Linothorax

This is interesting – it’s long been known that Alexander the Great (or Iskandar the Accursed, if you’re Zoroastrian) equipped his troops with armor made from laminated strips of linen, a technique the ancient Greeks and Mycenaeans may have used. Apparently, a British scholar has figured out how to recreate it using only ancient materials.

I’m interested in history for it’s own sake, sometimes. But I’m especially interested in history because I can strip-mine it for story ideas. And linothorax, laminated linen armor, is such a cool idea that it’s almost certainly going to turn up in one of my stories one of these days.

-JM