol shiodl,l'!l;
sa-
.. Se.. 1lmpnll.alo n from Mycen _, 16th _ tury BC, s howi ng a light -..d..-n dispatchi ng • .......,. _
....... _ _
Pbte A.. '"""'"
seene Is al9n~ ~ It gI¥e$ an insOgIht inm _ of the bctlcaI_ of such ~ I'Ie-r s,....-
........ 'IP
............ ..-.ng their~_ .II"ilitll. (Courtesy Professor Or
60
1+4.8uctlhoUj
position to be chcnqcd from the front to tho bec k of the body by thro wi ng the upper body and shoulders back or forward as need ed. Like all early period spearmen he is equ ipped with a boa r's -tusk helmet . His spearhead is of the "s1iteocketeo' type, a transit ion al design be tween the sooe-sccketec and fully socketed types.
c: E ARLY
MISS ILE TROOPS , CENTUR IES BC This scene shows thr ee disti nct kinds of light troops empl oyed by the eaty Mycerlaeans, ero the three missile weapons used. As wel l as battlefield skirmishers, such :roops would have been far more suited to the de fence of citad el walls than heavy spearmen or swo rdsmen. C1: Regular archer, 16th century BC This arche r can be found on a sc ene inl£id int o the blade of a dagger trom ooe of the Shaft Graves at Myceoae. He is shown supporti ng heavy spearmen, fighting an enem y oortrayed as lions. Our description of this archer as a ;regu lar' Is a relative term, in that he Is not nude like some oth er d epictions of Mycenaean arc hers, but wears a garmen t aecoratec in the same way as those of his l our comrades on the Inlaid scene, suggesting unifo rm regJlarlty. He is armed with a composite bow which when dr a..... n assu mes a sem iet-curer shape. His arrowhead is made of knapped obs idian (volcanic glass ); at a time when bronze was still expensive this materia l provided a cheap and expendable alterna tiv e. The number fou nd ir elite burials Indicat es that th eir use was not restricted to the lower classes. C2: Irregular s1inger, 16th c en tu ry BC This figure represents what was probabl')o the lowest cl ass of Myc.eoaean warrior. He comes from an embossed silver rllyton (a vessel used to pour liba toos) now called Ihe 'Sieg e Rhytoo' , which depicts an assa ult 00 a wa lled town. The naked slingers and arch ers are shown skirmishing ahead of heavy speermen with to wer shie lds . Slingers suc h as th is one may have bee n ci vilians who were called out to de fend their town if it came und er att ack. His weapon is cheap and simple , being nothi ng mo re than a piece of leat her cut to shape. His pro jectile is made of un fired d ay and is based on earlier excav ated examoles. these sling bullet s were also mad e of shaped stones. C3: Nu bi an mercenary javelinm an, 1450-1400 BC Taken from a fresco found in Mycenaean Knossos and called 'Th e Ca ptair of the Blac ks' , th is figure po rtrays a foreign mercena ry in Mycenaean servi ce, The fresco sho ws what wa s evide ntly a line of Afr ican warriors led by a Greek off ice r. The two feathers fixed into his hair suggest th at he is Nubran; th is type of adornment can also be seen in Egypti an depict io ns of Nubians , who were regarded as excellent light troo ps . He carries two ligh t javelins 'oYi1h heads cut from bronze plat e and tan gs driven into th e end of the shafts . His garment is relativel"{ ornate , wh ich ma{ sug gest th is was one of the pa lace 's elite specialist ums. As well as th e c hllracleris tic jllvelinmlln's neck ban d he wellr.l t wo bronze rIngs above each ankle , wh ich may or may not be a Nubian element . 1 0t h -1~ t h
D : DUAL CHARIOT, 1 500 - 1 40 0 BC Inspired by a scene carv ed on a gravesto ne from Mycenae, th is plate depicts :he heavy 'dual ch ariot' of the earlie r period, so nam ed because th e cab is of dual co nstru cti on ,
incorpo rQting the box proper Qnd :x:mi circulor 'win qa ' projecting from 1he rear sid es. Excep t fo r th e mouth bits of the bridle, no remains of Mycenaean chariots have been found, so reconstructions ca n only be made by studytlg depi ct ions and tests as w ell as mak ing comparisons with surviving Egyptian ch ario ts. The b-aced double draught pole acces-s to be a st rengthening feature of the Aegean chariot. do know that the cnaocts sto red at Myceoaean Kn05SOS were paInted vanous soaoes of red . and tha t thes e probably used by' higher ranks were inlaid w ith ivory. 01: Warrior in corselet, c. 1400 BC This warrior wears t he famous 'Dendr a panoply' narrec after the site of ts d iscovery. This remark able suit of brorze armour is the most complete example fo und of the type of corselets issued to chario t- borne warriors in th e Un ear B tablets, but frag ments of a numoo- of similar armours have been found elsewhere. The vanocs plates were joined together by leather 1M ngs and designed 10 be able to slide over each ot her, allowing th e wearer enough mov ement to w ield his long spear effectively. The boar's-tus k helmet and arm guards were also fou nd with the corselet. 0 2: Ch ari oteer, 15th cent ury BC Un like the warrior, th e cha riot dri ve' was no t expec ted to engage in co mbat; his job was to maintain co ntrol of lha chariot and manoeuvre it into position for th e wa rrior to use his spea r. This would have ta ken great sl\ill, given the retatve heaviness of these early chariot s and the rocky Greek lerr<: in. For this reaso n ~.e wears only a wai st garment and a boar'stusk helmet likE th at of his comrade, with bronze chee k guards and plume. 0 3: Sw ordsman, 15ttl c en tury BC Although evidently highly effective against d isord ered bodies of hea vy infantry. a loosely formed unit of light swordsrren would probably have been vulnerable to a chariot atta ck . His weapon is a long thrusting sWO!'C (sometimes called a 'rapi er'), of which many exam ples have been found.
