Greetings!

	 I thought it would be really neat to make a real hoplite sword from cast
and beaten tin bronze.  I have used phosphor bronze which is an excellent
and strong metal with very good sharp edge retention.  On "Roman War
Machine" they demonstrated whacking a bronze sword on an edge and it bent
really easily.  This is not the expaerience I have had using phosphor
bronze, which is very hard and springy, almost as hard as iron.  The hoplite
sword would have the blade and hilt cast from the same platen of bronze,
making it very strong.  Does anyone know where one can obtain REAL tin
bronze in enough quantity to cast a hoplite sword?  It would be ten times
better than carrying around a cheap MRL steel knockoff.  Other bronzes
available easily in America such as beryllium copper, silicon bronze, and
"commercial" or casting bronze are alloys that are too soft for edged
weapons.  Phosphor bronze would work very well, but is rare and expensive.
I have only found a few small sheets of it at a local scrap yard, and used
it all up to make lorica and helmet fittings.  That make the fittings as
thin and light as the originals, but ten times stronger than typical brass
replicas.  The trouble with all the replica Greek swords I have seenis that
no one has obtained the right metal to use!

	 DARIVS


-----Original Message-----
From: Matthew Amt [mailto:mamt@...]
Sent: Friday, May 19, 2000 6:51 AM
To: thephalanx@egroups.com
Subject: [phalanx] Museum Replicas gear, cont.


Chairete!
     So does the MRL hoplite sword have a midrib with a groove, or what?
Can't quite tell from the pictures.  And the big question, of course, is
What the heck kind of fullers or ribs is a hoplite sword SUPPOSED to have??

    Dan Peterson told me that some of the originals actually do have solid
brass hilts--can anyone corroborate that?  Connolly only describes and shows
those that are layered up like a Roman pugio hilt, with wood sandwiching the
tang and covered by iron plates.  Same old problem, not enough data.  I've
always assumed that the hilt of the Spartan short sword was pretty much the
same as the longer one, just the blade was different.  Thoughts or evidence
on that?  (I know, all we got is that wacky bronze model...)
    Ditto for spearheads--how big are they supposed to be?  Some of those
that Museum Replicas sells look pretty good, but I agree that they seem too
big.  I have measurements for LOTS of Roman spearheads, and they seem to
average maybe 8  inches overall length, with many down around 6 inches.
    Isn't that shield a joke?  Apparently it's supposed to be a Boeotian
type, but they'd be better off selling saucer sleds...  No kidding about a
"real" hoplon being a LOT of work--Abandon hope all ye who enter.

     Matthew

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Chairete!
     So does the MRL hoplite sword have a midrib with a groove, or what?
Can't quite tell from the pictures.  And the big question, of course, is
What the heck kind of fullers or ribs is a hoplite sword SUPPOSED to have??

    Dan Peterson told me that some of the originals actually do have solid
brass hilts--can anyone corroborate that?  Connolly only describes and shows
those that are layered up like a Roman pugio hilt, with wood sandwiching the
tang and covered by iron plates.  Same old problem, not enough data.  I've
always assumed that the hilt of the Spartan short sword was pretty much the
same as the longer one, just the blade was different.  Thoughts or evidence
on that?  (I know, all we got is that wacky bronze model...)
    Ditto for spearheads--how big are they supposed to be?  Some of those
that Museum Replicas sells look pretty good, but I agree that they seem too
big.  I have measurements for LOTS of Roman spearheads, and they seem to
average maybe 8  inches overall length, with many down around 6 inches.
    Isn't that shield a joke?  Apparently it's supposed to be a Boeotian
type, but they'd be better off selling saucer sleds...  No kidding about a
"real" hoplon being a LOT of work--Abandon hope all ye who enter.

     Matthew

The Milwaukee Museum has a display of a Hoplite in its ancient
history
section with Egypt, Rome and Greece. I have a few connections with
the
staff and I'll try and get them to post some information ( and
Pictures ) on their research and methods of reproducing their display.

