Of offensive armour, the full equipment consists of sword, spear, and shield. The two former call for no comment, but the shields, which are of two forms, the circular Argive or the indented oval Boeotian, present one feature of great interest—the devices with which they are adorned.[1979] Investigations have failed to discern in these any symbolical or heraldic significance; they are not appropriated to particular personages, and all that can be noted about them is that they usually seem to suggest rapid movement. Thus we find an eagle or other flying bird, wheels, balls, chariots, a bent leg, a serpent, Pegasos, and so on. The passage in the _Septem_ of Aeschylus (387 ff.), in which the shield-devices of the combatants are described, is of course familiar, and similar allusions are not wanting in Greek writers.[1980] They are universal on B.F. vases, being painted in white on black ground, and are often found on the earlier R.F. vases in black on red; but they seem to disappear at an early stage of the R.F. period. Sometimes they consist only of letters of the alphabet, as on a Panathenaic amphora, where Athena’s shield has the letters Α to Θ; on a B.F. vase in the British Museum are the letters ΑΘΕ.[1981] Other peculiar subjects are a winged boar, two rams butting, a figure of Artemis, a white-bordered square, and a ladder.[1982] Some of those on R.F. vases are somewhat elaborate—a Seilenos,[1983] a fox eating grapes,[1984] an armed runner,[1985] or a warrior blowing a trumpet.[1986] A variation is when the device takes the form of an object in relief—a Satyr-mask,[1987] Gorgoneion,[1988] mask of Phobos (Panic),[1989] or a Gryphon,[1990] or a rearing serpent[1991]; or when a shield is surrounded by a fringe of serpents.[1992] Shields frequently have a piece of fringed and embroidered stuff suspended from them, which seems to have served as a protection to the legs.[1993]