The linothorax is a modern term conventionally used to describe a type of upper body armor used by the Ancient Greeks, as well as other civilizations, from the Mycenaean Period through the Hellenistic Period. It is based on the Greek λινοθώραξ (in Homer λινοθώρηξ), which strictly is an adjective meaning "wearing a breastplate of linen" (and is not a noun meaning "linen armor" as often stated); the "linothorax" was made of linen, while a "thorax" was made of metal. The earliest attested account of a "linothorax" used for battle is recorded in Book 2 of Homer's Iliad (2.529 and 2.830). It is worn by Ajax the Lesser and is described in brief. Homer, composing long before the great armies of Athens, Thebes, Sparta or Alexander the Great, surely understood what the armor was. But the extent to