I decided to follow up on my idea of making a contact list for members, so
here's the end result:

http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~sparta/topics/contacts.htm

(it's hosted on my Sparta site, so I decided to keep the antique color theme
that the rest of the site uses just for the sake of ease.)

That's the initial idea I have for the layout. I think it fits pretty well,
because the basics are all covered (name, address, photo, etc.), and there's
space for as many comments as needed. My info is up to serve as sort of a
template.

Now all I need is content!

If you have time and are willing, please send an email to
laconian@... with your own information put in a similar format. All
of the questions are optional, so you can skip the fields like "age" or
"proof of insanity" (heh) if desired. If you wish, you can send me any
photos of yourself that you want posted (maximum of 2). I can probably get
the information up in the layout by the very next day.

The contact list is now linked from the main Phalanx page, located at the
bottom of the welcome message.

I hope you all enjoy this new "feature" of the group.

Kevin

Hello,
On the subject of Museum Replicas, I will add that although I'm not
entirely keen on the correctness of the "hoplite sword" they sell,
they
do seem to make a very nice kopis type sword (the single-edged
chopper
that was used by many Greek soldiers in several periods).  One could
do
worse than this.  I have recently acquired a short sword
(commissioned
from darkheart Armoury) modelled on the archeological find
illustrated
in Nick Sekunda's book on the Spartans  for Osprey Publishing (one of
the popular Men-At-Arms series titles, "The Spartan Army").  Along
with
a scabbard and baldric, it is a very nice item and was reasonably
priced.  This makes a fantastic addition to a Spartan panoply, since
their distinctive short swords became one of their hallmarks.
Kevin H

Greetings,

       Well, this'll be my first posting here so....

       I've been a historical reenactor for the past 2 years or so.
Primarily American Civil War but that's pretty much the only game in
town where I live in NC.  I've been interested in Ancient Greece for
some time now and am planning to use the experience I've gotten with
ACW reenacting to, hopefully (knocking on wood), form a Hoplite group
sometime in the near future.  I'll be in touch with the list as those
plans start to come to fruition.

       On the subject of Hoplite gear, particularly that available
commercially, here are some observations I've made and hope will help
others.  First, one of the better known companies along these lines
in
Museum Replicas out of Atlanta, GA.  Granted, they do fall short in
some cases with their historical accuracy, their prices make them a
good place to start.  Recently, they've added a few piece of Hoplite
gear to their lineup.  Here are my reflection on them...least the
pieces I've acquire for myself.  Granted, the following are merely my
opinions and not necessarily shared with anyone else:
       1)   Corinthian Helmet:  Got to agree with the comment Matthew
Amt made on his Hoplite site.  MR pretty much ruined this piece by
adding a riveted rim around the eyes and face opening.  MAybe they
hadproblems with the dedge strength, I really don't know the details
there.  Unfortunately for us reenactors, that leaves getting a helmet
made custom which means it'll be expensive to have an accurate piece.
       2)   Hoplite Sword:  I'm impressed by this piece but the hilt,
being a steel cross piece and turned-wood grip, is not accurate and
will require some modification.  Soon as one is us figures out how to
do that, I'm sure it'll be posted.  The sheath provided is simple
leather, not the more elaborate wooden ones you see in vase images
and
such.  Overall impression, good price/good blade...a good starter
piece in my opinion.
       3)  Greek Spear Head:  Looks to me like it's based on a sketch
in John Warry's book.  Very substantial blade, makes a spear
(especially long ones) very point heavy.  Given the reference to
Warry, I'd say it's an accurate piece.  The only negative point I can
give it is the size and weight.  A good alternate piece MR offers is
the Leaf Shaped spear blade.  I little wide compared to period pics
I've seen but light and of similiar cross section to the Greek Spear
head.
       4)  Greek Shield:  Haven't gotten one of these and , honestly,
don't plan to.  It appears in their pics to simply be a 1/2" thick
plywood board, cut and bent to give it a slight curve.  Maybe
acceptable for a peltast impression but not hoplite.  If you want an
accruate hoplon, Matthew has instructions on his sight.  Warning,
though, it'll be work but then <g> that's what power tools are for.


