Bret Devereaux

You can do. I have done it. I can run with an aspis, fence individually with it, punch with it. It can all be done, it’s just exhausting. But a 5th C. BC ekdromos was probably a lot more fit than I am.https://twitter.com/Verghast404/status/1262452292873117699 …

I actually question the idea that people in the ancient world were generally more fit than a reasonably active modern person. In most cases, higher levels of physical activity are offset by lower levels of nutrition.

I've read that classical Greek literary sources rarely (e.g. compared to the Iliad) attest meat except fish or sacrificial roasts; does wider evidence indicate a low protein diet even for hoplite elites in Greek poleis?