For as long as humans have been fighting themselves, they have
been trying to find ways to protect themselves from blows and creating new and
powerful ways to kill as many people as efficiently as possible…
Egypt
There
were four main types of weapons used by the Egyptians; the spear, the bow, the
sword, and the axe. Egypt’s power was mostly during the Bronze Age, and iron
was rare and extremely expensive. King Tutankhamen had one small iron dagger,
and it was worth many times its weight in gold. The spears used by the ancient
Egyptians were quite average. Most of the time they were a leaf-shaped bronze
tip mounted on a shaft of what was probably cedar wood from Lebanon. Their axes
were not like the axes we think of today, the handles were short with a long
heat and a short blade, similar to the tomahawks that would appear much later.
Their swords were probably the most iconic piece of their arsenal. Sometimes an
Egyptian would carry a hooked sickle sword, called a khopesh. The khopesh was a
secondary weapon meant to be used after one had lost his spear or bow. Along
with the spear, the bow was widely used by the soldiers of Egypt. In the Old
Kingdom, bows were relatively weak and made of a single branch, but by the New
Kingdom, Egypt had adopted the compound bow, which was laminated with horn and
animal sinew to increase its strength.
Due
to the hot climate and ways in which battles were fought, Egyptian armor was
all but nonexistent. Nearly all of the body protection of the Egyptians came
from their shields. Egyptian shields were one of the earliest forms of tower
shields and were made of cowhide stretched over a wood frame. Even this was
sometimes abandoned due to it restricting the user on the use of their weapons.
Sometimes a shield bearer would protect an archer, similar to how the Egyptians
used chariots. However, even the chariots only protected the lower portion of
the wearer leaving the upper portion exposed.
Greece
The weapons and armor of Greece show close resemblance as far as
function, but the Greeks had two significant improvements; armor and cavalry.
While the cavalry was used mostly by the Greeks of the north (such as the
Macedonians), armor was used extensively by all Greek Hoplites. The Greek
helmet underwent a drastic evolution, though the most iconic is the Corinthian
helmet, which features long cheek and nose guards and often a decorative crest.
Interestingly, this style of helmet seems to have endured through the ages. A
very famous and protective example from the late fifteenth century, known as
the Avant Armor, features a style of helmet called a barbute, which bears
striking resemblance to the Corinthian helmet.
For body protection, Greece used two main types of vest. One is
now called an anatomical cuirass. This is the hammered bronze armor, which is
often embossed to resemble a muscular chest and appears often in modern cinema.
The other type is called a linothorax. The linothorax was made of laminating
several sheets of linen together. The linothorax was very popular due to its
lightness, breathability, low cost, and comparable protective capability to the
bronze breastplate. Sometimes little bronze scales would be sewn to it the
increase its protective capability. To complete the set, one could also add
beaten bronze greaves and bracers.
Much
like the Egyptians, the Greeks relied heavily on the bow and spear. The sword
was and always would be a secondary weapon until they fell out of use. Unlike
the Egyptians, however, the Greeks learned to put the spear and shield to a
better use with an advanced variant of the shield wall. Later the Macedonians
would use several rows of soldiers and much longer spears, called pikes, to
create a bristling wall of spearheads, called a phalanx. In a technique called the
hammer and anvil, the phalanx would attack the middle, while the cavalry
swooped in from behind, crushing the enemy on two fronts.
Rome
At Rome’s beginning, it would be very difficult to distinguish
between a Greek and Roman soldier. The way they fought and were armed
traditionally as hoplites was almost identical. Over time though, units became
more specialized. On one hand, heavy infantry began to carry shields that were
longer and oval shaped. The bronze breastplate was abandoned for coats of maille,
called lorica hamatae, and linen armor became the norm and would remain so for
years to come. With a lorica hamata, however, a form of padding was required,
called a submaralis. This was an early form of what would eventually become the
gambeson. Most of the development in the arsenal of the Roman infantryman was
the shield. The shield steadily became more useful for formations, eventually
evolving into the iconic tower shield known as the Scutum. The Scutum was
suited almost exclusively to formations, and therefore of limited use in a
one-on-one conflict. The smaller oval
shaped shield was still used for cavalry; however, unlike the Greeks, cavalry was
never widely used. The armor continued to evolve, leading to the creation of a
segmented plate armor called lorica segmentata, as well as a more ceremonial
scale armor called lorica squamata.
