Re: Why do soldiers love nakedness?
- From: "Energumen" <ener_gumen@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 30 Nov 2005 13:39:25 -0000
"MM" <kylix_is@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:262ro197saqarev7ob9gghvslhvrjm8kre@xxxxxxxxxx
> Over the past couple of years we have seen a lot of photos from the
> American and British militaries featuring naked bodies. It seems where
> torture and/or high jinks are concerned, nakedness is often a feature.
> And yet both the Americans and the British are so very prudish by
> nature. Is this naked desire a kick against the pricks of repression?
> I do find it most strange for Royal Marines to be naked. Not the
> fighting so much, but doing it naked. It seems so demeaning somehow,
> not a manly pursuit at all.
That's a very Abrahamic view. In the original olympic games most of the
athletes competed naked.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/3860261.stm
http://tinyurl.com/bvxdu
http://tinyurl.com/dce3b
Celts were famous for going into battle naked. Sometimes entirely naked,
more often bare from the waist up. Seemingly their mentality was that it was
an act of bravado, part of their whole custom of taunting the enemy with
displays, horn blowing and shouts pre-engagement (a bit like the Kiwi rugby
team), as well as being less encumbering.
Polybius on the battle of Telamon:
"The Celts had drawn up the Gaesatae from the Alps to face their enemies on
the rear ... and behind them the Insubres .... The Insubres and the Boii
wore trousers and light cloaks, but the Gaesatae in their overconfidence had
thrown these aside and stood in front of the whole army naked, with nothing
but their arms; for they thought that thus they would be more efficient,
since some of the ground was overgrown with thorns which would catch on
their clothes and impede the use of their weapons.' On the other hand the
fine order and the noise of the Celtic host terrified the Romans; for there
were countless trumpeters and horn blowers and since the whole army was
shouting its war cries at the same time there was such a confused sound that
the noise seemed to come not only from the trumpeters and the soldiers but
also from the countryside which was joining in the echo. No less terrifying
were the appearance and gestures of the naked warriors in front, all of whom
were in the prime of life and of excellent physique. All the warriors in the
front ranks were adorned with gold torcs and armlets. The Romans were
particularly terrified by the sight of these men, but, led on by hope of
gain, they were twice as keen to face the danger. '... to the Celts in the
rear their trousers and cloaks afforded good protection, but to the naked
men in front events turned out differently to what they had expected and
caused them much discomfiture and distress. For since the Gallic shield
cannot cover the whole body, because they were naked, the bigger they were,
the more chance there was of missiles striking home. At length, unable to
ward off the javelin throwers because of the distance and the number of
javelins falling upon them, in despair and distress some rushed upon the
enemy in wild rage and willingly gave up their lives; others, retreating
step by step towards their comrades, threw them into confusion by their
manifest show of cowardice."
Polybius on the battle of Cannae:
"The armor of the Libyans was Roman, for Hannibal had armed them with a
selection of the spoils taken in previous battles. The shield of the
Iberians and Celts was about the same size, but their swords were quite
different. For that of the Roman can thrust with as deadly effects as it can
cut, while the Gallic sword can only cut, and that requires some room. And
the companies coming alternately---the naked Celts, and the Iberians with
their short linen tunics bordered with purple stripes, the whole appearance
of the line was strange and terrifying."
The Germans also frequently fought naked, or almost naked.
Tacitus, Germania:
"Even iron is not plentiful with them, as we infer from the character of
their weapons. But few use swords or long lances. They carry a spear (framea
is their name for it), with a narrow and short head, but so sharp and easy
to wield that the same weapon serves, according to circumstances, for close
or distant conflict. As for the horse-soldier, he is satisfied with a shield
and spear; the foot-soldiers also scatter showers of missiles each man
having several and hurling them to an immense distance, and being naked or
lightly clad with a little cloak."
Paulus Deaconus, speaking of the Germanic Heruli in Historia gentis
Langobardorum:
"Either to fight more expediently or to show their contempt for wounds of
the enemy, they fought nude, covering only a part of the body modestly [i.e.
the genitals]."
Obviously, for these people, in these contexts, nakedness was seen as manly.
.
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- From: MM
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