
It was easy on the logistics and it kept a Roman soldier alive against most of the weapons and tactics that his contemporaries used. The lorica they used was mass-produced gear made to equip thousands of legionaries and to be quickly repaired or replaced if lost, because Legions got wiped out periodically. Rome didn't have the tech base, infrastructure, economy, or metallurgy to make plate armor viable for large-scale Legion deployment. You've got the elite household hoplites of a bronze-age feudal greece running around with utterly bizzare crests, clashing with spears and javelins while zipping around on chariots and chewing up levies. Oddly enough the Archaic era is probably where you'll get the most fantasy-esque era of warfare. Of course in Greek's rather strange era of Feudalism after the Greek Dark Ages you get the elite "hoplites" who road around on chariots and would clash with other elite hoplites much like in Greek epics (gee I wonder why).

Factor in the typical hoplite shield rendering cuisses a bit redundant (in formation a hoplite's thighs and entire torso should be protected with only his sword-arm, shins, and top of his head exposed). Not only is bronze fiendishly expensive (even today) compared to other metals, it's incredibly heavy. It wasn't terribly common however, and it's not hard to guess why.
#Greek hoplite shield mu full
In varying eras a Hoplite's full kit could consist of full bronze plate armor, minus the arm. Precisely because all of this equipment amounted to quite an investment, being a hoplite also indicated that the individual had a certain status in wider Greek society.They did have full plate.
#Greek hoplite shield mu professional
the well-trained and professional Spartans). Fully armoured then, the hoplite was required to carry some 20 kg of equipment and so good physical training must have given one side a strong advantage (e.g. Surviving examples of breastplates and helmets also display engraved decoration. Shields often carried particular designs – the most famous being the inverted V-shape of Spartan hoplites – and emblems – particularly popular was the gorgon from Greek mythology with its association with changing the onlooker into stone. This was made of wood or stiff leather, faced with bronze, and was held with the left arm placed through a central band and gripped via a strap attached to the shield rim. The hoplite carried a large circular shield some 80 cm (30 in.) in diameter and weighing as much as 8 kg. A corselet or breastplate of bronze or leather, bronze greaves to protect the shins, and sometimes arm-guards were also worn. Protection was provided by a leather-lined bronze helmet which could vary in design, was often crested, and protected the head, neck, and face. No doubt many hoplites also carried a dagger as an extra insurance. The sword was also of iron with a straight or sometimes curved blade no more than 60 cm in length.

The spear measured on average 2.5 metres (8 ft.) in length and was fitted with a bronze or iron blade and a four-sided end spike. The principal weapons of a hoplite infantryman were a long ash wood spear and a short sword. A hoplite was the most common type of heavily armed foot-soldier in ancient Greece from the 7th to 4th centuries BCE, and most ordinary citizens of Greek city-states with sufficient means were expected to equip and make themselves available for the role when necessary.
