Laminated linen protected Alexander the Great, a research suggests

[DAVIDE]

Alexander's men wore linothorax, a highly effective type of body armor created by laminating together layers of linen, research finds.


This mosaic of Alexander the Great shows the king wearing linothorax -- an armor made from laminated linen.



A Kevlar-like armor might have helped Alexander the Great (356–323 B.C.) conquer nearly the entirety of the known world in little more than two decades, according to new reconstructive archaeology research.
Presented at the annual meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America in Anaheim, Calif., the study suggests that Alexander and his soldiers protected themselves with linothorax, a type of body armor made by laminating together layers of linen.
"While we know quite a lot about ancient armor made from metal, linothorax remains something of a mystery since no examples have survived, due to the perishable nature of the material," Gregory Aldrete, professor of history and humanistic studies at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, told Discovery News.
"Nevertheless, we have managed to show that this linen armor thrived as a form of body protection for nearly 1,000 years, and was used by a wide variety of ancient Mediterranean civilizations," Aldrete said.
Indeed, Aldrede and co-investigator Scott Bartell discovered that linothorax was widely mentioned in ancient records.
"Currently we have 27 descriptions by 18 different ancient authors and nearly 700 visual images on objects ranging from Greek vases to Etruscan temple reliefs," Aldrete said.
The main visual evidence for Alexander wearing linothorax is the famous "Alexander Mosaic" from Pompeii, in which the Macedonian king is depicted with this sort of armor.
Indeed, in his "Life of Alexander," the Greek historian Plutarch states that Alexander wore "a breastplate of folded (or doubled) linen" at the Battle of Gaugamela in 331 B.C. This battle a was a huge victory for the Greeks and led to the fall of the Achaemenid Empire.
According to the researchers, there is further evidence that linen breastplates were standard equipment in the Macedonian army.
"When Alexander was in India, and received 25,000 new suits of armor for his army, he is described as having ordered the old worn-out suits of armor to be burned. This would only make sense if they had been made of fabric rather than metal," Aldrete said.
In order to determine how wearable this armor was, and how effective it would have been in protecting its wearer from arrows and other battlefield hazards, Aldrete and Bartell reconstructed several complete sets of linen armor using only material that were only available in the ancient world.
"The hardest part of the project was finding truly authentic linen. It had to be made from flax plants that were grown, harvested and processed, spun and woven by hand," Aldrete said.
The other key ingredient was glue, which was placed over various layers of linen. The researchers chose to work with two simpler glues that would have been available everywhere: a glue made from the skins of rabbits and another from flax seeds.
Tests included shooting the resulting patches with arrows and hitting them with a variety of weapons including swords, axes and spears.
"Our controlled experiments basically dispelled the myth that armor made out of cloth must have been inferior to other available types. Indeed, the laminated layers function like an ancient version of modern Kevlar armor, using the flexibility of the fabric to disperse the force of the incoming arrow," Aldrete said.
According to Heidi Sherman, linen expert and professor of history at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, the researchers have achieved some very convincing results.
"One cannot know with complete certainty how close the model is to the linen armor used by Alexander the Great's army, but several layers of fused linen can indeed withstand quite a rigorous battering. They would have provided ample protection under rather extreme conditions," Sherman told Discovery News.


Source:
http://news.discovery.com/archaeolog...eat-armor.html

[Subuatai de Bodemloze]

This is quite cool, davide thanks for the read.
It is known that the Mongols wore shirts of heavy raw silk for similar effect (although it was under leather armour). Rarely would an arrow peirce the body and if it did silk the torn silk would facilitate easier removal and would result in a cleaner penetration.

[DAVIDE]

i would like to see their tests made with a real linothorax against arrows. Could be interesting to see how it didnt sucked at difference of what people usually think, when we compare it to some other kind of armors

[konny]

i would like to see their tests made with a real linothorax against arrows. Could be interesting to see how it didnt sucked at difference of what people usually think, when we compare it to some other kind of armors

The problem with the tests with lino (and all other kinds of "padded" armour, like Medieval gambesons) I have seen so far is not the exact recontruction of the armour but the material it is tested upon: In most occasions the armour is hang on solid wood or even stone and then shot at with arrows.

When the arrow is not able to penetrate the material beneath the armour it will instantly be "thrown back" without realy penetrating the armour itself, that would give the impression only little harm would have be done to the wearer of that armour. But hang over something that would more be like a human body in softness would allow the arrow to properly penetrate the armour.

That is, these kinds of armour would be a good protection against blunt injuries but most likely be useless against direct hits by arrows and similar attacks. It is also obvious that the Ancients did not consider lino as superior to the much, much more expensive chain mail, what most likely would have been unknown in Alexander's army, or plate armour. So, it would have been the armour of men who couldn't afford better protection.

Rich horsemen, like Alexander, might have prefered it over plate because it is much more flexible and reduces the weight the horse had to carry.

[Subuatai de Bodemloze]

Well if they suspect it act's similar to kevlar then, frankly thats just amazing for circa 300 BC. Just look at how kevlar was recieved in this day and age.

