A rare pair of Apulian bronze Ankle Greaves, <br><em>ca. 5th - 4th century BCE</em>

Of Apulian type, each greave hammered from a leaf-shaped sheet of bronze, contoured to the length of the heel, the back rising to mid-calf with three carinations, a central vertical ridge, and two flanking curvilinear ridges moulded to protect the Achilles tendon from slashing blows.  Embossed on each inner side in a teardrop shape to mould over the inner ankle bone (the malleolus medialis), with a less defined but larger rounded outer side for the outer ankle bone (the malleolus lateralis).  The front tapering to rounded edges was held together by lacing through the eyelets on either side. Much rarer than shin greaves, ankle greaves were not always worn by Greek warriors.  Fewer than fifty have been discovered in the past 150 years, according to Dietrich von Bothmer, The Metropolitan Museum of Art's chairman of the Department of Greek and Roman Art.  Further, the vast majority of Apulian figure ware omits ankle greave imagery, depicting only the shin greaves.  Interestingly, the Greek