My thoughts: Rohan has the technology of the early middle ages, def a step down from imperial roman times. But even the late empire saw a loss in technology and centralised armories (more maille than Lorica Segmentata).
But the high middle ages had better metal working than the Roman empire. I would say Gondor is more equal to the high ma then the early ma like Rohan. But the cool thing is, their armour is not straight up copied from a specific culture (like Italian or German armour). Esp the helmets are very different from a stereotypical knights visor helmet. That makes Gondor feel unique and more fantastical than just “European medieval”.
Now the hoplites. Hoplites are from the era if greek poleis, before imperial, republican or even monarchical Rome. Technologically, that’s the bronze age and def less developed than imp Rome or the MA. But that’s not a bad thing.
In the intro sequence of lotr fotr during the great war of the second age , the elves have a greek inspired armour. Corinthian style helmets with the iconic face shape cutout and the long horse tail. But they also are not a copy and feel like their own thing.
So… I don’t need the numenorians to have more rivets or better shoulder joints. Mostly what is disappearing in Arda is not knowledge, but magic. So choosing greek inspiration is cool. But they need to feel 1) not copied 2) more magical than Gondor.
My thoughts: Rohan has the technology of the early middle ages, def a step down from imperial roman times. But even the late empire saw a loss in technology and centralised armories (more maille than Lorica Segmentata).
But the high middle ages had better metal working than the Roman empire. I would say Gondor is more equal to the high ma then the early ma like Rohan. But the cool thing is, their armour is not straight up copied from a specific culture (like Italian or German armour). Esp the helmets are very different from a stereotypical knights visor helmet. That makes Gondor feel unique and more fantastical than just “European medieval”.
Now the hoplites. Hoplites are from the era if greek poleis, before imperial, republican or even monarchical Rome. Technologically, that’s the bronze age and def less developed than imp Rome or the MA. But that’s not a bad thing.
In the intro sequence of lotr fotr during the great war of the second age , the elves have a greek inspired armour. Corinthian style helmets with the iconic face shape cutout and the long horse tail. But they also are not a copy and feel like their own thing.
So… I don’t need the numenorians to have more rivets or better shoulder joints. Mostly what is disappearing in Arda is not knowledge, but magic. So choosing greek inspiration is cool. But they need to feel 1) not copied 2) more magical than Gondor.