Rome also utilized a lighter form of infantrymen. This soldier
would carry a smaller, lighter shield and carry several throwing spears
individually, called pilum. A pilum had a barbed head attached to a long metal
bar with a weight in the middle. Even if the pilum happened to miss its target,
when a pilum struck an enemy shield, it would stick and the soft iron rod would
bend, making the shield unusable and leaving the owner defenseless.
To
finish arming the Roman infantryman, he would need a helmet, sword, and dagger.
The early Roman helmets were very similar to the late era Greek helmets. The
tall point they came to eventually turned back into a semicircle, however the
hanging cheek guards and flared back remained. With the addition of a rim above
the eyes, it became known as a gala helmet. This was the helmet that, over time,
would become the spangenhelm, the common ancestor of all medieval helmets. Neither the Roman gladius, nor the dagger,
called a pugio, underwent much evolution, though both were commonly used. Both consisted
of a straight piece of sharpened metal, occasionally with a slight leaf shape
to them, and were best suited to the stabbing type fighting used in a shield
wall.
Byzantium
Byzantium
was what remained after Rome’s western portion fell. It retained much of the
influence western Rome had on it while also including some ideas from the east
and north. For example, the Byzantines, unlike their Roman counterparts, relied
heavily on cavalry, and the infantry was kept mostly out of tradition.
Weapons like the Greek xiphos came back into style, and showing
influence from the east, a saber like sword became a new addition. Heavier
weapons became more common also; long axes and maces began to be used. The
renowned Varangian Guard, Norse mercenaries who served as the emperors personal guard in
peace time and Byzantium’s most elite unit during war, were feared for the long
two handed axes they used.
While
the plate armor of the Romans did not disappear during the time of Byzantium,
it did undergo a drastic transformation. While opinions vary on why lorica
segmentata fell out of use, it is clear that in Byzantium at least, lorica
squamata and variations on its forms rose in popularity. Scales became larger
and lamellar cuirasses, small plates of metal laced together with cord, called
kilvanions, became popular among the wealthy. Maille, however, was still the
primary form of protection, as it could be easily produced despite the
extensive time it takes to make it.
Scandinavia
While the Byzantines held power over the south, the Norse sphere of
influence was in the north. Following the trend set by the Romans and
Byzantines, the Norse used almost entirely maille. Maille garments grew longer
and longer, eventually becoming a hauberk, which covers the arms chest and
upper legs. For head protection, a Norseman could choose between a helmet and a
coif. If they were Vikings, they would often wear whatever happened to be the
best thing they stole, and with the extensive colonization by the Norse, these
items could be quite varied.
During
the so-called Viking Era, weapons became more multi-purpose. Bearded axes that
chopped wood were also tools of war. The type of knife known today as the seax,
the original form of the modern Bowie, was carried by most as a utility knife
and a defensive weapon. Weapons that were purely weapons, like the sword and
spear, underwent very little evolution also. With the exception of a change in
guard, the Viking age sword looked very similar to the late Roman cavalry
spatha and would continue to do so until the late 12th century.
Medieval
Europe
The
medieval era is when armor underwent its most drastic changes and gained a
great deal of variety. In the early Middle Ages, maille was used almost
exclusively, but gradually as weapons improved, so did armor. It began with the
advent of the coat of plates around the 13th century. Coats of
plates were similar to the lorica segmentata, but improvements in design and metalworking
technology allowed for larger plates and less constriction on the body shape
and size of the wearer by riveting them to a sheet of fabric or leather. Plates became larger and smaller,
forming the side or front opening versions of the coat of plates, called brigandines. By the
14th century, a small but solid chest plate, known as a globose, had
also evolved. Variation on combining these two armors created a great variety
of styles. One form of brigandine, called the Wimbledon type, had a plate pattern
that bore a striking resemblance to the lorica segmentata, while other forms
like the Chalkis type 1 and Munich type brigandines featured forms of the
globose while adding a skirt of plates to increase its protective capabilities.
As body armor improved, so did the armor for helmets and limbs.
Greaves, which protected the knees, had a cuisse added which extends up to
cover the thigh, as well as adding articulated joints, called polyens, on the
knees, and cops on the arms. Pauldrons were added to the shoulders, and the
full hauberk or smaller habergeon was often replaced by voiders; supplementary
armor used to cover the places armor would restrict movement in.
