Hoplon: Reconstruction Experience

Петраков Т.

The older "My hoplon: reconstruction experience" material is a practical account of a Greek shield: form, wooden body, rim, porpax, covering and painting. It is not a general history of the hoplon, but a record of work with source, material and finished object.

The practical work belongs to Timur Petrakov. General typology and the place of the hoplon in Greek equipment are covered in Hoplon, Hoplite and Shield.

Aim and Sources

The aim was to make a shield that reads as a hoplon not only from the front but also in profile: with a visible lens, separate ring, pronounced rim and the grip system of porpax and handhold. Images of warriors were therefore not enough; preserved examples, construction diagrams and modern reconstruction parallels also mattered.

Visual sources show silhouette and use, but not the full technology. Surviving finds and publications clarify thickness, edge shape and the attachment of fittings. Practical reconstruction combines these groups of evidence, but each step must be kept distinct from a secure archaeological fact.

Form: Lens, Ring and Rim

A hoplon cannot be reduced to a flat circle. Its working geometry depends on a convex lens and a ring that helps keep the form, adds rigidity and creates the characteristic profile. A wrong curve changes both the look of the shield and its behaviour on the arm.

Before assembly it is useful to fix several control measurements: outer diameter, ring thickness, lens deflection, rim height and the position of the porpax. These parameters prevent the form from drifting during gluing and covering.

Wooden Core

The reconstructed core was assembled from wooden elements while preserving the curvature of the shield. In practice this is one of the most labour-intensive stages: the pieces must not only form a circle but work together as a three-dimensional surface. Templates, temporary fixing and repeated symmetry checks are essential.

Covering and rim cannot be expected to correct the body later. Leather, linen and fittings usually make core errors more visible. Early control of form therefore saves more time than late adjustments.

Ring, Rim and Assembly

Ring and rim solve several problems at once: they protect the edge, hold the outline, add stiffness and give the shield its recognizable profile. In reconstruction this is not a decorative frame, but a structural element that must match the lens.

Assembly requires careful drilling, checking of joints and step-by-step fixing. If the holes for fasteners or the porpax are placed too early, later fitting becomes harder. The order of operations is therefore as important as the material.

Porpax, Padding and Covering

The porpax turns a round shield into a controllable tool. Its position affects balance, body coverage and how quickly the fighter can change pressure. The fittings were therefore checked not only visually but also on the arm.

Padding, leather and linen work together: they protect the body, change grip and appearance, but can also add unwanted thickness. In practical reconstruction this is where the difference between a good drawing and a wearable object appears very quickly.

Painting and Result

Final painting has to account for the shield surface: a line that looks correct on a plane changes visually on a convex lens. Test marking and checks from several angles are useful before painting.

The main conclusion is simple: a hoplon is not a set of separate parts, but a system. Wood, rim, porpax, padding, leather, linen and painting work only when they are subordinated from the start to the overall form and way of carrying.

Construction in the Original Material

The original club material discusses the shield as a structure: a curved lens-like core, a ring, an outer rim, the porpax, the hand grip and perimeter rings for a cord. The ring is not decoration. It increases the shield's depth, helps it rest on the shoulder and, together with the rim, creates the profile visible in the sources.

The rim is also more than edge protection. In reconstruction it holds the outline, connects the edge of the lens with the ring and prevents a sliding thrust from moving up off the edge. Its profile and transition into the lens therefore have to be planned before assembly, not after covering.

Core, Ring and Assembly

The practical version was built from wooden elements calculated for the shield's curvature. Curved shields are better made from glued layers or carefully fitted segments; a flat blank will not become a proper lens by itself. The ring was assembled from separate pieces cut from timber, while the rim can be made from eight glued and pegged segments.

The ring is first joined to the rim, then the lens is placed on top and drilled in position. This avoids trying to align holes in advance on parts with a complex shape. After fitting, the edge of the ring projected about 1-1.5 cm beyond the lens and was planed into a smooth transition. The older description gives the finished shield a depth of 13 cm, an overall thickness with the lens of 14.5 cm, an outer diameter of 84-85 cm and an inner diameter between the ring edges of about 65 cm.

Fittings and Fit on the Arm

The inner side needs a porpax, loops or a hand grip, and rings for a cord around the perimeter. Exact measurements of ancient fittings were not available for every part, so some decisions remain reconstructive. In the older experiment the fittings were made from thin brass sheet, with the edges of the porpax and loops bent over as stiffening ribs.

The porpax position is critical for balance: it has to be centred, otherwise a large shield starts to pull the arm. The lens diameter must leave enough space for the knuckles so that they do not hit the ring and rim. Padding is useful under the hand, elbow and shoulder; part of the inner ring can also be padded for the shoulder because the shield may rest on it at different points during movement.

Covering, Painting and Final Measurements

The inner side was covered with wet leather from the centre toward the edges. This material stretches well over a complex form, but it also reveals every irregularity in the core, so covering cannot be treated as a way to hide errors in the body. The outer side was covered with two layers of linen: it is convenient for priming and painting, but wrinkles inevitably appear near the ring and rim unless cuts and tension are planned carefully.

The finished shield weighed about 5.9 kg. This is roughly 2 kg lighter than Peter Connolly's estimate and lighter than a version made from plywood rings, though the author of the experiment thought the weight could be reduced further by thinning the ring, rim and lens. The old material gives prices only as a 2018 reference point: ordered parts and materials totalled about 12,000 rubles, while making the brass fittings independently reduced the cost to about 8,000 rubles, not counting labour.

Related Topics

• Practical Reconstruction Experience
• Hoplon
• Hoplite
• Shield
• Ancient Greece

Sources and Literature

• Club material "My Hoplon: reconstruction experience", Timur Petrakov.
• Peter Connolly. Greece and Rome at War. London, 1981.
• Nick Sekunda. Greek Hoplite 480-323 BC. Osprey, 2000.
• Hoplon: X-Legio reference article.