       Well, I know this message has been long, my apologies, but I
hope the information helps.  Til later.

                                                         Smith

Yes Kevin I agree
it would be good to have a list of members  with more details and
email addresses  etc, and a pic or two would be great.
started my Html course last week so  I will be working on my homepage
soon I have one with geocties :  www.geocities.com/shaunfearn/
but  it uses there templates and I want to do my own so stay tuned.
Shaun

With the number of personal stories coming in, I think it'd be good to have
a contact list with extended information (even photos, if people want to
show off their armor or whatnot) and a standardized field system. I think
it'd be helpful to have a readable, comprehensive list of everybody in this
club, their interests, etc. for us and to give the newcomers a sense of
belonging. Some discussion boards tend to get somewhat elitist; only a
select few make all of the comments and the others keep silent, fearing the
wrath of the "experts" should they say the wrong thing. This would help
break the ice and give a better sense of community.

Should I do this? Will people submit profiles? Or would I be better off not
making it?

Kevin

>    We Ancients were lucky to have shade all day, but the other groups were
> roasting in the sun, particularly since they were all more heavily dressed
> than we.  Only one of them actually put on his armor, and only briefly.  I
> annoyed as many people as possible by saying things like, "Gosh,
> it's kinda
> cool here in the shade--where's my cloak?"  Hee hee!
>    I got a lot of compliments on my gear, and after getting a look in a
> mirror I had to agree--I was GORGEOUS!  Gonna be buffing a lot of
> fingerprints off the bronze tonight, though.

I bet! Bronze just vacuums up fingerprints and mucks up itself like nothing
else. Good luck..
Sounds pretty impressive! Got any photos you can post to the file section?

>    On the little poll about the purpose of this discussion list, I clicked
> on everything except for Spartan vs. Athens debate.  Some of that is
> inevitable, of course, and it certainly won't bother me as long as we all
> keep in mind that this is supposed to be for FUN, and education.

The arguments can grow tiresome over time, and they never really result in
anything more than a stalemate (sort of like Mac vs. Windows or Ford vs.
Chevrolet), but they do keep the message boards fresh and the examples
provided give quite a bit of interesting information. I'm not opposed to
them, I just don't want the board being dominated by it. Heaven knows people
can get vicious over it (esp. the neo-Spartans!)

I've yet to find a legion or anything other than a SCA group (and no, I
don't want to join that) in WA state that I can consider joining when I get
out of high school. I don't understand...! I guess it's because the
potential participants are all shut away at Microsoft or wherever doing
their 80 hour programming work weeks. ;P Kinda sucks. If one does exist, or
if anybody knows of somebody who is interested or planning on starting one,
drop me a line.


