The Spartans used the typical Greek shield of the period, called a Hoplon (from which the word "Hoplite" comes - that is, the infantryman was named after the shield he typically used).
The Hoplon was actually made primarily of a wood frame, with a leather straps for the forearm in the center, and a small metal (or rope) handle near the rim. The shield as a whole is a circular, convex shallow dish shape, between 32 and 40 inches in diameter, about 5 inches deep.
Earlier Hoplons (or, Aspis, as the Greeks referred to them) had their face heavily covered in leather, with a thin bronze rim at the edges. Later, "Classical" period Hoplons did away with the leather cover, and used solely a thin bronze sheathing of the entire shield face.
Metal
1400
The Spartan shield used in battle is called the "hoplon."
a spartan had a helmet a shield and a spear
Aspis.
7
during battle
A thin sheet of bronze was often overlaid onto a deeply dished piece of wood.
Try: http://www.instructables.com/id/Spartan-Shield/ http://www.ne.jp/asahi/luke/ueda-sarson/Greek_shield_patterns_1.html
Spartan IIs are the only soldiers in the UNSC to have the shield ability. Im not sure if the Spartan IIIs do in the book Ghost of Onyx.
I suppose to clean and repair it. There is a story that before battle, Spartan mothers told their sons to either come back victorious or come back carried on their shield.{Spartan mothers would give their sons the shield with the words "Return with it or carried on it!" }
it depends on wether or not the samurai could get past the Spartan's giant pansy shield