pelta
pelta, a light shield, shaped like a half-moon, pelt, Thracian shield
- a small, light shield in the shape of a half-moon, originally used by the Thracians and other barbarous people, Liv. 28, 5, 11; Verg. A. 1, 490; 7, 743; Ov. P. 3, 1, 96; Sil. 2, 80; Plin. 12, 5, 11, § 23; Sen. Hipp. 403; Vulg. 2 Par. 23, 9.
instructas ~is ensibus hastis ‥ manus
contigit ut praefatus vir Dei armatas ~arum [gl.: scutorum, ] testudine catervas ‥ offendissetscilda ,hrandbeaga
quasi ~a protegente frontem
post varios tandem discursus pelta cadaver / inventum gyris pluribus esse docet
quilibet vallettus ejusdem civitatis haberet unum arcum et xxiiij sagittas ad minus cum gladio, ~a, daggario, et aliis hernesiis pro statu suo competentibus
extra classem sunt ancilia, ~ae, gerrae ‥ sed ancile inter ~as censet Plutarchus, cum ~am sacram et caelestem vocet
~a,lytel scyld
~ae vel parme,þa læssan scyldas
assint lancee, catapulta, ancilia, scuta, ~e [v. l. ~es; gl.: ]peti acues ,bockeler
a bockelere , ~a
cetram inter ~as repetunt ‥ sed Virgilius his peltas aeratas dixit, illis cetram, quam Servius ait scutum esse leve, breve, loreum
acsi fixa ~arum [gl.: scutum brevissimum in modum lune medie ] testudine defenditur
ipsius est circulus imperfectus ad modum ~e
~arum species varia et sine umbone ‥ notissima est Amasonica illa, quam a lunari similtudine lunatam et falcatam vocant
peltarum species varia et sine umbone; Graecis ‥ orbicularis
narrat Plinius ‥ quod in India crescit ficus ‥ : folia habet ita lata quod extenduntur in modum ~e ‥ . ista ficus habet foliorum amplitudinem tantum, quod ad modum ~e protegere potest hominem eciam unum folium
Macedonicam ~am hederae folio similem format Xenophon
Thracibus et suae extant ~ae lateribus arctioribus ancilium instar
apud Suidam legiturπέλται ἀπεδία τετράγωνα , ~ae clypei quadranguli
inexpugnabili metrorum ~a et grammaticorum parma
de terris orior candenti corpore pelta / ‥ Vulcani torre rigescens, / carior et multo quam cetera scuta duelli
undique me defende potentia / mei gibrae pernas omnes libera / tuta pelta [(gl.: ] protegente singulaplæg sceldæ
ut tuarum orationum ~a muniar(
excipit horrisonas illeso parmate fundas, / nec potuit validis penetrari pelta sagittis
ave pelta peccatorum
papa ‥ dignitatem Lincolniensis ecclesie Henrico de Borvassche adolescenti contulit, ad ~am precipuo joculatori
item de ij ~is remanentibus iiij d.; item de iiij pellibus ovium matricium, x pellibus hogastrorum ‥ ante tonsionem, iij s. iiij d.
de xxiij pellibus ovium de morina ante tonsionem et xv ~is ovium post tonsionem et ij ~is multonum de morina post tonsionem venditis ix s. xj d.
de iij s. j d. ob. receptis de xv ~ys bidentum de stauro necat’ in hospitio inter predictam tonsuram et finem S. Michaelis
- , πέλτη, a light shield, shaped like a half-moon, pelt, Thracian shield, L., V, O.
PELTA(πέλτη), a small shield. Iphicrates, observing that the ancient CLIPEUSwas cumbrous and inconvenient, introduced among the Greeks a much smaller and lighter shield, from which those who bore it took the name of peltastae [EXERCITUSVol. 1. p. 776]. It consisted principally of a frame of wood or wickerwork (Xen. Anab. 2.1, § 6), covered with skin or leather, without the metallic rim. [ANTYX]. (Timaeus, Lex. Plat. s. v.) Light and small shields of a great variety of shapes were used by numerous nations before the adoption of them by the Greeks. The round target or cetra was a species of the pelta, and was used especially by the people of Spain and Mauretania. [CETRA] The pelta is also said to have been quadrangular (Schol. in Thuc. 2.29). A light shield of similar construction was part of the national armour of Thrace (Thuc. 2.29; Eurip. Aloes. 498, Rhes. 410; Max. Tyr. Diss. 19.1, 23.2) and of various parts of Asia, and was on this account attributed to the Amazons, in whose hands it appears on the works of ancient art sometimes elliptic, as in the bronzes of Siris (woodcut, p. 79), and at other times variously sinuated on the margin, but most commonly with a semicircular indentation on one side ( lunatis peltis, Verg. A. 1.490, 11.663-Z2). Varro, L. L. 7.43, compares this to the ancile. [SALII] A vase fragment in the
British Museum (No. E 793) shows clearly the form and construction of the lunata pelta; two Persians exhibit the two sides of the shield.
[W.S] [A.H.S](πέλτη). A small, round shield made of wicker-work or wood, covered with hide or leather (Xen. Anab. ii. 1, 6). The name is also given to the Thracian shield, which was rectangular in shape (Schol. in Thuc. ii. 29). See cetra; clipeus.