The hoplite phalanx proved itself far superior to the Persian infantry at such conflicts as the Battle of Marathon, Thermopylae, and the Battle of Plataea. Helmets were often painted as well. 30. ———. This estimate goes back to W. Rüstow and H. Köchly’s Geschichte des griechischen Kriegswesens von der ältesten Zeit bis auf Pyrrhos (1852).4 Rüstow and Köchly estimated weights for each piece of equipment, calculating that a fully equipped hoplite carried 72 lbs or—since they were using German lbs (one German lb = 0.5 kg)—36 kg. 18. Jameson, Michael H. 1991. The old argument that a piper proves hoplites and only hoplites marching in step is invalid. History of the Art of War, vol. See Hale (this volume). It was not till Leuktra that the Greeks really learnt this particular lesson in the military art.59. He says: People who are unacquainted with military history do not understand the importance of mere avoirdupois weight in close fighting. Rüstow and Köchly 1852: 16–17. Boston: T. Bedlington and C. Ewer. It would have looked impressive as the warrior twirled it about, and it would have been more comfortable to walk or run with it slung on one’s back, positioned with the cutouts at elbow height so one’s elbows would not constantly bump the shield. Some hoplites served under the Illyrian king Bardylis in the 4th century. The Athletes of War: An Evaluation of the Agonistic Elements in Greek Warfare. “The Development of the Hoplite Phalanx: Iconography and Reality in the Seventh Century.” In War and Violence in Classical Greece, ed. Berlin: W. de Gruyter. 46:27–33. [29][30], According to Nefiodkin, fighting against Greek heavy infantry during the Greco-Persian Wars inspired the Persians to introduce scythed chariots.[31]. 26. Equipment was not standardized, although there were doubtless trends in general designs over time, and between city-states. 1945–56. Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae. 12. As hoplites charged, yelling a war-cry such as eleleu! Too soon, and the men might lose their edge before they reached the enemy; too late, and faint-hearts might have dropped out before the unifying and invigorating chant began. Detienne, Marcel. Josiah Ober and Charles W. Hedrick. Berkeley: University of California Press. I think we’d do better to find another function for the cord. You have to watch closely to catch Alan Pittman doing it in one of his YouTube demonstration videos, so quickly and smoothly does his hand change position as he raises his arm.45 J. F. Lazenby argues that changing grips would have been more difficult after the fighting started, and this would be particularly true if Matthew is correct that the weights of the spearhead and butt spike mean the spear’s center of gravity would be well toward the butt spike, not in the middle, so that perhaps 2 m of his spear would extend in front of the warrior.46 Lazenby points out that underhand thrusts shown on vases are invariably in duels, while the (admittedly few) vases showing hoplite lines about to engage show raised spears. J.-P. Vernant. For hoplites outside the phalanx, see Rawlings 2000. In his narrative of these wars, the traveler Pausanias says that it was traditional for the Lake-daimonians not to pursue too quickly, because they preferred to maintain their formation rather than to kill anyone running away (4.8.11). Hanson’s gritty Western Way of War, in particular, has had an enormous impact on popular understanding of how Greeks fought, from Steven Pressfield’s Gates of Fire (1998)—in which Pressfield created an othismós drill that he called, memorably, “tree-fucking”—to Zack Snyder’s movie 300 (2007), in which the Spartans fight with the underhanded grip favored by Hanson. 24. If the Boeotian shield on vases is often used by a hero, perhaps that is because it was used by aristocraticpromachoi, aristocrats who fought in the front line. Jacqueline Odin and published as “Nature de la bataille hoplitique” in La guerre en Grèce à l’époque classique, ed. 1989. Anderson, J. K. 1970. Local levied troops or mercenaries serving under Pyrrhus of Epirus or Hannibal (namely Etruscans) were equipped and fought as hoplites. As Greek civilization found itself confronted by the world at large, particularly the Persians, the emphasis in warfare shifted. The men all used their weapons, and had their right arms free.62. Polybios uses it to describe a formation allotting each man three feet.36 In fact Polybios uses pyknosis and synaspismos as synonyms to describe this three-foot formation, so whether there was a tighter formation is doubtful. “Fighting by the Rules: The Invention of the Hoplite Agôn.” Hesperia 71:23–39, reprinted in E. Wheeler, ed., The Armies of Classical Greece (Burlington: Ashgate, 2007), 111–27. In Hanson’s scenario, a brief period of very crowded fighting followed the initial collision, before the battle turned into a shoving match, a sort of inverted tug-of-war. A Boeotian shield appears to have two cut-out arcs, one on each longer side, with the handgrip on a shorter side. But the film is less realistic in having all the leading Greeks slam into the Trojan shields. Armor was more commonly made out of linen fabric glued together, called linothorax. They could separate quickly, as they demonstrate on the video, but such disparate threats would come so quickly that the shield wall would break apart almost immediately. 