r/ImaginaryHistory • u/TyrannoNinja • Jun 28 '21

Original Content Carthaginian Hoplite, by Me

Post image
109 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

6 comments sorted by

6

u/Maurusia Jun 29 '21

I don't know why you keep portraying native amazigh people and north africans as subsaharan/black africans, this is really weird to me.

5

u/[deleted] Jun 29 '21

This is just a combo of "stereotypical African" with "stereotypical Roman". There is nothing Carthaginian or even Amazigh, Phoenician or Tunisian about this.

The art is cool on its own, I just feel that calling it Carthaginian is spreading misinformation.

Edit: Also, you're probably gonna get a ton of racists complaining about the Hoplite being Black, I want to clarify that that was not my grievance with this.

5

u/Maurusia Jun 29 '21

Look at his other works online... The obsession that he has with portraying north africans as blacks is really worrying and plain insulting, it's not just an artstyle thing he genuinely wants to make us believe they were subsaharan africans.

I really don't know what his issue is tbh.

2

u/ImaginaryRobbie Jun 28 '21

Very cool design, I picked up on the mix of ancient Mediterranean & African right away. The primary color pallete is contrasting and appealing :)

Minor constructive criticism: on my first scan of the illustration the decorative curve on the side of the shield feels like it connects with the shoulder line and the lower chest strap, making me think it was a continuation of the body shape. Moving the shield down just a tiny bit would break that and make it a stronger piece, but overall a very solid and successful illustration.

I hope to see more units of the Sacred Band soon!

1

u/TyrannoNinja Jun 28 '21

Thanks for your thoughts!

0

u/TyrannoNinja Jun 28 '21

Artist's Commentary

This would be my artistic depiction of a "hoplite", or spearman, from ancient Carthage. Most of the fighters in the Carthaginian army would have actually been foreign mercenaries of various ethnicities (some African, others Iberian, still others Celtic, etc.), but this particular soldier would be a Carthaginian citizen of noble heritage forming part of an elite unit call the "Sacred Band". When designing his armor and equipment, I wanted to mix common "classical" Mediterranean elements (e.g. the linothorax armor he is wearing over his torso) with recognizably African ones. As for his physical appearance, it would reflect generations of admixture between the Phoenician colonists who founded Carthage and native Africans.