Kotthybos () was a type of

Macedon Macedonia ( ; , ), also called Macedon ( ), was an ancient kingdom on the periphery of Archaic and Classical Greece, which later became the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. The kingdom was founded and initially ruled by the royal ...

ian body armour.

Etymology

The name originally referred to a metallic cooking pot used by ancient Macedonian soldiers to prepare their own food. The term appears to be a variant of terms such as ''kossymbos'' and ''kosymbe''.

Use and possible construction

Ancient sources are unclear as to the form of the ''kotthybos'', but the context of references to it indicates that it was a form of armour associated with the 'Foot Companions' ('' Pezhetairoi'') who formed the Macedonian phalanx. It is recorded that the fine of 2 obols imposed on a soldier for losing a ''kotthybos'', was the same as for the '' konos'', a simple, conical, bronze helmet, and less than for the ''

sarissa The sarissa or sarisa was a long spear or pike about in length. It was introduced by Philip II of Macedon and was used in his Macedonian phalanxes as a replacement for the earlier dory, which was considerably shorter. These longer spears imp ...

'', a long pike. Modern scholars are divided as to what the ''kotthybos'' was; some consider it a padded garment worn under other forms of armour, whilst the majority regard it an alternative term for the ''spolas'' or''

linothorax The ''linothorax'' (, from the , ) is a type of upper body armor that was used throughout the ancient Mediterranean world. The term ''linothorax'' is a modern term based on the Greek , which means "wearing a breastplate of linen"; a number of anc ...

'' (neologism), the typical Hellenic and Hellenistic armour made of glued or stitched layers of linen, or a combination of layers of linen and leather. It is likely that the old armours that

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...

ordered to be burnt, and were therefore non-metallic, were examples of the ''kotthybos''.Matthew, pp. 116, 119-120 and note 134

References

Bibliography

*Crawford, M.H, and Whitehead, D. (1983) ''Archaic and Classical Greece: A Selection of Ancient Sources in Translation'', Cambridge University Press. *Hammond, N.G.l. (1989) ''Alexander the Great, King, Commander, and Statesman'', Bloomsbury Academic. *Heckel, W. and Jones, R. (2006) ''Macedonian Warrior Alexander's elite infantryman'', Osprey. {{ISBN, 978-1-84176-950-9 *Matthew, C. (2015) ''An Invincible Beast: Understanding the Hellenistic Pike Phalanx in Action'', Pen and Sword.

Etymology

Use and possible construction

References

Bibliography

See also