#8090 Spartans
Dated: July 12th, 2005, updated September 2, 2005.
Line drawings
Bareheaded man with tunic, shield and spear.
Naked man with pilos helmet, sword and shield.
Musician/piper
Could be used to issue complex commands to the phalanx.
Officer
Distinguished by his sideways crest. This officer is customizable by adding or taking off his cloak or shield.
His right hand has a choice of 3 items: the famous short Lakonian sword, the famous Lakonian staff, and the famous hoplite spear (not shown). Twelve theoretical combinations of clothing/weapons are possible.
The goal of this set is to portray a Spartan Army which was a hoplite army together with it's supernumeraries, therefore the focus of this set will be a hoplite phalanx. Most of the poses and figures will depict Spartan hoplites in decidely phalanxial poses to create a solid block of men bristling with spears and covered in hoplons.
Hoplites with tunic
At some point, someone realized that with a big round shield as protection, body armor was not needed. Divesting the armor conferred several advantages. Personal dexterity and mobility was increased, one could surely wield one's weapon more dexterously without the cumbersome cuirass in the way. Stamina was increased as a result of not having to carry extra weight on one's body and the army itself was more mobile. Such was the general exhilaration of not having to wear their armor that soon other Greek armies followed suit.
Hoplites with muscle cuirass
The divestiture of armor came with an unwanted side effect, death, therefore at some point, cuirasses came to be worn again. These three hoplites wear the earliest antecedent of today's Kevlar jacket, much less effective, but much more stylish.
Hoplites with linen cuirass
The ever popular linen cuirass. Please note that the Spartan shield device lambda is purposely left off as Sparta's allies were dressed the same but used employed different devices on their shields. Also note that all Spartan citizens in this set can be distinguished by their long hair and beard. Even by the Archaic period the barber was a dead profession.
Archer
Greek mercenary archer, a rare version with helmet and cuirass.
Light cavalryman
Ionian mercenary cavalry
Heavy cavalryman
Spartan cavalryman
There you have it, an all arms Spartan Army. Not all arms need to be used, but different interesting variants can be created.
Specification may be subject to change without notice.