Shield
a portion of defensive armor held by the left hand or worn on the left arm to ward off sword strokes or missiles.
The earliest known shields date from the close of the Bronze Age. They are circular and flat, or but slightly convex, with a central boss, under and across which the handle is fixed. The Greek shield of the Homeric period was also of bronze, circular, convex, and often ornamented with devices. The Etruscan shield of bronze, of which there is a fine specimen in the British Museum, is also circular and ornamented in concentric bands of embossed work round the central boss.
The Roman infantry used a light round shield about three feet in diameter, and the cavalry carried a smaller buckler also of a round form covered with hide, SHIELDS while the spearmen had a large oblong convex shield of wood and leather , which covered the whole body.
The early Germanic shields were also large, oblong, and convex.
The shields of the Anglo-Saxon invaders of England and of the Scandinavian vian Vikings were mostly circular. But century was kite-shaped, and the triangular form continued to prevail till the 15th century, becoming tury, becoming gradually shorter and , After the 14th century the small round more obtusely pointed, or heart-shaped. ed, or heart-shaped. buckler came into fashion , and retained its place till the 16th century. By this time the use of firearms had made the shield practically useless in warfare.
Many savage tribes still use shields of wood or hide.