we
E : LATER IN FA N T R Y, c .1 2 5 0- 1200 BC These figures are tak en from th ose portrayed on the 'Warrior Vase' fou nd at Mycenae, and a fresco fragment from 11e palace at Pylos. These palaces were destroyed in the late 13th cen tury BC. so these finds can be da ted to tha t period. They show a major ch ange in Myceneean milil ary dress and eq uip me nt fro m t he earlier per iod , and imply a corresponding chang e in tacti cs . E1: My cenaean spearma n Taken fm m t hA Wllrri nr VIISf'!, this ma n WAllrR th A Rn·r;lI llfln ' horned helmet'. We inte rpret t his as being made from hard ened Ieatbe- with bronze stu ds added for extra strength; it is ador ned with two 'ho rns' - probab ly tu sks from a boar and a plum e mounted in a raised comb . His tor so is well protected by a sim ple fro nt- and-beck bronze cui-ass: his 'kilt' is also for potecncn, bei ng made of leather wit h bronze studs. Underneath his grea ves he wears woolleo over-the-knee seeks. The MTlall bag attached to hi~ ecee- ts used for carrying the wanior's rations and personal belongings on tile march. E2: Mycenaean spearma n This warrior comes from the opposite side of the Warier Vase 10 E1. HE is dressed and eq uipped the same as his comrade, apart from his headgear, of the type now knoYin as the 'tledgehog helmet' . Th is seems to have been
61
Thi s fre's<:o lro", Mycenae clearly
~
t he curved rim,
!ongiWdi.... rib be>-. -.cl
c:owhtOe - n n g of t he figu_ of-righl sIlleHS. IIw cowhide ~ln led with d ark brown palc,," o n a while backgro u n d. This d a plcllon is d .. ....t tft""" 1 3th century, whetl s.uc:h .nleHSs W«'8 _ Ionget' in u... (Courtesy
con struct ed from or covered WIth the spi ned pelts of ar';tl lal hedgehogs , atta ched to a leather frame. Such a helmet appears elsew here In de picti ons of later Mycenaean warriors, and apparet1tly denotes a separate unit from th ose wearing the horned t elmet. Both these ..... arriOfS carry slung on their backs 'inverted pelt. ' sh ields. This type probably also had handles tor carrying It on the arm when fighting, though 1'\Ol'18 can be seen in depictions. E3 : Pylian infa n trynun
This fal len warrior comes from the fresco fragment fro m th e palace at PyIos. H s d ress Is charactertsticauy Pylian , r.amely the linen tome and thick fabric greaves. It is unc lear from the fresco whe:h er his weapon is it javelin intended for throwing Of a spe ar for th rusti ng. In an~ c ase he appears to be a medium Infantryma n, owing 10 the tact that he has armour in the form of a sniekl and greaves but no tody annour.
6'
F: PYLlAN LIGHT INFANTRY AND •.... RBARIANS· . c .12S0_1200 BC Jlmong the fresco fragmerl ls tol.nd at the site of the palace at Pykls was Ol">e shcwW'Ig a $lOrmish bet'tIrfeefI sokiiers and 'll'hal can only be ckscribed as 'savages' or barbarians, which is the inspiration for th is plate.
Arct\aeologfc:.al ~
~
_
.