Kevin
Kevin

Chairete!
    Matthew Amt here, doing my intro thing (though most of you already know
me!).  I started reenacting in 1980, and worked through a number of
centuries before arriving firmly in Rome about 1991.  In 1998 I was
beginning to gather Greek hoplite equipment, though it was (and will likely
remain) a definite second string to my Roman obsession.  A few months ago I
built a Greek Hoplite website, http://www.larp.com/hoplite/index.html, and
it has attracted some attention.  I'll let The Phalanx know when I do
updates.
    This past weekend I wore my whole Greek panoply for the first time at
Jamestown Settlement.  Five different groups, from my Legio XX up through
the Landsknechts (1529) were encamped there to complement Jamestown's
exhibit of 17th century armor and weaponry from Virginia and Europe.  Since
some of us Romans have been gathering bits and pieces of earlier and later
gear than our usual mid-first century impression, I decided it was time to
debut my hoplite stuff.  It was a GREAT weekend!
    Bowing to my tender modern feet, I whipped out a pair of sandals based on
a couple vase paintings.  They look a lot like Roman caligae, but I stitched
the soles instead of nailing them.  Over them went little ankle pads, 3
layers of deerskin tied at the back with string.  My greaves went on right
over the sandals, luckily, and the pads helped but my ankles were still
getting bitten by Sunday afternoon.  I might be able to reshape the bottoms
of the greaves, but that's a tricky bit of metalwork.
      The linothorax worked great, easy enough to put on, fairly light and
quite comfortable.  The red dye of the sword baldric eventually rubbed off
on the linen, but I'm not too worried about that.
    What was very interesting is that after several hours in 95-degree heat
on Saturday, I took off the linothorax and it was completely floppy!  So I
carefully laid it out in my car overnight, with the shoulder flaps flat, and
the body tied shut at the side and stuffed with a blanket, etc.  By morning
it had dried and stiffened into the proper shape.
    We Ancients were lucky to have shade all day, but the other groups were
roasting in the sun, particularly since they were all more heavily dressed
than we.  Only one of them actually put on his armor, and only briefly.  I
annoyed as many people as possible by saying things like, "Gosh, it's kinda
cool here in the shade--where's my cloak?"  Hee hee!
    I got a lot of compliments on my gear, and after getting a look in a
mirror I had to agree--I was GORGEOUS!  Gonna be buffing a lot of
fingerprints off the bronze tonight, though.

    On the little poll about the purpose of this discussion list, I clicked
on everything except for Spartan vs. Athens debate.  Some of that is
inevitable, of course, and it certainly won't bother me as long as we all
keep in mind that this is supposed to be for FUN, and education.  And we're
too civilized to start sounding like Celts sniping at Romans, eh?

    All for now,
    Matthew Amt
    9416 Rhode Island Ave.
    College Park, MD 20740-1639
    301-345-0582
    mamt@...

Chairete!
    I was going to get in touch with Manning Imperial about the price of a
buttspike, but Smith Self beat me to it.  Here's the answer he got.  Jon
Martin's Manning buttspike is shown on my website, and it's gorgeous but I'd
have them make the socket longer (judging by the tiny picture in Connolly
and some vase paintings).
    Thanks, Smith!
     Matthew

--On Sat, May 13, 2000 12:16 AM -0400 "Smith Self"
<s.w.self@...> wrote:

> Matt,
>
>       Thought I'd forward this for your information.  It's an e-mail I
> received from Manning Imperial in reference to an inquiry abou the Spear
> buttspike you've got pictured on your site.  Enjoy.
>
> =======================
> Hi Smith
>
> Sorry it has taken a while to get back to you I have been a bit bogged
> down
> with work lately.
>
> I certainly do still make the butt spikes. thanks for letting me know
> that
> it is not on the page. I'll have to get that fixed.
>
> Postage should not be more than AUD$30 it was that much last time for a
> butt spike and a spear head. The spike it self was AUD$70. If you are
> happy
> to wait a week or two I can get an exact quote on the postage for you.
> As
> for method of payment my prefered option is to use travellers cheques
> made
> out in AUD$
>
> Regards
>
> Craig
>
> http://users.netconnect.com.au/~manning/index.html
>
>
>

Kevin - you pictures came out as rubbish on my system.

E-groups doesn't handle attachments very well IIRC from my
One-list-moderator days.  Could you post them to the files section?
E-groups maintains a file section where documents, pictures, etc can be
stored and retrieved - it's not a web page, but it's pretty simple to use.

As for intros - I'm 40, been wargaming toy soldiers since I was 12, the last
22-23 years mostly "Ancients" (like me! :-)).

I have most of the Penguin classics worth reading, and a few Loebs.  I can't
remember the number of times I've re-read Thucydides and Herodotus,
Xenophon's Anabasis and History, and Plutarch's "Lives".  Livy is out of
period, but gets a good thrashing too!

I do a bit of "re-enactment" in the SCA, and would dearly love to wear a
panalopy for a bit, but alas mortgage and supporting the family use up mot
of my time and funds.

