HOPLITE

Recreation of a 4th Century Hoplite

The 'hoplite' was a heavy infantryman that was the central focus of warfare in Ancient Greece. The word ''hoplite'' (Greek , hoplitēs) derives from hoplon (, plural hopla, ) meaning an item of armour or equipment and consequently the entire equipment of the hoplite (but not specifically the circular shield, which is sometimes incorrectly referred to as a hoplon, since it was in fact called an ''aspis''). These soldiers probably first appeared in the late seventh century BC. They were a citizen-militia, and so were armed as spearmen, and assumed a phalanx formation, which are relatively easy to equip and maintain; they were primarily drawn from the middle class, who could afford the cost of the armaments. Almost all the famous men of ancient Greece, even philosophers and playwrights, fought as hoplites at some point in their lives.^[1]^[2]
Since the hoplites were not a militia force and did not receive permanent wages, campaigns were short and mainly confined to the summer. The exception to this was the Spartan warriors who were dedicated soldiers and had their state alloted lands managed for them by the lower class. Armies marched directly to their target. There, the defenders could hide behind city walls, in which case the attackers generally had to content themselves with ravaging the countryside (as siegecraft were undeveloped), or meet them on the field. Battles were usually set piece and intended to be decisive. These battles were short, bloody, and brutal, and thus required a high degree of discipline. Both forces lined up on a level field, usually in a rough rectangular formation around eight ranks deep (though this varied). Other troops were less important; ''hippeis'' (cavalry) generally protected the flanks, when present at all, and both light infantry and missile troops were negligible. The most well-known hoplites were the Spartans, who were trained from childhood in combat and warfare to become an exceptionally disciplined and superior fighting force.

Equipment

A hoplite armed with an aspis and a doru

Hoplites generally armed themselves shortly before battle because the equipment was so heavy - the total weight of the hoplites' armour was around 50-60 pounds (22-27 kilograms). Each man provided his own fairly non-uniform gear. As a result of the non-uniform gear, friendly troops would often fail to recognise one another. A hoplite typically had a bronze breastplate, a bronze helmet with cheekplates, as well as greaves and other armour, plus a bowl-shaped wooden shield called an ''aspis'' which was around 1 meter in diameter. The primary weapon was a spear around 2.7 meters in length called a ''doru''. Hoplites also carried a sword called a ''xiphos''.
By contrast, other contemporary infantry tended to wear relatively light armour, and were armed with shorter spears, javelins, or bows. Shields were usually smaller, or were large enough to cover the full body and rested on the ground. The middle-sized shield of the hoplite was made possible partly by its shape, which allowed it to be supported on the shoulder. In formation, the shields were overlapped so that each defended the left side of the soldier carrying it and the right side of his neighbour. While the general assumption is that the spear was gripped overhand, others have argued that it was held underarm.

Tactics

Hoplites charging into battle.

The strength of hoplites was shock combat. Two armies would smash into each other in hopes of breaking or encircling the enemy force's line. Failing that, a battle degenerated into a pushing match, with the men in the rear trying to force the front lines through those of the enemy. This maneuver was known as the ''othismos.'' Battles rarely lasted more than an hour. Once one of the lines broke, the troops would generally flee from the field, usually without being pursued. Casualties were slight compared to later battles, rarely amounting to more than 5% of the losing side, but the slain often included the most prominent citizens and generals who led from the front. Thus, the whole war could be decided by a single field battle; victory was enforced by ransoming the fallen back to the defeated, called the "Custom of The Greeks".
A hoplite in formation was protected by the right half of his own shield (carried on his left arm) and the left half of the shield of the man on his right. Therefore, the man on the far right of the phalanx was only half protected. In battle, opposing phalanges would exploit this weakness by heading for their enemy's right flank.
One of the early problems with the hoplite formation was the inability to march straight when entering combat. This was caused by the natural tendency of the soldiers to press themselves as close to their neighbor (and thus his shield) as possible in order to be maximally protected. This was countered by Epaminondas of Thebes in the early 4th Century BC. His innovation was to train his hoplites to march in a diagonal, so that when the formation entered combat, the diagonal march and the leaning tendency cancelled out so they did not veer off course. Before this time, only the Spartans had successfully maintained (almost) straight formations, and only due to years of training.

Rise and fall

The rise and fall of hoplite warfare was intimately connected to the rise and fall of the city-state. During the Persian Wars, hoplites were often forced to run towards archers in order to engage them in a melee where they would have the upper-hand, and during the Peloponnesian War light, projectile-armed troops such as peltasts became increasingly dominant. As a result, they began wearing less armour, carrying shorter swords, and in general adapting for greater mobility. However, hoplite warfare was in decline; there were three major battles in the Peloponnesian War, and none proved decisive. Instead there was increased reliance on navies, skirmishers, mercenaries, city walls, siege engines, and non-set piece tactics. These reforms made wars of attrition possible and greatly increased the casualties of battle. Many of them were combined by the brilliant general Epaminondas, whose tactics formed the basis for the Macedonian phalanx of Philip II of Macedon, used as a back-up to his cavalry. These forces defeated the last major hoplite army, at the Battle of Chaeronea (338 BC), after which Athens and its allies joined the Hellenistic empire. These developments led to the rise of the more versatile combined arms tactics of the Ancient Macedonians.

Legacy

Hoplites depicted on an Attic vase dated to 510-500 BC

Hoplite-style warfare was also practiced around the Mediterranean basin. Of particular note, the Etruscans usually fought with such militias, a practice they adopted from the Greek colonies. From this sort of warfare developed the Roman legion that was to dominate western military history for hundreds of years.

In popular culture

Hoplite warfare has been portrayed in recent films including ''Troy'', ''Alexander'' and ''300''.

Some real-time strategy games, such as Rise of Nations, , Civilization, Age of Empires and Age of Mythology, feature infantry units called 'Hoplites'.

The God of War series features a main character, Kratos, who is portrayed as a Spartan warrior.

References

1. Socrates as a hoplite: ''Plato, Symposium, Apollodorus, 219e-221b''
2. Epicurus as a hoplite: ''Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers, Book X''

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HOPLITE

Equipment

Tactics

Rise and fall

Legacy

In popular culture

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Further reading

References

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