The Linothorax

The word linothorax means in Ancient Greek "breastplate of linen". It is a type of body protection used in the ancient Mediterranean world. From the end of the 6th century BC, it became the standard protective equipment for hoplites and was most common among the Greek city-states. Compared to bronze armors (thoraxes) Linothoraxes were lighter, cheaper, and less restrictive while providing a comparable level of protection. Linothoraxes were actively used until the 3rd century BC. The linothorax also had a significant influence on armor in antiquity; both the lorica hamata and the subarmalis were likely influenced by the linothorax.

The term linothorax is a modern term, based on the Greek λινοθώραξ, which refers to linen armour. A number of ancient Greek and Latin texts from the 6th century BC to the 3rd century AD mention 'thorakes lineoi' (Greek) or loricae linteae (Latin), meaning 'linen body armor'. These terms are usually equated with the armors depicted on sculptures and paintings from Italy and Greece from 575 BC onwards. 

However, little is known about the period when the first linen armour was made. Some scholars think that Homer refers to the linothorax when he describes Ajax the Lesser as "linen-breasted" (Iliad 2.529 and 2.830). Other scholars believe this refers to a linen tunic or a smooth, glossy skin.

The first clear written reference to linen armour in Antiquity is a line from the poet Alcaeus, who lived around 650–550 BC. From the 5th century BC to the 1st century AD, Greek and Roman writers mention soldiers from many nations wearing linen armour, but they rarely describe it in detail. These writers include Herodotus (2.182, 3.47, 7.63), Lividius (4.19.2–20.7), Strabo (Geography, 3.3.6, 13.1.10), Suetonius (Galba 19.1), and Pausanias. The philosopher Plutarch says that Alexander the Great wore a "double linen breastplate" at the Battle of Gaugamela (Plutarch, Life of Alexander, 32.8–12). References to linen armour become much rarer in the Roman imperial period. 

According to late Macedonian inscriptions from Amphipolis, which contain the military statute of Philip V, the linothorax (under the name cotthybos) was the standard armour for ordinary phalanxes, Macedonian hoplites. At the same time, it is likely that commanders and warriors of the first line of the phalanx used metal thoraxes or hemithoraxes. For the loss of a cotthybos, a soldier had to pay a fine that was half as much as for a thorax/hemithorax, which provides information about the price ratio between these two types of armor. Macedonian soldiers during the times of Philip II and Alexander were probably equipped in a similar manner.

Presumably, the linothorax was the standard armor of the Macedonian army. In the description of the Macedonian campaign in India, it is mentioned that Alexander, on his command, supplied the army with 25,000 new armors. At the same time, he ordered the "old and worn out" armors to be "burned."

The Greek philosopher Plutarch wrote in the biography of Alexander the Great that the commander wore a linothorax during the Battle of Gaugamela: 

"After he had instructed this to be passed on to Parmenion, Alexander put on a helmet. All other armor he still had in the tent: a Sicilian hypendima with a belt, and over it a double linen breastplate, which was taken from the spoils of Issus" (XXXII).

In this battle, which took place on October 1, 331 BC, the Greeks won, leading to the downfall of the Persian Empire.

From the end of the 6th century BC, many paintings and sculptures in the Aegean region depict hoplites and other warriors wearing the linothorax instead of a bronze breastplate. This could be related to the lower price, lighter weight, or cooler material. 

Around 575 BC, artists in the Aegean region often show a distinctive style of armour with a smooth piece of fabric wrapped around the chest, two flaps over the shoulders, and a skirt of flaps covering the hips and abdomen. By the 4th century BC, armour with a similar form appears in murals in Italy, seal stones in Persia, gold combs in Crimea, and stone carvings in Gaul. Artists continued to depict this armour in the Hellenistic period after the death of Alexander the Great. The Roman Emperor Caracalla equipped a "Macedonian phalanx" around 200 AD with linen armour (Cassius Dio 78.7). The Alexander mosaic of Pompeii, depicting the Battle of Gaugamela, shows Alexander the Great wearing the linothorax. 