I don't particularly care for the "who was better, Sparta or Athens" debate
(although sometimes it's hard not to put an oar in!), but I'll enjoy
anything else related to the military history of the times.

Mike


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Hi  just letting you all know that amazon.com is auctioning of some
of the original costumes etc from the movie GLADIATOR.
man  the prices have gone through the roof  so  be prepared to sell
the car if you want to get into the action there.

In a message dated 5/13/2000 1:38:32 AM Pacific Daylight Time,
laconian@... writes:

<<  because this
  entire book is written about the Peloponnesian Wars, centered around
  Alcibiades >>
The best fiction book on the Alkibidian period of the war written by Greek
scholar
is "Achilles his Armour" by Peter Green.  I wasn't too impressed by
Pressfield's first novel, hopefully this one will be better.
Steve Phenow

Tonight, I went to go see that movie that everybody in my high school
is talking about, Gladiator. I waited until 8:30 before leaving,
because it plays on the good screens at that time, but the seats were
sold out for the 9:15 showing and I had half an hour to kill before I
saw the movie. I decided to go to the nearby Barnes & Noble bookstore
and check up on some of the books.

One of the books caught my eye: Tides of War, by Steven Pressfield
(the very same who brought a very readable Thermopylae to an
approving general public.) It seems like Steve's found his niche in
writing historical fiction about the famous Greek wars, because this
entire book is written about the Peloponnesian Wars, centered around
Alcibiades (contrary to the Spartan viewpoint he provided in Gates of
Fire.) The narrative style is essentially the same from what I picked
up in the few minutes I had to skim it; like GOF, the narrator is the
survivor of the Athenian side. I didn't have much time to actually
look through it (what, and ruin it for myself?), but the writing
style appears to be the same, and the dialogue feels as human as the
previous book's did.

Regarding Gladiator, I thought it was an excellent movie that I
enjoyed immensely. The plot wasn't the most complex, but what WAS
there was played out with finesse. The cast and acting was all A+,
but I have to say the most impressive thing the movie accomplished
was recreating the sheer immensity of the Roman empire: her armies,
her cities, her population, etc.
You know how it's hard to imagine an enormous sum of money, like 100
billion dollars, let's say, until you actually see the money itself
or what it can buy? That's sort of what the movie was like for me.
There's a huge difference between knowing just how large the state
buildings in Rome or the number of men in a legion and actually
seeing it with your eyes. The overall effect was awe-inspiring,
letting the audience actually begin to fathom the true power of Rome.

On to the technical parts: my only gripes with the movie just fit in
the category of the nitty-gritty. The camera shots were inconsistent,
especially during the battle scenes, which I thought really
interrupted the feeling of the flow of the battle. The motion blurs
and constant zooms, pans and jerks into nothingness were overly
stylized, and instead of absorbing me further into the action, they
just reminded me that I was sitting down watching a movie. Besides
that, I thought that the other technical parts of the movie were
superb. The lighting was excellent (the cold hard slashing lights on
Commodus really make him LOOK like an evil bastard), the sets were
completely convincing, and the costumes were great. That's what you
get when you dump so many millions into a movie, I guess.

Anyways, great movie, a good use of my late Friday night. I'm going
to try to order that Pressfield book sometime soon off of Amazon.com,
I'll tell you guys what I think if somebody doesn't beat me to it
first.

Kevin

What format is your newsletter "Strategos" published in? Is there any
way I can get a copy of it?

Kevin

In reply to the survey.

I'm Stephen F. Phenow, author and historian.
I have been involved with Hellenic Warfare since I was 17. (22 years)
My Classics class at SDSU put on the Peloponnesian War in miniature.
Each student represented a city state, several students represented major
states each like Sparta and Boeotia and 5 represented Athens.  (To get that
Democratic feel.)

The battles caused by the campaign were fought with 25mm lead miniatures on
land and 1-1200 miniatures at sea.  The campaign lasted 10 years scale time,
two years real time and resulted in Athens being defeated.

Since then I have gone to shard battlefields in Greece, work on excavating
the ship sheds on Cyprus, and translating Asklepiodotus.

