Greek Hoplite System
City-states system
Citizen hoplite (equiped) infantry
All citizens must fight
All provide own weapons
Soldiers classed according to weapons
wealthy horses (chariots)
moderate hoplites
poor = light troops and fleets
Origins of Hoplite System
Shift from heroic military aristocracy to citizen army
Mid-seventh century transformation (Chigi Vase = WAW 55)
Invented by Carians, adopted by
Poetry of Spartan Tyrtaeus
Greater numbers can afford the panoply
Equipment
Shield (double-grip), 80 cm (30 in), wood/leather, bronze reinforced, blazons
Helmet (bronze, increasingly heavy)
breastplate (originally bronze, later increasing linen or leather)
thrusting spear, 8-10 feet long
greaves, sword, cloak
Increased wealth
Increased industrial productivity = decreasing price
State assistance
Change in attitude from heroic mentality
New shield
Shoulder strap to hand held
Protected left side of body only
Overhead thrusting spear (vs. javelin)
Swords only after battle line or emergency weapon
Demanded men fight in close formation, shields overlapping
Need to keep formation “come home with your shield or on it”
Hoplite battles
formation
4 minimum, 8 normal, 12-16 unusual, 50 at
must keep formation, use of pipes and singing to march in step
Weaknesses
Armor limits movement, flexibility, visibility, hearing, speed
Inflexible and unwieldy in battle
once set in motion all they could do is advance
hot and exhausting
vulnerable in uneven, broken, marshy, hilly or wooded terrain
can’t pursue light troops (skirmishers or routed troops)
throwing down shield after defeat to run faster
missile assaults (arrows, javelins, slings) to break cohesion
direct clash between two armies
the othismos = “shoving, heaving”
shield walls smash into each other
jabbing with spears overhead
heaviest protection on shoulders and helmets
replace any man who falls
pushing the enemy line over
weight, numbers, cohesion
fight until one side breaks
most causalities were after the shield-wall collapses
flank and rear attacks
especially right flank
strengthen depth of one area of phalanx
longer spear
Leadership
Citizen soldiers
Elected and rotating
So generals don’t usurp power
Weak on military experience
Leagues had unity problems
Hoplite forces from different cities serving together
Hoplites vs. non-Hoplites
Persians victorious in all but one battle before the
Greeks viewed Persians as invincible
Key to defeating a Hoplite army
1- don’t attack them in the front
2- concentration of force in one central point to break shield wall
3- use missiles to destroy army before major clash
Spartan Military System
Best army in
Seldom defeated for nearly two centuries, 560-371
Dominated Greek battlefields
Used basic hoplite system with modifications
Rigorous training
Tough, discipline, obedience, courage
Strict social stigma attached to failure
Plutarch, Sayings
of the Spartans
Wolf-cub, “on your shield”
Smaller independent military units
Most Greeks could operate as single unit
Trained to maneuver
Constitution of the
Lacedaimonians
Countermarch, wheeling
Drilling
Reform if broken
Royal Guard = 300 hippeis = “cavalry,”
but really infantry
All Spartan citizens served only in the army
Each had servant to carry and care for arms
Helots to farm
No walls around
From 450
Begin using perioikoi “dwellers round about”
Insufficient Spartan citizens
Increasing use after 400
Cavalry
Hoplite armies generally weak in cavalry
Few in number
Expensive
Rare = few good horse breeding regions
Exception =
No stirrup
Used for limited purposes
Scouting, communications, pursuit
Little or no part in actual fighting
Not used for major combat operations in set battle
Anderson, J. K., Ancient Greek Horsemanship, (1961)
Bugh,
G. R. The Horsemen of
Spence,
Worley, L. J., Hippeis: The Cavalry of Ancient
Light troops
Hoplite armies generally weak in light troops
Missiles
Archers, javelineers, slingers
Peltast = light arms, small shield (pelte), javelins
Taken from Thracian troops
First used in 420s
Skirmishing, scouts, advanced guard
Minor role in decisive combat
Would not stand against hoplites
screening to protect slow phalanx
protect flanks
high/rough terrain
raiding
scout on march
pursuit
Best, J. G. P., Thracian Peltasts and their Influence on Greek Warfare, (1969)
Mercenaries
Developments leading to mercenary troops
Long lasting wars require soldiers in the field all the time
Can’t care for home job
Need to pay while in the field
Experienced and professional soldiers can defeat inexperienced hoplites
Increasing wealth of
More wealth than manpower
Phocians plunder the treasury
at
Decreasing militarism of population and willingness to serve
Overpopulation and poverty in certain Greek areas
Wealthy foreign kings seeking soldiers
Persian manpower demands and wealth
Psammetichus I of
Greek tyrants
No popular support among people = need mercenaries
Need for specialist troops
Cretan archers
Rhodian slingers
Thracian peltasts
Thessalian cavalry
Need for permanent garrisons in conquered foreign lands
Rising use of Mercenaries from the late fifth century on
Citizen army dies out after Alexander
Mercenaries
Individuals
City battalions
Multi-city regiments a single leader
Parke, H. W., Greek Mercenary Soldiers: from the Earliest
Times to the
Griffith, G. T., Mercenaries of the Hellenistic World,
(1935)