Because only a few examples of armour in this form have been preserved, researchers like Peter Connolly identify the lost armour with the linen armour in ancient texts. Linen would decay and thus leave little archaeological evidence. On the Alexander sarcophagus and the Alexander mosaic, Alexander the Great and his soldiers wear this type of armour. Artists from the Roman Imperial period rarely depict this type of armour. The preserved armors with this form are made of iron plates, iron scales, or iron mail, and the armour that decayed was likely made of more than one material.

Modern researchers struggle to study linen armors like the linothorax, because this material is biodegradable and leaves few remnants for archaeologists to discover. 

It is known, however, that many cultures, from India to Scotland and South America, made linen armors by quilting many layers of fabric together or filling them with loose fibers such as cotton. Linen armors in these cultures were usually padded and filled with loose fibers or made from many layers of fabric, but it could also be woven with a special technique called twining, which creates a thick, strong fabric. 

The type filled with loose fibers often appears lumpy and differs from ancient art, but the type with multiple layers of fabric can be smooth. Textile archaeologist Hero Granger-Taylor suggests that the ancient linen armour was woven with a special technique, called twining. Woven textiles were used in military contexts in Bronze Age-Egypt and Roman Syria, it is likely that it was also used in classical Greece and Italy before the Roman conquest.

In the 1970s, Peter Connolly constructed a linothorax by gluing linen fabric layers together. His reconstruction inspired others, including Gregory S. Aldrete and Scott Bartell, who presented the project at a conference in 2009 and published it in 2013. It received much media attention when Aldrete tested the construction with a arrow. However, Connolly's s reconstruction was based on the misinterpretation of a Byzantine chronicle, not on ancient texts or artifacts. No culture before the 20th century used glue to make linen armour.

The Etruscans also used linothoraxes in their army, sometimes reinforced with metal plates. A similar armour with narrow, vertically oriented plates in the Assyrian style can be seen on the statue of Mars from Todi, located in the Gregorian Etruscan Museum of the Vatican. Images of linothoraxes reinforced with metal plates date from the 3rd century BC, when the Etruscans also introduced chainmail, which they borrowed from the Celts and modified with rectangular shoulder reinforcements attached to the chest. Later, this form was adopted by the Celts themselves and found its way into the Roman army.

In the Roman army, the linothorax was not used as extensively as by the Greeks or Etruscans, but there are mentions of it in pictorial sources. The most famous are the relief with the centurion and the fresco with the praetorian, dressed in linothoraxes. This fresco is the most recent evidence of the use of the linothorax in the ancient world and dates from the early Roman Empire.

The lorica Lintea is an ancient Roman armour consisting of multiple layers of specially treated, dense linen fabric, similar to the ancient Greek linothorax. As previously mentioned, the term literally means "linen breastplate."

Armor of the lorica lintea type was usually made from 2-3 layers of linen fabric, which were boiled in a saline solution mixed with vinegar. The boiling process hardened the fabric, giving it the necessary strength, but also made it less flexible.

There is little information about the use of loricae linteae in ancient Rome, but it is thought that it might have been used by Latin hoplites and velites during the time of the kings and the Roman Republic. By the time of the Roman Empire, however, this type of armour was rarely used. Only two depictions of warriors, presumably wearing lorica lintea, have survived—one of a praetorian guard and one of a centurion, both dating from the first century AD.

For the Greek hoplites, the linothorax was a cheaper and lighter alternative than the bronze cuirasses, which probably only 10% of the hoplites could afford. 

The linothorax was an efficient type of body protection used by the Greeks and was adopted throughout the classical world. Also, Celtic tribes (such as the image of the Glauberg warrior) and the Scythians regularly wore a linothorax. Due to its great popularity, it seems likely that the linothorax influenced the development of the chainmail shirt (lorica hamata) and the Roman subarmalis.