CAE.020 / The War of Troy

'' Mycenaean Army ''

Griekse troepen die de stad Troy veroverden.

Inhoud:

42 figuren in 12 standen.

Afmeting: 22mm

n the second millennium BCE Greece was a collection of city states, similar to the later Classical period, but the states were larger and fewer in number. These states were at various times allies or enemies, but around the 16th century BCE Mycenae came to be the dominant state, and this dominance lasted until the 12th century BCE. This box is labelled as 'The War of Troy', and is intended to date to the mid 13th century BCE, a time when the state was on the verge of going into decline.

While evidence is as usual fragmentary for the late Bronze Age, it seems that the 13th century BCE saw a change in the makeup of the Mycenaean army. The army took on a lighter appearance, and the big heavy tower and figure-of-eight shields disappeared in favour of smaller round shields, as did the four metre long spears, which were now barely half that length but could be handled with one hand. This reduction in shield size required that the men wear more protection, and corselets of leather beneath scale armour appeared. At the same time or a little later greaves make an appearance, but these seem to have been quite thin and gave little protection, and were discarded within a generation or so. Sources of this time show helmets with what seem to be horns, or a 'hedgehog' style, and for the first time warriors wear footwear rather than go barefoot.