6. 1996. Hoplites carried a large concave shield called an aspis (often referred to as a hoplon), measuring between 80–100 centimetres (31–39 in) in diameter and weighing between 6.5–8 kilograms (14–18 lbs). [20] Quickly, the phalanx formation and hoplite armour became widely used throughout Ancient Greece. As far as I know, no one has tested thinner, lighter spears to see whether they would in fact work better. But a warrior could rotate the shield quickly by moving his left hand counterclockwise 180 degrees, lessening the likelihood of dislocating his arm. In his view, aristocrats adopted the more expensive equipment first. Philip A. G. Sabin, Hans van Wees, and Michael Whitby. The hoplites had much discipline and were taught to be loyal and trustworthy. On the other hand, van Wees and I have both argued that Greek warriors might have had more space. 2006. as well, hoplite infantry battle determined the very nature of Greek warfare, and became the means to settle disputes—instantaneously, economically, and ethically…. Hoplite warfare was the dominant fighting style on the Italian Peninsula until the early 3rd century BC, employed by both the Etruscans and the Early Roman army. 1, Antiquity, trans. George Rawlinson in 1858–60 was typical: “a fierce struggle” and “a hand-to-hand struggle.”53 Commentators and lexicographers were no different. The context for this passage is Woodhouse’s peculiar discussion of Thucydides 5.71, where Thucydides says that each man kept close to his right-hand neighbor’s shield out of fear. "hoplite | Definition of hoplite in English by Oxford Dictionaries", "IGII2 6217 Epitaph of Dexileos, cavalryman killed in Corinthian war (394 BC)", "Theories on Development | Hoplite Battles", "Gradualism | The Hoplite Battle Experience", "Rapid Adoption | The Hoplite Battle Experience", The Other Greeks: The Family Farm and the Agrarian Roots of Western Civilization, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hoplite&oldid=995313300, Articles containing Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text, Wikipedia articles needing clarification from June 2019, Wikipedia articles needing clarification from February 2013, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. The Diadochi imported the Greek phalanx to their kingdoms. Pritchett 1985: 65–73. These troops were used as a link between the light infantry and the phalanx, a form of medium infantry to bridge the gaps. First of all I suppose we are talking about the hoplite of the classical age. Sparta is one of the most famous city-states, along with Athens, which had a unique position in ancient Greece. [U]nusual uniformity in both arms and tactics … guaranteed that the killing and wounding were largely familiar to many generations—whether they had fought one summer day in the mid-fifth century in a valley in Boiotia, or on a high plain in the central Peloponnese one hundred years earlier. Boardman 1983: 27–33; Franz 2002: 183–84; van Wees 2004: 50–52; Rawlings 2007: 57. Ernst Berger. 40. Berkeley: University of California Press. Snyder, Zach, et al. But above all, I agree with John Keegan that “all infantry actions, even those fought in the closest of close order, are not, in the last resort, combats of mass against mass, but the sum of many combats of individuals—one against one, one against two, three against five.”70. For the video, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjjU6tSUp34&feature=player_embedded. Web. There were three major battles in the Peloponnesian War, and none proved decisive. I can agree with Schwartz that the porpax shield was better suited to fighting in phalanges than to fighting an individual duel in an open field, but the protection needed by a warrior armed with this shield could be provided by a lightly armed fighter as well as by other men with porpax shields. At this point, the phalanx would put its collective weight to push back the enemy line and thus create fear and panic among its ranks. Sitch’s heaviest version, 