Imagine back then..
"Take a look at this (insert greek name)"
"What is it? It looks like a over starched tunic." replied (insert second greek name)
"Umm I think I will name it 'linothorax' It's just some a couple peices of cloth I accidentally glued together one day and noticed that it was still semi flexible but strong."
"Umm cool, you should sell this to some of those silly warriors, there always looking for some fancy way of killing or not being killed"
"Thats a good idea! I was just going to use it to hold water for the summer."

[DAVIDE]

Well if they suspect it act's similar to kevlar then, frankly thats just amazing for circa 300 BC. Just look at how kevlar was recieved in this day and age.

Imagine back then..
"Take a look at this (insert greek name)"
"What is it? It looks like a over starched tunic." replied (insert second greek name)
"Umm I think I will name it 'linothorax' It's just some a couple peices of cloth I accidentally glued together one day and noticed that it was still semi flexible but strong."
"Umm cool, you should sell this to some of those silly warriors, there always looking for some fancy way of killing or not being killed"
"Thats a good idea! I was just going to use it to hold water for the summer."

buahauahauahauaha


for now i found this. not made by discovery news but by UWGB (not sure of their technique in making a linothorax, or if they followed the procedure via ancient materials as discovery claimed to have followed:

arrow penetration measurement

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

[Phier]

The greeks knew the concept of laminated armor prior to Alexander so its not surprising.

People tend to underestimate the ancients.

[Timoleon of Korinthos]

Alexander's men wore linothorax, a highly effective type of body armor created by laminating together layers of linen, research finds.

If the Macedonian pezhetairoi and hypaspistae wore a cuirass, it would have indeed been the linothorax. But there is no positive evidence to suggest this was the standard or even a widespread practise. The absence of cuirasses in the pictorial evidence, direct literary references and the resemblance of their mobility with Xeno's breastplate-less 10,000 rather implies the opposite.

"When Alexander was in India, and received 25,000 new suits of armor for his army, he is described as having ordered the old worn-out suits of armor to be burned. This would only make sense if they had been made of fabric rather than metal," Aldrete said.

Which in turn would only make sense if helmets, greaves and shields made of metal, which also stand as parts of a set of armor, could be burned and only breastplates of metal could not. A more reasonable approach would be that Plutarch meant 'burned' as in dispose or melt.
Now, the linothorax had appeared in Greece as early as the second half of the 6th century and by the turn of the century it had become widely popular. As a matter of fact, Snodgrass has correctly pointed already since the 60s that the famous Athenian dromedary charge at the battle of Marathon in 490BC would have been unfeasible with the traditional bronze 'bell' cuirasses; and the 'muscled' ones hadn't been developed yet, not that they ever claimed a big share of the pie. In the 4rth century BC the linothorax literary dominated infantry. It is worth noting that quite frequently the multiple layers of linen were reinforced with scales, particulalry the area of the ribs, or bands of iron. Philip II, despite being a horseman, had such a cuirass.
At any rate, I don't see what new does this research hope to shed light on.

Rich horsemen, like Alexander, might have prefered it over plate because it is much more flexible and reduces the weight the horse had to carry.

Basically, it was the other way around. The cavalry bore metal metal breastplates, usually the fully bronze muscled cuirasses and at worst composite, reinforced by metal linothoraxes, like the one Alexander is depicted to carry in the featured mural portraying the battle of Issus. This was the most expectable thing to do, since, given that the Greek horsemen save for the Tarentines would not adopt shields until the 3rd century, the cuirass was the only body protection available: it would be a good idea to go for the best. After all Alexander almost lost his life, when an arrow penetrated his linothorax and pierced his lung in the siege of Mallians in India. Generally Alexander should not be mistaken for a guy with the typical set of armor, which can serve as a safe basis for generalisations on his fellow horsemen, let alone the infantrymen. At Issus he was wearing that antiquated composite cuirass and at Gaugamela he was wearing a highly rare for Greek standards iron helmet. The are other famous figures like Xenophon, Pyrrhus and Philopoemen, whose armour was much more representative of the standard cavalry armament.

[konny]

IBasically, it was the other way around. The cavalry bore metal metal breastplates, usually the fully bronze muscled cuirasses and at worst composite, reinforced by metal linothoraxes, like the one Alexander is depicted to carry in the featured mural portraying the battle of Issus. This was the most expectable thing to do, since, given that the Greek horsemen save for the Tarentines would not adopt shields until the 3rd century, the cuirass was the only body protection available

Yes, this makes much more sense. I was just guessing in case this article was right and the King of Makedonia would indeed be riding with no better protection than 24 layers of linen.

Generally Alexander should not be mistaken for a guy with the typical set of armor, which can serve as a safe basis for generalisations on his fellow horsemen, let alone the infantrymen.

Absolutly. That would be the typical mistake of Osprey colorplates and the like modern illustration: The armour found in noble graves, or what might be shown on statues of kings, was not the standard kit every trooper would be running around with. Until the Late Middle Ages, metal armour (in particular iron) was insanly expensive, and only very rich or high ranking persons would have possessed it. What in return says a lot about the Roman army that was able to provide the infantry of the line with chain mail: a professional army with the best high equipement of its time.