~donal
F1 : Light spearma n
Con firmation t hat this warrior 's we'1POO IS intended 10r thrusting rather than t hrowing is provided by the fresco , where one can be seen being thrust into a barba rian's gro in. His secondary weapon is a sword slung from a shoulder belt. He is very lig htly attired. with on ly a I,nen kilt with leather OWlrlay and linen sreavee. Th is would have made him w911 suited for cceeatces in the roug n fri~ of Mycenaean rule, whel"e the b.artJ.arWls lJw""L F2: Swordsman This warrior Is possibly fro m the sam~ unit as his comrade F1, owing to their ident ical dress; however, mere is no ind icatio n th at he too carried a spear. His sword is of the typ e known as 'cv crrcm-eooccerec'. His boar's-tusk helmet is in its fully evolved form , with a curved neck guard and small tu sk cr est FJ; ' Barbarian' This savage hillman uses a Mycenaean sword take n from a slain PyIian soIdoEr. His garment is Simply a pl8C8 of hide or fleece tom so tt at it can be tied at the shoukier. It is lJf'Ikno
se
G: RAIL CHARIOT, 0.1260 -1160 BC
H1 : M ou n t e d werrlor, 0 . 1200
This scene shows th e chariot halted beneath the ' Lion Gate' at Mycenae. The pott ery fragment from wnich the chariot and its crew are reconstruc ted came from the neig hbo uring palace at Tityl1s. Althoug h a major centre in its own right, Tiry ns appears to have been po litically d om inated by Myceoae, and it is frcm there tha t ee cnanoreer has travelled . The rail chariot was the last type documeoted in Bronze Age Greece and, like the dual dlarlot, was of lOcal orig in. G1: Charioteer He wears a thick linM corselet over a wco aen tu nic, and his bwer torso is further protected by a padded bronze waist belt held on by its own teoecn. His con ical bronze helmet has chee k guards . G2: $pearman This spearman is less we ll equipped th an those shown in Plate E. and may be a levied sol dier, o'Ning to his lack of OOImet and body armour. He has, how e'ler, procured a pai r of thin bronze greaves. His round shieki and short spea r seem to have been typical of the later Myceo aean period.
Although this rider is probably a cavajryman. it cannot be ruled out that he is a mou nted infantryman. Indeed, the vase fragment fro m .... hich he is reconstn.ct ed appears to show him d ismo unted, although this may be the result of th e artist being unfamiliar with the sub ject matter. His con ical bronze helmet has cheek guards attached by leathers, and his cuirass comprises a sImple set of breast- and back -plates. Below the edge of his tunic he wears long woo llen socks under his thin bronZe greaves. and seooais. His weapon is a so-called 'c rucif orm- hilted rapier'. The tying of the horse's mane in bullChe$ is shown in period sources, but the saddle pad and bnd le are conjectural apert from finds of b ronze bits. H2: Mycenaean woman Off ering the warrior a drink of water from a vessel kno wn as a 1Mth sidelocks and two upwards cone above the forehead, is chara cteri stica lly Mycena ean, and ca n be seen in frescoes ol the time .
Th is relati~el)' ea rty e" am pl e of a bo ar's·tus k he lm et is ~onstn.leted bas ed u po n depI Ctions; It d lltes from betw...... 1550 and t500 BC a nd COme S hum My<;:enae itseI'. Note t he eheek g ua rds., also c onstrveted of sliced tusks uwn o n t o • leather ba ckin g. (Co urtesy Profn.s.or Of"H-G. B uchhol q
63
INDEX
Fi~(C';
in bold ret er 10 ill LL\IroUions
footwear 19.63, H I fortifications 7
" " m tiri 'Se a Ba ll ]",' ffe "'o 10
arch ers 20-5 an d ch a ri o ts
:n, ot f.
early 6, 11, :W. 6 1. C I Jate r 32 armour co rsele t ideogr,tll1S 56 corselets l i , 46 . 61, 6:'1, D L Gl cuirasse s 61, 63, El . H I Dc n d r.l lin d 46-8,46 , 4 7, 6 1, DI fore arm gu ards 4 7. h l . LH greavc s 18 , 19.20. 61, 63, E l , G :!. HI
axes 6, 1%. 13 baJitm 32 ' Battle in th " GI!:'n' rtn !t %5, :"'8 , 60 battk fil"ld organization 50-1 bows a n d arro ws 2(1-5. 22-4. 6 1, Cl _
auo arch.....
