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Dr. Gregory Aldrete shoots an arrow into Paul Bartell, one of the co authors of the book Reconstructing Ancient Linen Body Armor: Unraveling the Linothorax Mystery. This is a story of an effort to recreate the past. Through research and detective work three people disrupt the notion that armor had to be bronze.
NOW ON ANCIENT ROME REFOCUSED, EPISODE 44.
We recovered a little bit of 'hidden' knowledge'.--Dr. Gregory Aldrete
Editor’s Note* Professor Aldrete’s quote does not tell the whole story. What Gregory S. Aldrete, Scott Bartell, and Alicia Aldrete achieved was the implemention of clever detective work crossing several millenniums.
Excerpt from the podcast with Dr. Gregory Aldrete
Voice of Dr. Aldrete:
“I mean, we have references to this armor being used by dozens of cultures for hundreds of years, but as I say, today, modern scholars had always been a little bit skeptical, a little bit dismissive of it. So we were able to, by building this and testing it, say, “No, the ancients had it right. This stuff worked, it was very effective, it was probably cheaper than metal armor, it was probably cheaper than leather armor as well, it was something that people could make in their homes, that any woman could have made, and it would’ve been very well suited to a Mediterranean environment.”
I’ve worn lots of different types of armor, and believe me, wearing metal armor in a hot sun bakes you, and you have very short endurance time for physical activity. But linen is like a linen shirt. It’s cooler, it reflects the sunlight better, it’s lighter, it’s breathable, and so you can understand why people living in this sort of climate would’ve worn this sort of armor. It simply lets you march further and fight harder, and maybe one of the secrets to Alexander’s success, he had one of the most famous marching armies of all time, is that he had his men appropriately attired.”
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