It’s leg armor worn below the knee. A shin protector for thems what
goes into battle. But there’s an interesting aspect to the greave you
are all about to see. Allow me to explain… and perhaps extrapolate
a tad.
As best as I can tell… we’re talking 5th century B.C. The
Thracians. A warlike group who were–for the most part–cremated with
their ashes buried in flat graves. Except of course–as in our
times–for the exceptions. I quote Dean Martin in a film whose name I
can not remember. He was the bad guy. When asked how come he could do
this or that while the others could not… he replied it was the
right of the privileged. Never forgot that line.
The privileged–in the case of the Thracians–were the aristocrats.
They were buried in lavish burrows… along with their possessions.
And if you were a Thracian Chief… you were buried along with your
chariot and the horses which drew it. And the pretty maidens…
about 18 years of age… pierced with a knife through her heart or a
spear through her ribs… vied for the honor of being sacrificed and
buried with you in all their bejeweled finery.
But now here’s the thing of it. The extrapolation part. Take a close
look at the Greave you are soon about to see. It is silver…
decorated with gold. It belonged to a Thracian chief. The gold
stripes on the face are tattoos and they were used by Thracian
noblemen to indicate their rank.
A quick segue to modern times. We don’t have war chiefs anymore. We
have soldiers in the armed forces with ranks. One stripe: Private.
Two stripes: Corporal. Three: Sergeant. And so it goes. Did they get
it from the Thracians. Tell me what you think.
For those of you who are new to this thing called Tidbits…may I
direct you to my home page at www.tyler-adam.com where you will
scroll down the left side menu till you get to the area that says
Current Tidbits… and then click on it in order to view a most
notable Greave.
And there ya have it.
That’s it for this week folks.
Catch you all next week.
Benjamin Mark