Helmets grew to increasingly various shapes and sizes. In the 12th
century people still used the basic nasal helm like the Vikings. By the 13th
century, the crusader style topfhelm and larger greathelm were used, often on
top of a cervelliere or bascinet helmet. Even though the great helm was largely
abandoned after this century, it was still used in jousting due to its superior
protective ability. A variation known as the frog-mouth helm was
used up until he 15th century, and a smaller form known as the
sugarloaf helm was still used in combat.
The
longest, and one of the most balanced helmets, the bascinet, came during the 14th
century. This form of the bascinet was longer and covered more of the head than
the previous form. It also had a visor that could flip down and cover the
wearer’s face. The neck was still protected by a maille or scale aventail,
often sewn to a padded liner. There were a variety of options a knight could
chose for visors, such as the long pointed houndskull, the flatter more
comfortable klappvisor, and some even chose to use only a nasal piece for
better breathability and sight.
Weapons and shields underwent a very clear and consistent
evolution during the Middle Ages. Steadily, shields grew smaller and smaller,
while weapons grew longer and more oriented to thrusting rather than cutting.
It started with the arming sword. The arming sword was a direct evolution of
the Viking
age
sword and similar in use. Its one handed
broad nature made it effective used with a shield, often a classic heater
shape. There were some differences though. The pommel was smaller, to allow for
more wrist movement, and the guard was larger, offering more protection. With
the advent of the coat of plates, the swords steadily became more pointed until
the fifteenth century, when most swords were used exclusively for thrusting.
Soon the shield was abandoned completely, with knights relying purely on the
effectiveness of their armor for protection, and two-handed weapons like the
longsword were adopted. Fourteenth and
fifteenth century longswords, like the type XVIa and XVIIIb, were fast,
versatile, and very effective about finding gaps in armor, but they required a
certain amount of skill to use and they were rather poor at defending against
heavier weapons like polearms.
Polearms
were primary weapons in a battle, as well as the lance, if a knight was
mounted. Men at arms, with very little experience, could effectively wield
weapons like a bill or a glaive in a pike type formation or on their own. For
people with more training, a six-foot polearm, such as a poleaxe or pole hammer,
could smash through an opponent’s armor. The length allowed for the user to
generate a lot of leverage and force without slowing down the user or
difficulty changing direction. The lance also was an effective first strike
weapon. A charge of mounted knights, with 10-foot lance and the force of the
horse and the weight of the armor behind it, would easily break through almost
any line spread before it.
The most dangerous weapon to this kind of charge though was the
bow, as the French learned at the Battle of Crecy. A line of mounted French
knights charged the English, only to be met with a rain of arrows and be
completely decimated. War arrows, like the ones used then, had an acutely
pointed and hard tip that was excellent at either punching through or finding
gaps in armor. The bows were most often made of yew, one of the most effective
woods for making a bow. The heartwood is very resistant to compression and the
sapwood very resistant to tension, giving the force of some of the bows 160 to
200lbs.
Along with a sword, shield, and long weapon of some kind, knights
would almost always carry a dagger. There were several options, but a knight
would usually choose a rondel, bollock, or quillion dagger. The medieval armor evolution ended, though,
with the introduction of gunpowder. Armor and weapons simply could not stand
against the power of a musket barrage. For a while, some weapons like the
bardiche and the rapier survived, but soon they too became largely ceremonial
or simply worn out of tradition before fading completely. People look down on
the past as primitive and unsophisticated, but we must remember the future is
built on the past, and the past can never be forgotten.
Citations
·
Dawnson, Timothy George. (2020.) Armor. (Leventia
site.) https://www.levantia.com.au/byzarmour.html
·
Dawnson, Timothy George. (2020.) Weapons.
(Leventia site.) https://www.levantia.com.au/byzweapons.html
·
Groeneveld, Emma. (June 1, 2018). Viking
Warfare. (Ancient History Encyclopedia site.) https://www.ancient.eu/Viking_Warfare/
·
Williamson, Mitch. (August 14, 2015.)
Military of the Byzantines. (Weapons and Warfare site.) https://weaponsandwarfare.com/2015/08/14/the-military-of-the-byzantines/
