Some rare pieces of armour are arranged with the greaves. No. =226= is a thigh-piece, of which the provenance is not known. A similar piece was found at Olympia. Armour for the thigh is represented on some Greek vases of the sixth century B.C., but not on later monuments, although both Xenophon and Arrian mention it as part of the equipment of cavalry. A guard for the upper part of the right arm, from Italy, which is more familiar as armour of the later gladiator, dates from the fifth or fourth century B.C. (No. =227=). It was fastened to the shoulder of the cuirass. Another piece of different shape is mounted with the suit of armour from Capua (No. =210=). There are three pairs of shin-guards from Italy (No. =228=). The ankle-pieces are designed to protect the "Achilles" tendon at the back of the foot (No. =229=; fig. 88). These subsidiary pieces of leg-armour were probably worn by the Italians of the fourth century B.C., when the long greave was going out of fashion. Armour of an unusual kind is represented by the pair of bronze shoes, which are also from Ruvo (No. =230=; fig. 89). The metal covering is only for the top of the foot, and the toes are on a separate plate, which is hinged at the joint. Part of a single shoe of the same type was found at Olympia. [Illustration: FIG. 88.--BRONZE ANKLE-GUARD (NO. 229). 1:4.] [Illustration: FIG. 89.--BRONZE SHOES (NO. 230). 1:4.] =Shield.=--An essential part of the ancient panoply was the shield, but actual remains are rare. Greek shields were probably made of wood or leather studded or plated with metal. The prehistoric shield of Homer's time we know was a large bull-hide, which enveloped the man from head to foot, and was slung round his neck by a strap. Herodotus says that this unwieldy weapon was superseded by the smaller shield, an invention of the Carians, held on the left arm by a loop and a cross-bar (fig. 102). The common shapes were circular and oval; more fanciful patterns, lozenges and crescents, belonged to less civilised neighbours of the Greeks. Leather construction is seen in the shape of the Boeotian shield (so called from its use as the national coin-type of Boeotia), which the Dodona soldier carries (No. =185=; fig. 66). This is oval with a gap in the middle of each long side, a shape produced by stretching a hide on a long frame with cross-bars at top and bottom. Strings for tightening the leather cover are drawn inside a shield in fig. 102. Two circular bronze shields are exhibited, both from Italy. The large one is decorated with narrow bands of Sphinxes, rosettes, palm- and lotus-patterns in relief, in the oriental Greek style of the sixth century B.C. (No. =231=). The smaller (No. =232=), which has a spiked boss and punctured geometric patterns, is probably Italian of about the same date. Neither of these examples has the fittings of a shield inside. They may have been made for decorative or votive use.