"Rutulum thoraca indutus, aenis Horrebat squamis." "Dressed in his glittering breastplate, he appeared Not less formidable to the grand adversary of our salvation are the grace, righteousness, and true holiness of the genuine believer, in the unceasing exercise of which he spends his days. The single plates being sometimes pierced through by spears and missive weapons, two or three were often placed upon one another, to render the breastplate a stronger defence. Thus Virgil, "Loricam consertam hamis auroque trilicem." En. lib. iii, L. 467. "The threefold coat of mail beset with hooks and gold." In allusion to this improved breastplate, the great apostle of the Gentiles exhorts the Thessalonians to put on the breastplate of faith and love, whose double folds are necessary to defend the vital parts of the new man against the desperate wounds with which he is threatened by his spiritual adversaries. The military girdle was another piece of defensive armour; it surrounded the other accoutrements; the sword was suspended in it, as in modern times in the soldier's belt; and it was necessary to gird the clothes and armour of the combatant together. Thus Homer, Λυσε δε δι ζωςηρα παναίολον, ἡδ ̓ ἐπενερθε Σωμα τε και μίτρην, ἣν χαλκης καμον ανδοίς. Iliad. lib. iv. "He then unbraced his rich embroidered belt," and all his armour underneath it, which skilful smiths had fabri cated." This was so essential to a warrior, that among ▾ Potter's Grecian Antiq. vol. ii, p. 28. ▾ Such also was the curiously embroidered belt of Nestor. Il. lib. x, 1. 75, the Greeks Cavea to gird, came to be a general name for putting on armour. Homer thus introduces Agamemnon commanding the Grecians to arm : Ατρείδης δε βοησεν, ιδε ζωννυσφαι ανωγεν. Iliad. lib. ix. "Atrides strait commands them all to arm, or gird themselves." We learn from Plutarch, that the Romans had the same custom ;* and it prevailed also among the Persians, for Herodotus relates, that Xerxes having reached Abdera, when he fled from Athens, and thinking himself out of danger, Avely any any loosed his girdle, that is, put off his armour. The same phrases occur in many parts of the sacred volume, the military belt being not less necessary to the Hebrew soldier, on account of his loose and flowing dress. To gird and to arm, are therefore synonimous terms in Scripture; for those who are said to be able to put on armour, are, according to the Hebrew and Septuagint, girt with a girdle; from whence came the expression of girding to the battle. This was the species of girdle which Jonathan bestowed on David, as one of the pledges of his entire love and friendship. He stripped himself, not only of his wearing apparel, but what a warrior valued at a much higher price, his military habiliments also, his sword, his bow, and his girdle, and gave them to David. The girdle is mentioned by the apostle, in his particular description of the Christian armour, addressed to the church at Ephesus: "Stand therefore, having your lions girt about with truth." As warriors are accustomed to gird themselves with a broad belt to keep up their long * Atticis. y Lib. viii, cap. 120. In Turkey, the girdle richly embroidered, fastened before with broad golden clasps, is still in use. Lady Montagu's Lett. vol. i, p. 197. Eph. vi, 14. garments, to bind them and their armour close together, and to fortify their loins, that they may be stronger, and more fitted for the labours and fatigues of war; so must believers encompass themselves with sincerity and uprightness of heart, and with truth and honesty of conversation, that righteousness may be the girdle of their loins, and faithfulness the girdle of their reins, that they may be steady, active, and resolute in every spiritual encounter. The legs of the Grecian warrior were defended with greaves of brass, copper, or other metals. Potter thinks it is probable, that this piece of armour was at first either peculiar to the Grecians, or at least more generally used by them than any other nations; because we find them so perpetually called by the poet (euxvnuides Axarı) the well-greaved Achaians. But they seem to have been equally common among the warriors of Canaan, and other eastern countries. When Goliath appeared in complete armour, and challenged the armies of Israel to furnish a man able to contend with him in single combat, he wore greaves of brass upon his legs. This piece of armour is also recommended by the apostle, in these words: "And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. "b The soldier is wont to wear greaves of brass or a sort of strong boots, to guard his feet and legs against briars and thorns, the iron spikes which the enemy scatters in his way, and the sharp pointed stones, which retard his march; so must the heart and life of the Christian be disengaged from worldly thoughts, affections, and pursuits, that would hinder him in his heavenly course; and be filled with holy resolutions, by divine grace, to hold a Potter's Gr. Antiq. vol. ii, p. 31. Adam's Rom. Antiq. p. 368. on his way, in spite of every hardship and danger, fortified against the many snares and temptations that beset him in his progress, and prepared for the assault, from what enemy or quarter soever it may come. The feet were protected with shoes of stout, well prepared leather, plated or spiked on the sole, to prevent the combatant from slipping. Moses seems, at least according to our translation, to have had some allusion to shoes of this kind, in his farewell address to the tribes: "Thy shoes shall be iron and brass, and as thy days so shall thy strength be:" And the apostle Paul, in his description of the spiritual armour: "Having the feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.' "Not iron," says Calmet, "not steel; but patient investigation, calm inquiry, assiduous, laborious, lasting; if not rather with firm footing in the gospel of peace." с The Hebrew soldiers used two kinds of shields, the (x) tsinna, and the (1) magen. From the middle of the tsinna rose a large boss, surmounted by a dagger, or sharp pointed protuberance, which was extremely useful in repelling missive weapons, and bearing down their enemies when they came to close fight. A shield of this construction was partly a defensive and partly an offensive weapon. Martial seems to allude to the tsinna in this line: "In turbam incideris, cunctos umbone repellet." "Should you get into a crowd, your slave with his boss would repel them all." The ancient bucklers generally covered the whole body; for Virgil represents the troops as standing close covered under their bucklers: 66 clypeique sub orbe teguntur." En. lib. ii, 1. 227. And in Tyrtæus, the mighty buckler covered the thighs, legs, and breast, belly, and shoulders too. Deut. xxxiii, 25. a Potter's Gr. Antiq. vol. ii, p. 33. Μηρες τι, κνήμας τε κάτω, κςέρνα, και ωμες The magen was a short buckler intended merely for defence, and of great service in the warfare of those days. To these must be added the (770) sihara, or round shield; and these three differed from one another, nearly as the scutum, Clypeus, and Parma, among the Romans. The tsinna was double the weight of the magen, and was carried by the infantry; the others, as being more light and manageable, were reserved for the cavalry. These different shields were also used by the Greeks. The holy Psalmist often mentions this weapon in the songs of Zion, to signify the complete protection which he expected from above, which he so largely experienced, and in which he wholly trusted. In that sublime ode which he sung in the day that the Lord delivered him from the power of all his enemies, we find this passage: "The Lord is my buckler, and the horn of my salvation." He had been long accustomed to contemplate the character of God under this most expressive figure; for while he wandered in exile, far from the courts of the tabernacle, where so much of his happiness was placed, we find him pouring out his soul in these strains: "Behold, O God, our shield, and look upon the face of thine anointed; for the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord will give grace and glory; no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly." The great apostle of the Gentiles earnestly recommends this weapon among others, to the use of the churches under the present dispensation : "Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall * Potter's Grecian Antiquities, vol. ii, p. 33–35. |