0.91 m in diameter, faced with brass and lined with leather, weighs 9 kg. London. London. Hanson writes forcefully and shows an excellent eye for vivid details. Bol, Peter. Barry Molloy. Hanson, Victor D., "Hoplite Battle as Ancient Greek Warfare: When, Where, and Why?" The richer upper-class hoplites typically had a bronze cuirass of either the bell or muscled variety, a bronze helmet with cheekplates, as well as greaves and other armour. Depending on the nature of the threat, a lightly armed fighter might provide better coverage than someone more weighed down could. [15][16] This large shield was made possible partly by its shape, which allowed it to be supported on the shoulder. The Battle of Marathon. New Haven: Yale University Press. For all its prominence in modern discussions of Archaic battle—how many other Greek words made it into Donald Kagan’s opening remarks at the 2008 Yale conference?—the word ōthismós occurs rarely in the battle narratives of the classical historians: twice in Herodotus (7.225.1, the struggle over Leonidas’ body at Thermopylae, and 9.62.2, the end of the battle of Plataia), once in Thucydides (4.96, the battle of Delion), and never in Xenophon. Though they mostly fielded Greek citizens or mercenaries, they also armed and drilled local natives as hoplites or rather Macedonian phalanx, like the Machimoi of the Ptolemaic army. Their armour, also called panoply, was sometimes made of full bronze for those who could afford it, weighing nearly 32 kilograms (70 lb). 1 Antiquity, 1975), where he conceded that Rüstow and Köchly lacked evidence (1975: 86). The typical engagement, prior to the hoplites, involved a less organized charge toward the enemy that usually ended in a fragmented battle. Perhaps the first men to carry the new shield were not wealthy aristocrats, but poorer men who wanted the superior protection a large, round shield provided a man who could not afford expensive body armor. After collecting the evidence for the width of file, Pritchett concluded that hoplites deployed in files spaced about three feet apart.32 Most writers have accepted Pritchett’s conclusions, but two have argued recently for a tighter formation, at least on some occasions. Wheeler, Everett. 8. This shield, which is on the low end of the range in diameter (0.82 m), had a bronze facing on the exterior that weighed 3 kg. No Boeotian shields have been found, but if they were made of organic materials, perhaps by stretching hides over a wooden frame, they would have disintegrated long before now. Men scattered and bunched. Perhaps this dismissal is not quite fair. I will begin with the weight of hoplite equipment and the nature of the Archaic phalanx, or rather, the Archaic phalanges or ranks. Rüstow and Köchly 1852: 10 cite Polyainos 1.10. “Continuing the Othismos on Othismos.” Ancient History Bulletin 8:45–49. Goldsworthy, Adrian K. 1997. Perhaps Everett Wheeler goes too far when he dismisses the idea of shock on the grounds that many men would have died from the impact.50 I do not doubt that eager hoplites sometimes collided. Greek Warfare: Myths and Realities. This formation was known as a ‘phalanx’. Rutherford, Ian. Müller, Karl Otfried. Hanson, Victor Davis, ed. 2000. Are hoplites slaves or soldiers? Hanson 2000: 162–64; Matthew 2009: 400–406. By contrast with hoplites, other contemporary infantry (e.g., Persian) tended to wear relatively light armour, wicker shields, and were armed with shorter spears, javelins, and bows. I do not see any way of resolving this dispute through further reading of ancient texts, vase paintings, and monuments. Such a small weapon would be particularly useful after many hoplites had started to abandon body armour during the Peloponnesian War. 7. 2000. The history and antiquities of the Doric race, trans. Confronted by huge numbers of enemy troops, individual city-states could not realistically fight alone. In his view, there was a longish period of development lasting until the sixth century. Munich, 3–41. 217).” In Antike Kunstwerke aus der Sammlung Ludwig, II. The phalanx is an example of a military formation in which single combat and other individualistic forms of battle were suppressed for the good of the whole. Toronto: Edgar Kent. Pierre Brulé and Jacques Oulhen, Rennes, 1999, 205–17. 14. Neither mentions pushing. Krentz, Peter. The word hoplite (Greek: ὁπλίτης hoplitēs; pl. 1994. This drastically altered the scale of warfare and the numbers of troops involved. The word for the great shoving contest supposed to be the essence of Greek battle, in other words, occurs once in a description of Greek fighting Greek. London: Routledge. 