In the Homeric age, there were two chief kinds of shields: a small circular one, and an oval shield of almost human height. They were made of several layers of bull’s hide, sewn on the top of one another, and covered, as a rule, on the outer side, with bronze. As the diameter of the skins decreased from without to within, and the strength of the metal coverings decreased from the middle to the edge, the result was that the middle of the shield, which had to offer the greatest resistance, was also the strongest part; besides this, a boss or convex bronze plate (ὄμφαλος), was also fixed in the centre of the outer side, but in later times they put the coat of arms in its place. The smaller circular shield seems to have been carried by a double handle, through one part of which, in the middle of the hollow, the arm was thrust, while the other at the edge was clasped by the hand (compare Fig. 169). This mode of carrying would be impossible for the large shields, and these must have been managed by a single handle, though we must not forget that these very heavy shields were also suspended from the body by straps. In later times, too, we find the round and oval shields still in use, but the latter were considerably diminished in size, which is very natural, since it must have been extremely inconvenient and troublesome in battle to carry these enormous shields. Both kinds were moderately vaulted, and had a somewhat projecting edge; the shields, both round and oval, often had two slits at the sides, the object of which was to enable the warrior to peep at the enemy from behind his shield, and also perhaps to send his spear through the opening; these slits may be recognised in the shields in Fig. 176. As to the mode in which they were carried, we sometimes find two handles, both at a little distance from the centre, as on the shield in Fig. 171, of which the inner side is visible; sometimes a crossbar extended over the whole inner breadth of the shield, through which the arm was thrust, while there were various straps at the edge which could be easily grasped, and which made it possible to go on using the shield even if one of these handles should have been torn off. There is a rather different contrivance in a shield in Fig. 167, of which we see the inner side; instead of one crossbar used as a diameter of the circle, there are three like radii meeting together in the centre. Here, too, there were probably loops at the edge. Very often the shields were lined inside with coloured materials, and decorated with tassels or cords; on small round shields we sometimes find a broad lappet of leather, or some such material, hanging down, to give the combatant a further protection for the lower part of his body. The coats of arms, which were very various and full of meaning, were either put on in relief like the head of a satyr in the centre of a shield in Fig. 176, or else inlaid of metal of another colour, or nailed on. [Illustration: FIG. 178.]