I currently edit Strategos the newsletter dedicated to ancient warfare.
I also have written "Sarissa & Elephant" a set of miniature rules set in the
classical period of history.

In the pictures I noticed that the Porpex is slightly off center of the
hoplon.  Is this based on new research I'm unaware of?  Snodgrass "In Arm &
Armour of the Greeks" says this was in the middle of the Argive shield he
studied.

Good idea this list.  But doesn't the 20th Legio keep you busy enough?

Rejoice!

SFP

Avete!

	 I'm Kurt Suleski aka DARIVS ARCHITECTVS, builder and Optio of a Roman
ballista team.  The ballista itself is build to Greek design according to
Heron and Philon, and is full sized, albeit on the small end of the size
spectrum.  Since there wasn't any Greek reenactment group around, I went
"Roman" and am almost done with a full Roman kit including armour, shield,
balteus, and all the weapons.  We are busy making complete kits for the crew
also.  I run a small armoury and specialize in historically accurate
replicas of high detail.  I am about to join Matthew Amt at Legion XX as an
associate member and begin attending Roman events after the ballista is
repaired.  This year we plan to have the ballista at Pennsic War for the
SCA.  My website is at www.stormthewalls.dhs.org.

	 DARIVS ARCHITECTVS

Few popular historians realize that the secret of Sparta's
battlefield success was that the Ephors secretly placed a bag of
doughnuts BEHIND the enemy line before the battle and then told the
Spartan hoplites to go get 'em.

This is true -- just ask any  professor of the classics.  If he knows
his stuff, he'll vouch for this.  Honest.

(It *is* Friday, y'all...  ;-)

Chaire, Shaun!
Yeah, that film (The 300 Spartans) ruined a LOT of us!  It certainly set me
off when I first saw it as a kid.  Please keep us informed about your
armorial pursuits -- this is a field of interest to many of us here.  Good
Greek repros are hard to come by, and I hope one of the things this group
can offer is a clearinghouse for information on where to go to obtain such
things.  I have almost acquired a complete Spartan panoply c. 480 B.C. and
attach a few photos supplied by the armourer who made them -- Kevin
Marshall should be posting some photographs of me IN this (and more) at a
Spartan history website  still under construction within the next week or
so.

Kevin Hendryx

>Just a quick Hello from Perth Australia,  to  let you know that I am
>interested in anything  Spartan.  It all stems back from the 1962
>film:300 Spartans which Im sure you have all seen. (shame they dont
>make a new version)  count me in!!!!!!!
>I have a small collection of Spartan type items and  heaps of pics
>etc if you want any.  I want to eventually  display a full set of
>Spartan armour in my house.  I have a helmet (not quite right but)
>and a thrusting sword(very close to real) I want to get a cuirass and
>greeves and shield made etc.  I have a few links to sites if anyone
>is interested also.
>Ok  bye for now   more later....
>
>
><http://click.egroups.com/1/4105/6/_/_/_/958136190/>
>
>Do you love your Mom? Send her flowers NOW !!
>
>To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
>thephalanx-unsubscribe@egroups.com

Just to pick up on Shaun's idea, I think it might be worthwhile if I
introduced myself to the discussion board. Eventually I plan to have
a bio page where users can opt to post their information and pictures
if they want, but for the time being, here's some info on me.

My name's Kevin Marshall, and I'm a 16 year old high school junior.
I've been interested in ancient Greek (esp. Spartan) history for
quite a while now, but the number of people to discuss it with is
limited (especially in high school!) The majority of my efforts to
research the topics have been through the Internet, but the amount of
material on that is pretty damn sad. So... I've made it a personal
mission to improve the current situation for this tightly-knit
community a little bit on the Internet. I have another discussion
group for general Classical history on Yahoo! (htt
p://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/theclassicalhistoryclub) and am working
with Kevin Hendryx (he's on the club) on a webpage exclusively and
extensively about Sparta (http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~sparta/).

