Hoplon shield designs

Hoplite shield design was incredibly varied. There seems little evidence of standardisation, at least up to and including the 5th century: each hoplite chose his own shield design.

Plutarch tells the story of one Spartan who used a life-sized fly as his shield emblem:

“A Spartan had as an emblem on his shield a fly, and that, too, no bigger than life-size. When some mockingly said that he had done this to escape being noticed, he said, “Rather that I may be noticeable; for I come so close to the enemy that my emblem is seen by them in its true size.”

Later on, during the Hellenistic period, there is more evidence of standardised shield designs; this was the time when standing armies, employed by the state, become more common. But even during this period, many cities allowed soldiers to choose their own designs.

So. when you pick a design for your own hoplon, there. are plenty of historical designs to choose from! On this page, you will find a collection of shield designs as depicted by period ceramics/ You can also find additional designs, conveniently grouped by period on this site.