Editing Shield (section)

===Ancient===
[[File:Greek soldiers of Greco–Persian Wars.png|left|thumb|Greek soldiers of [[Greco-Persian Wars]]. Left: Greek [[Sling (weapon)|slinger]]. Right: [[hoplite]]s. Middle: hoplite's shield has a curtain which serves as a protection from arrows.]]
Size and weight varied greatly. [[Light infantry|Lightly armored warriors]] relying on speed and surprise would generally carry light shields (''pelte'') that were either small or thin. [[Heavy infantry|Heavy troops]] might be equipped with robust shields that could cover most of the body. Many had a strap called a [[guige]] that allowed them to be slung over the user's back when not in use or on horseback. During the 14th–13th century&nbsp;BC, the [[Sherden|Sards or Shardana]], working as [[mercenaries]] for the Egyptian pharaoh [[Ramses II]], utilized either large or small round shields against the [[Hittites]]. The [[Mycenaean Greece|Mycenaean Greeks]] used two types of shields: the "figure-of-eight" shield and a rectangular "tower" shield. These shields were made primarily from a wicker frame and then reinforced with leather. Covering the body from head to foot, the figure-of-eight and tower shield offered most of the warrior's body a good deal of protection in hand-to-hand combat. The Ancient Greek [[hoplites]] used a round, bowl-shaped wooden shield that was reinforced with bronze and called an ''[[aspis]]''. The aspis was used by the Spartans to create the Greek [[phalanx]] formation.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ancientmilitary.com/spartan-weapons.htm |title=Spartan Weapons |publisher=Ancientmilitary.com |access-date=9 April 2014 |archive-date=17 August 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150817173952/http://www.ancientmilitary.com/spartan-weapons.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> Their shields offered protection not only for themselves but for their comrades to their left.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ancientmilitary.com/spartan-military.htm |title=Spartan Military |publisher=Ancientmilitary.com |access-date=9 April 2014 |archive-date=1 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140701232906/http://www.ancientmilitary.com/spartan-military.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> [[File:Archäologisches Landesmuseum Schloss Gottorf 034.JPG|thumb|Two wooden round shields survived at [[Thorsberg moor]] (3rd century AD)]]
Examples of Germanic wooden shields circa 350&nbsp;BC&nbsp;– 500&nbsp;AD survive from [[weapons sacrifice]]s in Danish bogs.

The heavily armored [[Roman legionaries]] carried large shields ([[scutum (shield)|''scuta'']]).<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Campbell |first1=Brian |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K6NpAgAAQBAJ&dq=roman+scutum+shield&pg=PA419 |title=The Oxford Handbook of Warfare in the Classical World |last2=Tritle |first2=Lawrence A. |date=2012-12-10 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-971955-6 |pages=421 |language=en}}</ref> The ''scutum'' had an oval shape during the early republican era, but gradually developed into the familiar rectangular shape most commonly seen in the early Imperial legions.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Anderson |first=Lisa M. |date=2005 |title=A handbook on Roman military equipment - MICHEL FEUGÈRE, WEAPONS OF THE ROMANS (translated from the French edition [Errance 1993] by David G. Smith) (Tempus Publishing, Stroud 2002). Pp. 224, figs. 278, 1 table. ISBN 0 7524 2506 4. £19.99. |url=https://doi.org/10.1017/s1047759400007959 |journal=Journal of Roman Archaeology |volume=18 |pages=701–703 |doi=10.1017/s1047759400007959 |issn=1047-7594|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The Romans used their shields to create a tortoise-like formation called a [[testudo formation|''testudo'']] in which large groups of soldiers would be enclosed in an armoured box to provide protection against missiles and to allow for approaches under heavy fire.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rance |first=Philip |title=The Fulcum, the Late Roman and Byzantine Testudo: the Germanization of Roman Infantry Tactics? |url=http://www.duke.edu/web/classics/grbs/FTexts/44/Rance2.pdf |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20121013035512/http://www.duke.edu/web/classics/grbs/FTexts/44/Rance2.pdf |archive-date=2012-10-13 |access-date=2025-03-13 |website=www.duke.edu |page=301}}</ref>