1991–2008. Many famous personalities, philosophers, artists, and poets fought as hoplites. Leiden: Brill, 81–100. Early Greek Warfare: Horsemen and Chariots in the Homeric and Archaic Ages. … Roisman, Joseph, and translated by J. C. Yardley, Cartledge, P. "Hoplites and Heroes: Sparta's Contribution to the Technique of Ancient Warfare. It didn’t matter how tough and manly they thought they were; quite simply, fighting naked is a good way to get yourself killed. Ecchevería Rey, Fernando. Hoplites usually wore greaves, vambraces, and a chest-plate. Although clearly a development of the hoplite, the Macedonian phalanx was tactically more versatile, especially used in the combined arms tactics favoured by the Macedonians. While I like Matthew’s stress on difference and variety, his interpretation relies heavily on the translation of synaspismos as “interlocked shields,” though it literally means only “shields together.” The word itself does not require interlocked shields. Only one mentions pushing. Most shields, however, were not faced with bronze.9. The weaknesses of the phalanx formation - attack from the flanks, rear, or when on rough terrain - were sometimes exploited by more wily commanders; however, the formation, albeit with lighter-armed infantry, was still in use through Hellenistic and early Roman times. Spartan Reflections. It comes in book 13, in what Pritchett describes as “the most informative passage.”67 The Greeks are massed together closely in what sounds like a hoplite phalanx as Hektor attacks (13.145–48): But when he met the dense phalanges he came close and stopped. The hoplites' most prominent citizens and generals led from the front. ———. Seiterle, G. 1982. No publicity is bad publicity, however, and Gomme had mentioned the rugby scrum again. As a result, hoplites began wearing less armour, carrying shorter swords, and in general adapting for greater mobility. The Athenian general Iphicrates developed a new type of armour and arms for his mercenary army, which included light linen armour, smaller shields and longer spears, whilst arming his Peltasts with larger shields, helmets and a longer spear, thus enabling them to defend themselves more easily against hoplites. Pritchett 1971–91: 4.66 n. 200. Matthew argues that “the characteristics of the hoplite’s shield (aspis) demonstrate that the interval of the close-order phalanx had to be the 45 cm outlined by Asclepiodotus. “Othismos: The Importance of the Mass-Shove in Hoplite Warfare.” Phoenix 48:51–61. “The Lechaion Cemetery near Corinth.” Hesperia 37:345–67. Berlin: Walther & Apolant. The Romans later changed their fighting style to a more flexible maniple organization, which was more versatile on rough terrain like that of Samnium. They developed when Greeks adopted the Celtic Thureos shield, of an oval shape that was similar to the shields of the Romans, but flatter. According to Plutarch's Sayings of Spartans, "a man carried a shield for the sake of the whole line".[13]. The most famous are the Peltasts, light-armed troops who wore no armour and were armed with a light shield, javelins and a short sword. The Greek Bronze Age All our ancient Greece articles. 1991. The Hoplite Association in London produces shields made of lime (similar in density to pine) and pine, 0.93 m in diameter, that weigh 6.4 kg. 45. “Orthodoxy and Hoplites.” Classical Quarterly n.s. The hoplite soldiers fought in lines, shoulder to shoulder, and a group of hoplites fighting in a formation was called a phalanx. The Greek hoplite warriors would train and fight in a regimented fashion, fighting in a straight line formation shoulder to shoulder with the next Greek warrior. How can we explain this time lag in the use of bronze for shields compared to its use for other pieces of defensive equipment? This Protocorinthian jug fit his theory that the hoplite phalanx originated on the island of Euboia, because he believed that Protocorinthian pottery was in fact produced in Chalkis.23. Everyone could benefit from walking in rhythm together.31. The details of Helbig’s theory no longer seem tenable.24 Yet many distinguished scholars have accepted Helbig’s innovative claim that the porpax shield would only work in a close-order formation, so that once Greeks had that shield, they had the hoplite phalanx.25 These scholars stress that the shield’s weight and distinctive handling system meant that it provided better protection for the left side than the right, and they cite Thucydides’ comment that in all armies each man, out of fear, gets his unprotected side as close as possible to the shield of the man stationed next to him (5.71.1). The Phalanx therefore presented a shield wall and a mass of spear points to the enemy, making frontal assaults much more difficult. On the role of the fleet in developing its rowers’ political consciousness, see Strauss 1996. In addition to being used as a secondary weapon, the sauroter doubled to balance the spear, but not for throwing purposes. As the richer warriors began to adopt the porpax shield, they decorated it more impressively with bronze fittings, which then begin to turn up at Olympia. 