cavalry 48, -19. 6."1, HI cha rio ts an d ch a rio trv -I. 30, 32--46 Aegean ch ari o ts 3 2-43 battlefield organization 5 1 box c h ariots 4 2, 44 'cha rges' 45-6 ch ariot armam e n t -1,3-5 ch a rioteers 2 1, 22. et. 63, 02, G I d ual cha ri o ts 41. -12, 6 1. D horse sllppl~' 56 quad..,m l ch a ri o ts 42-3 rail ch a rio ts n .·n . 63. G
Ch ina 51, .')6....j clothing 'barbarians' 62, F3
helmets
boar's-ru sk 7. 11,1 2-1 3. 12- 13, 60 ,
62, 6 3, AI , AS, B I . f2 cuuical bronze 63 . c r. HI 'h edgch o.•( IS-19 , 18, 6 1-2. E2 'h o rn e d ' 18-1 9, 18 .61 , E l nthe r 14, 14 plume s W, AI 1Iill ites 5. 44 . 49. 5 2. 51 , :;0 HOlller 3, 5, 13, 5 1, 52, 54 horse fu rn iture 49. 63, HI horses fi3, H supplv 56 inf.m tr} :';"'nl('ficld organ;""'t!" n 50-1 early 60-1, A B :l<'1I' ')' 8--19 'a te r 6 1-2. E , F liKht 19-32, 28 j awhnm cn 17 , 27, 3(1-1, 60 , 6 1. 8 2, C3 j avel ins :'1 0, 58,61, C3
Kadesh , battle of (1300 BC) 5 1 53 Km ""'ls cha ri ots 61 des truc tion and reb uilding 5 equipme n t issue 5~ 57-8 frescoes from %7. 30- 1. 5~ Linear 8 tablets from 43--4, H -8. 53--t, :i:i n\ i1iuu~..organ izatio n 54--5, 56
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c h a rio te e rs 63, C l e a rly 8,61 , C l Kno~san dis tri bution 5~ late r period 3 1-2.61 , E l
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Macdonald , C. 54
WOm e n &3, H 2
miitarv o rga nization 49- 58 Minoans 3, 4--5 , i r,..I)"'t'n"t' citadel 53 t xca\'3li,, " 3 Iresc ues from 62 lio n Gale 50. 63 . G :\h'Cenat"",ln a rmy compcsinon 54-5 evo lu tio n f>--8 op ponents 5 unit sizes 56-7 M)'C en,l",a ns archa eo logv o n !>--6 ce n tr es o f ci,~ lira lio n 4 emerge nce an d d o rninanc e- 4--5 end o f 7-8 Ho mer o n ;; polilical orga nizatio n 52
co m m and structu re 51-3 e rN e JI,linoan civiliza tio n 3, +-5 Mvce n ae ans take O\1:'T 5 J,N 00 0 Knos.'IO'\ dagge rs I t. 26 . :"'9, 60, 8 1 De nd ra armo u r -i6-8, 46 . 47. 61. D I Drie..."",n.J.M. 3 4
EIDptiaIls
64
ann~' organization ~'), 52 chari o ts 21. 32. 42, H a t Kadesh (1300 BC) 51 a nd :\lycenaea ", :I fIJI/ M 52,53 cq ui pm t'nt , iS5UC o f ss-e. 57-8 1': \'a,,', Sir Ar th ur :-111,57- 8
:"Jubians %7, 30, 61, CS palace role 52--6. 57-8 1"\-1.. < , eq .iipmc r n -17-8 Ircscoes fro m %8. 41 h i ~I OT)' 4, 7, 6 2 F I , £'2 in fam rynle ll from 62 , mil ila ry organization 52- 3, 56
es.
saddbl9, 6;'1, H I Sc hlieman n . H e inrich :1 shie lds 9-11 IiK.lre.o f-eig h t 7,8. HI- ll , 11, 611. 6 % A> 'i nve rt ed peha ' 17, 6 1- 2 El. E% ro un d (lI_'pis) 16, 17, 6 3.G% Io<,.-.. r 3. 10. 11, 60 - 1, AI. B3 'Siege Rh~'lon ' 13,1 9. 20.20, 2'1 . 6 1 skirmisherv 19-25, 5 1 ~lj"g 'IO""'~ 6 , 6 1, C 2 sting ers 6 , 20. 32 . 57, 6 1. C2 spcarme n in ch a rio ts 44 early 7, 25. so-t . 60, A I. A.l . B3 later 17, 61- 2, 6 3. El , E2. r i. G2 'l'""lT>l and spearhe ad, 11·12
early S la l.. 1fi
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taU in ba ttle field orga niza tio n [,(1-1 c ha rio ts 32---41,43-6,41'\ l, t'4"" in r" ntry 1+1::; liHht' infanlT) ' 25 :-.It''llilh ic 6-7 skitmishcrs 19-2Q sw'o rdcnen 29-30 , 60 Ta\"lclllr, W.D. 6 Tl ryn s .1. 6.1 un if" n n s ""'TUUM
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'Wa rrior Va."",· 17, 18 . 18 . 6 1 wcap u n ~
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prcducti,," 5 7-8 .,..'/' 'Il", individ ual W"lJI~tl
63, H2
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