Like Shaun, I've gone the route of the pathetic Spartan devotee. I
have quite a few books on the subject, have a historically accurate
(as far as I can tell) crested Corinthian helmet, posters, etc. etc.
etc. etc. Basically, my room's coated with Spartan or traditional
Chinese (went to China for a month recently) crap. As you can
probably tell, I'm REALLY into the subject, so seeing so many people
interested in this discussion group has made my hopes soar through
the roof.


Feel free to give me an email if you want--regarding the club,
history, or even if you just want to kill some time. I've got plenty
of spare time to kill in school ;P
Kevin

I know this won't be counted as a vote, but this is just my idea of
what I'd like to see.

1.  Discussion of military tactics and strategy of the period.
2.  Historical reproductions of the armour and weapons of the period.
3.  Some movie discussion, but primarily the above-mentioned topics.

Like I said, this is just what I'd like to see and talk about and if
anyone has different/better ideas, I'll be glad to hear and discuss
them.

MR

Mathrocks@...

I know this won't be counted as a vote, but this is just my idea of
what I'd like to see.

1.  Discussion of military tactics and strategy of the period.
2.  Historical reproductions of the armour and weapons of the period.
3.  Some movie discussion, but primarily the above-mentioned topics.

Like I said, this is just what I'd like to see and talk about and if
anyone has different/better ideas, I'll be glad to hear and discuss
them.

MR

Mathrocks@...

Just a quick Hello from Perth Australia,  to  let you know that I am
interested in anything  Spartan.  It all stems back from the 1962
film:300 Spartans which Im sure you have all seen. (shame they dont
make a new version)  count me in!!!!!!!
I have a small collection of Spartan type items and  heaps of pics
etc if you want any.  I want to eventually  display a full set of
Spartan armour in my house.  I have a helmet (not quite right but)
and a thrusting sword(very close to real) I want to get a cuirass and
greeves and shield made etc.  I have a few links to sites if anyone
is interested also.
Ok  bye for now   more later....

As you can probably tell by the two emails in your box, I've started
a poll for the club to essentially get a pulse on the group. I
encourage everybody to check in their vote so we can all get to know
each other and get this group off to a good productive start!


Kevin

Enter your vote today!  Check out the new poll for the thephalanx
group:


What subjects do you want to see discussed most on this message board? You can
tick off multiple choices. The purpose of this is so all of us can get a feel
for the spirit of the group and will enable us to have more focused and active
discussions. Go ahead and let your preferences be known!

   o Military history discussions
   o General history discussions
   o Living History discussions (groups, arms and armor reproductions, etc.)
   o Reviews of literature, movies, etc.
   o Sparta v. Athens debates


To vote, please visit the following web page:

http://www.egroups.com/polls/thephalanx

Note: Please do not reply to this message. Poll votes are
not collected via email. To vote, you must go to the eGroups
web site listed above.

Thanks!

Enter your vote today!  Check out the new poll for the thephalanx
group:


What do you want to see the most on this message board? You can check multiple
choices; I just want to get a feel for what people want out of this endeavor.

   o Military history discussions
   o General history discussions
   o Living History discussions (groups, arms and armor reproductions, etc.)
   o Reviews of literature, movies, etc.
   o Sparta v. Athens debates


To vote, please visit the following web page:

http://www.egroups.com/polls/thephalanx

Note: Please do not reply to this message. Poll votes are
not collected via email. To vote, you must go to the eGroups
web site listed above.

Thanks!

Just testing to see if this works (didn't work for me before.)  To
introduce myself: I've read Thucydides The History of the
Peloponnesian War, and some of Herodotus and really liked them.  I'm
trying to make a panoply for myself, though my armouring skills
aren't the greatest *g*.

MR

Mathrocks@...

Behold the wonders of all-seeing Zeus!  May Athene Promachos  favor
this endeavor!

Kevin the Greater
PS: Sparta No. 1, all-Greece League 500 B.C.!

this is just to see if this works correctly and sends email to my box.