 Helmets ranged from simple, open-faced affairs to stylized Thracian models (complete with mask-like cheek protectors that often imitated a human face).Historians argue about how common body armour would have been among phalangites (especially those in the middle ranks), but when it was worn it ranged from a cuirass of hardened linen (the "linothorax"), that may or may not have been reinforced/decorated with metal scales to metallic (typically bronze) breastplates.The phalangite's shield - long misconstrued thanks to its description as a "buckler" by several writers - was a -diameter affair and less concave than the hoplite's "aspis".