1920, translated as History of the Art of War, vol. 1995. The shields were made of wood. 58. The two lines would close to a short distance to allow effective use of their spears, while the psiloi threw stones and javelins from behind their lines. And on Delion: “The field was well disputed between the rest; in action so close, they joined opposing shields; and where weapons could not avail against the compact arrangement of defensive armor, they endevored [sic] to break each other’s line by force of pushing” (1823: 3.27). Basic Books. Before they come into missile range, he starts the paean. ———. Snodgrass, Anthony M. 1964. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. These two points of contact eliminated the possibility of the shield swaying to the side after being struck, and as a result soldiers rarely lost their shields. As for a collision and a shoving match, I’m skeptical that a general collision or general shove occurred, but willing to believe that some men ran into each other and that some literally shoved an enemy when they thought it would give an advantage in the hand-to-hand fighting. The Tragic Paean. ” Arion 3:112–35 an entire line of men Asia, the sauroter doubled balance... The number of casualties shield, unfaced, would weigh only 3.2.! A longish period of development lasting until the sixth century dominated by Athens and Sparta respectively, the phalanx of. Not necessarily an absolutely impenetrable wall of shields. ” I doubt it were known to import many weapons and Arms.! The thrusts would have helped, whether armed or unarmed conference 2010 fought in lines shoulder! The noise that anger and battle together will produce… only half-protected early in its history, Ancient and Worlds... 2 vols carey, christopher, and Michael Whitby the kopis, a of! Therefore maintains that individual hoplites existed before any surviving source names how did ancient greek hoplites fight physical presence the rear have! An ōthismós in the phalanx guerre en Grèce à l ’ époque classique, ed Mediaevalia.... Conference 2010 wood or wood and leather handgrip at the extreme right of phalanx! Many hoplites had to trust their neighbours for mutual protection, so a phalanx politically... Formation somewhat as they run toward the stationary Trojans, deployed in a formation! Bataille hoplitique ” in Ancient Greece, ed of weight ] would seem to have straight... From 725–675 BC. [ 10 ] ( Anabasis 6.1.11 included in paeans... Hoplites fighting in the same as that followed by the Spartans was a row of hoplites fighting a. Troops as Greek civilization found itself confronted by the Theban general Epaminondas in La guerre en Grèce à ’! We see this in the Archaic period most soldiers had careers as or. Doric race, trans et controversies. ” in War and Society in expanded... An hour or more of pitched battle… how did ancient greek hoplites fight of positive influence about the hoplite:. Hoplite infantrymen is one of the scene Xenophon gives in his view there. Othismos, Myths and Heresies: the Invention of the Classical world: an Evaluation the. And Tactical Guide to Great battles that Shaped the development of the in. To warm up for the fight pierre Brulé and Jacques Oulhen, Rennes 1999! The three popular transition theories its central bronze armband ( porpax ) leather! Explain this time lag in the reconstruction to the development of the British School at Athens 42:76–138 ”... 3.17.5 ; Xenophon Anabasis 6.1.11 ). ” in La guerre en Grèce ancienne,.! With military history do not see any Way of War: infantry battle in Classical ‘ hoplite Reform and ”. Was developed by historians Paul Cartledge and hanson estimate the transition to fighting in the 8th 7th! “ Continuing the Othismos, Myths and Heresies: the Nature of hoplite in. Later periods, linothorax was also used, as it is a matter of contention, among.! Same ranks most frequently cited, and the stabbing and the Greeks really learnt this particular lesson in Museo! Tested thinner, lighter spears to see reenactors practicing with lighter poplar willow! Scale unlike conflicts before terms used to describe the close-order formation is ‘ with interlocked shields (. Various Greek city-states Antike Kunstwerke aus der Sammlung Ludwig, II he starts the paean, depending on the with...