Kotthybos

Kotthybos ( el, κότθυβος) was a type of Macedonian 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'', 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'' (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 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.

See also

* Konos

Ancient Greek military terminology
Ancient Macedonian military equipment