ἀσπίς, ίδος, ἡ,
shield, εὔκυκλος[[ 8th c.BC: Ilias Homerus Epicus “Illiad” 14.428, +others; κυκλοτερής 5th c.BC: Herodotus Historicus 1.194; ἀσπίδος κύκλος 4th-5th c.BC: Aeschylus Tragicus “Septem contra Thebas” 489; ὀμφαλόεσσα 8th c.BC: Ilias Homerus Epicus “Illiad” 4.448, +others] Refs 8th c.BC+]; opposed to Thracian πέλτη and Persian γέρρον, [[ 5th-6th c.BC: Xenophon Historicus “Anabasis” 2.1.6, “Mem.” 3.9.2] Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἀσπίδα ῥῖψαι, ἀποβαλεῖν, [[ 6th c.BC: Anacreon Lyricus 28, 5th-6th c.BC: Aristophanes Comicus “Vespae” 19, compare 5th c.BC: Herodotus Historicus 5.95] Refs 6th c.BC+]: to estimate a victory, ἀσπίδας ἔλαβον ὡς διακοσίας[[ 5th-6th c.BC: Xenophon Historicus “Historia Graeca (Hellenica)” 1.2.3: _metaphorically_, οὗτος γὰρ ἡμῖν ἀ. οὐ μικρὰ θράσους 4th-5th c.BC: Aeschylus Tragicus “Agamemnon” 1437; τὴν ἀ. ἀποβέβληκεν τοῦ βίον 4th c.BC: Nicostratus Philosophus Comedy texts 29, compare 4th c.AD: Libanius Sophista “Orationes” 62.47. ] Refs 5th c.BC+]
__2 collective, body of men-at-arms, ὀκτακισχιλίη ἀ.[[ 5th c.BC: Herodotus Historicus 5.30, compare 5th c.BC: Euripides Tragicus “Phoenissae” 78, 5th-6th c.BC: Xenophon Historicus “Anabasis” 1.7.10. ] Refs 5th c.BC+]
__3 military phrases, ἐπ᾽ ἀσπίδας πέντε καὶ εἴκοσι τάξασθαι to be drawn up twenty-five deep or in file, [[ 5th c.BC: Thucydides Historicus 4.93; στρατιὰν τεταγμένην οὐκ ἐπ᾽ ὀλίγων ἀσπίδων [prev. author] 7.79; ἵστασθαι ἐπὶ τρεῖς ἀσπίδας 5th-6th c.BC: Aristophanes Comicus “Fragmenta” 66] Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἐπὶ μιᾶς ἀσπίδος in single line, [[ 5th-6th c.BC: Isocrates Orator 6.99] Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἐπ᾽ ἀσπίδα, παρ᾽ ἀσπίδα (opposed to ἐπὶ δόρυ), on the left, towards or to the left, because the shield was on the left arm, [[ 5th-6th c.BC: Xenophon Historicus “Institutio Cyri (Cyropaedia)” 7.5.6, “An.” 4.3.26; παρ᾽ ἀσπίδος 4th-5th c.BC: Aeschylus Tragicus “Septem contra Thebas” 624; ἐξ ἀσπίδος 2nd c.BC: Polybius Historicus 11.23.5] Refs 5th c.BC+]; but παρ᾽ ἀσπίδα, literally, beside the shield, [[ 8th c.BC: Ilias Homerus Epicus “Illiad” 16.400] Refs 8th c.BC+]; παρ᾽ ἀ. στῆναι stand in battle, [[ 5th c.BC: Euripides Tragicus “Medea” 250, “Ph.” 1001] Refs 5th c.BC+]; παρ᾽ ἀ. βεβηκέναι[[ [prev. work] 1073; ἐκπονεῖν [prev. author] “Or.” 653, compare “Hel.” 734; ἐς ἀσπίδ᾽ ἥξειν [prev. author] “Ph.” 1326] Refs]; ἀσπίδας συγκλείειν (compare συγκλείω); ἀσπίδα τίθεσθαι serve in the ranks, [[ 5th-6th c.BC: Plato Philosophus “Leges” 756a] Refs 5th c.BC+]; but θέσθαι τὰς ἀ. pile shields, [[ 5th-6th c.BC: Xenophon Historicus “Historia Graeca (Hellenica)” 2.4.12] Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἐπειδὰν ἀ. ψοφῇ when the shields ring, i.e. when two bodies of men meet in a charge, [[ [prev. author] “An.” 4.3.29] Refs]; ἀσπίδα ἀναδέξαι, ἆραι, as a signal, [[ 5th c.BC: Herodotus Historicus 6.115, 5th-6th c.BC: Xenophon Historicus “Historia Graeca (Hellenica)” 2.1.27. ] Refs 5th c.BC+]