Iliad 14.376ff: give your shield to another fighter

[Lyceum]

Yes I buy that, but within the world of the Iliad rather than casting it onto the archaic world in general without further evidence, though I agree with the logic.

It will appear as a note 6 years from now when I write the Cambridge green and yellow for 11-3.

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[Dan Howard]

HOWEVER, in a real tight spot, the warband chiefs have to be ruthless: they know who the best fighters are (because they lead them) and they have no time to pussyfoot around accommodating competing claims: they just say (pointing at the nutters) "You, you and you, in front". (Pointing at the rich useless guys with good kit) "You, you and you, give them your helmets, your shields and your breastplate. Take their kit and stand in the back. Do it now".

This makes sense to me too. Though I obviously take the Iliad more literally than does Jass. I think there are enough details in it to get an idea of what equipment was used and how battles were fought - so long as it isn't taken too far.

[Chiron]

Your theory of power play politics being involved might hold water, just consider all the petty arguments, the most famous being that between Agamemnon and Achilles, and later between big Ajax and Odysseus. It also possible that armour could get damaged during the conflict, and switching undamaged for new armour might make sense in a certain context.

[Thearos]

It works politically, too: the best fighters, in standing in front, will be exposed to more danger-- and hence need the better weapons-- so why don't they have them all the time ? Once the crisis is past, how will you make them give up the kit-- especially if they're the better fighters, who's going to make them ?

[VincentC]

Adding on to Theoro's idea a bit; the best fighters generally are in the thick of the fighting. So their stuff is more likely to be more damaged while the average/bad fighters will have more pristine gear from not having used it as much. Being in the middle of a battle means it's harder to loot new stuff, get to your stores of stuff, or repair your stuff. So, this might give a commander another reason to distribute stuff.