This might be because it was too similar to the Boeotian or dipylon or figure-eight shield and Greek artists felt that it did not say ‘barbarian.’ A bronze boss for such a shield was found at Samos. The type in the bottom row is the most common type at Persepolis, but it does not show up in Greek art at all. But they are the type of shield which artists from Athens most often put in the hands of foreigners, probably because the Athenians were a bit provincial and Thracians and Scythians were the most exotic warriors they were familiar with. Its also hard to imagine these forming a barrier which needed to be knocked over after a long struggle, like Herodotus describes. Warriors of all the different nations in this region used small round, rectangular, or crescent-shaped shields, often made of wicker or covered with goatskin, but we do not see these shields in artwork from the heart of the empire. The type in the top row is also popular with artists, but it seems specific to the Aegean/Sea of Marmara/Black Sea region. And this type of shield does not agree with Herodotus’ words that quivers were hanging beneath the shields, unless we understand ‘beneath’ quite loosely. The person who published the sketch on the middle left thought it showed a battle against the Phrygian allies of the Amazons. These large rectangular shields appear on the doorposts of two buildings at Persepolis and on two or three vases from Athens (out of thousands of soldiers at Persepolis and Susa and thousands of Red Figure vases). But as I argue in chapter 6.5.2 of my forthcoming book from Franz Steiner Verlag, things are more complicated. They cite Herodotus book 7 chapter 61 and show the large rectangular kind on the middle row of the picture above. If you look at modern paintings and miniatures, you would think we have a good idea of the type of shield used by Achaemenid infantry in the time of Darius and Xerxes. CLXVI western entrance of the Tachara of Darius (sketch by author), Persepolis two reliefs on the Apadana, Persepolis (photo by author) 83.AE.247 (digital image courtesy of the Getty’s Open Content Program), State Hermitage Museum, St. Note that they are worn on the arm like a peltē or an Argive shield, not held in the fist like the Tuekta shield. Bottom: violin-shaped or figure-eight shields. Top: peltē and wooden imitation of a sticks-and-leather shield from Tuekta in the Altai (different sections of ‘sticks’ are painted red, white, and black similar shields appear in Neo-Assyrian art). Some types of gerron (wicker shield) used in the Achaemenid empire in the time of Darius I and Xerxes. Posted on JUpdated on Septem4 Comments Figure 6-2 from my forthcoming book from Franz Steiner Verlag.
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