Hoplites

This contribution addresses a problem of textual exegesis of
a paragraph of the Constitution of the Athenians originally attributed to
Xenophon. In the text passage under examination, 2, 1, the term τὸ
ὁπλιτικόν can be considered ambiguous: does it refer to the Athenian
military reality or other meanings are hidden behind? The proposed
perspective is a study of the political language present in this politeia.
Keywords: τὸ ὁπλιτικόν; Anonymous; Ath. Pol.; allies; thalassocracy.

Doubtless fr. 114 W2 is one of the most renowned in the whole Archilochos’ production and is often considered as an exemplification of the discard from the Homeric kalokagathìa and, generally speaking, of the ethic renewal that imbue the works of the poet from Paros. This paper aims to clarify the mainframe in which the redefinition of those models shows up, mainly starting from a new reading of the participle διαπεπλιγμένον. From the suggested point of view Archilochos’ lines seem to be referred to the hoplitic context and that points out the opposition between two war-characters as the hoplite and the horseman and between their ethic côté they carry with.

Aspects of Achaemenid impact in Anatolia have been the focus of research during
the two last decades. The region beyond the Halys river was, however, hardly taken into account for lack of evidence. This paper draws on the warrior friezes from
Pazarlı excavated in 1937/1938 to demonstrate their relevance for the military activities of Persians in the region. It focuses on the disputed question of date of these friezes by reconstructing their architectural context. The proposed date in the first half of the 5th cent. BCE forms a basis for the Persian presence in the region within
the Halys bend

The linen cuirass was the most prevalent armour in classical Greece, but due to its ephemeral material, they were not preserved over the centuries. Not even one specimen has been found yet, but nonetheless there are a lot of clues about how this kind of armour was constructed. The overall shape and the style and features of some of its details can be understood by analyzing the depictions on vases and statues. Even literary sources give us some information, but the exact design is still unknown and the only way of trying to understand it is by experiment. The only academic project, which was conducted by a team lead by Gregory Adrete, provided very interesting results, but left a lot of issues untouched. In our own project in Hamburg, we are working on some of these problems. During our experiments, it became clear that there were different ways to construct the linen armour and not all of them involved the use of glue. Even if the laminated technique is applied, the use of starch glue seemed to produce even better results. Furthermore, we changed the sewing pattern of the trunk armour by using different shapes and sizes of linen panels to reduce the amount of wasted fabric and thus the cost of the cuirass and at the same time reinforcing the most exposed parts. In addition, we argue that the linen cuirass has often been reconstructed too long. This has been done to increase the protective effect at the cost ofmobility. In our paper we present some of our findings and emphasize that there were a range of different ways to build a linen cuirass. This allowed a much better adapdation to the requirements of the wearer and the regional and cultural peculiarities in which it was made.

Despite the vast research undertaken on hoplite warfare, surprisingly little is known about how hoplite shields were made, the very technology underpinning the transformative military reforms of hoplite warfare. The few forays that have explored the manufacturing process have been isolated and unintegrated studies leading to an often simplistic and superficial uniformity of production model which does not reflect the evidence. This article analyses the physical remains of extant hoplite shields and finds a plurality of different designs in concurrent use with core compositional differences that likely impacted combat performance and economic value with some designs performing better than others. Moreover, the use and availability of different shield designs of variable quality and economic value suggests a wider range of socioeconomic diversity in hoplite armies and among hoplites than is generally assumed.

Jornadas sobre las Guerras Médicas, celebradas en UAM Madrid del 14 al 17 de diciembre de 2020. Organizan: Instituto de Ciencias de la Antigüedad, Departamentos de Filología Clásica, Departamento de Historia Antigua, Medieval y Paleografía y Departamento de Prehistoria y Arqueología. Con la colaboración de la SEEC y las embajadas de Grecia y de Chipre en España.

RESUMO: Ce travail a pour but d'étudier les contacts entre les corinthiens et les étrusques. Les scènes représentées dans l'ôlpe Chigi (milieu du VII siècle av. 1-C., provenant de Veies — Étrurie) nous offrent pratiques sociales et guerrières (chasse au lion. hoplites, hippeis, procession de chars et de chevaux) des grecs et des princes étrusques au période archaïque.
PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Cultural; Etruscos; Coríntios

The author compares the Athenian and Spartan military organization. During the VII-VI cent. BC the hoplites were primarily represented by middle-class peasantry capable to afford the arms and armor for the military service on their own. Their amount estimated as about a quarter from adult male population of the polis. During the Greek-Persian war Athenians found a way to mobilize maximum of their citizens, having constructed trieres and put their poor as oarsmen on the benches. The newly founded sea power demanded enormous expenses and in 477 BC Athenians imposed a tax for the allies (foros). The money they raised, allowed them to pay their own poor for their work as carpenters, marines and oarsmen. This system allowed Athenians to mobilize more numerous people and to redistribute larger money in comparison with other Greek polities of this time.

For the individuals who wants a practical guide on how to reconstruct Ancient Greek fighting men. Useful to the enthusiast, the film and show maker or the student of the experimental archaeology. Written by a scholar with practical experience on the subject in a simple way to be understood by everyone.

A ‘middle class’ in the sense of independent working farmers (as opposed to both those who own too little land to be independent and those who own too much land to be working) and ditto craftsmen did exist in classical Athens, but was a relatively rarity in the Greek world, and in Athens (and elsewhere) came into being only after c. 550.  The so-called ‘hoplite class’ before that consisted only of ‘leisure-class’ soldiers, and armies were much smaller than in the classical period.

Course Description. This class focuses on a single, well defined 'event', the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BCE), and combines the traditional approach of studying ancient political and social history through primary texts (here Thucydides, Xenophon, and Plutarch), with sophisticated board game simulations of the period. It goes well beyond the battlefield itself, combining social history, anthropology, material culture, historiography, and literary analysis. Games permit unique insights into complex systems: essential factors are identified and abstracted, and then 'put into play' in an infinitely variable, interactive environment. Social and historical processes can be modeled very effectively, allowing students to reach a more intimate understanding of historical events, progressing from 'what' and 'when', to 'why' and 'what if'. Up to the first third of each class will be spent in discussion. The remainder will be spent playing games. Warning: Some of these games are VERY COMPLEX. If you do not like strategy games, you may not like this class. BUT, the class also involves a lot of reading (and writing for those taking it at the 195 level), so if you are just in it for the games, you will have a hard time. The course can be used to fill the following distribution/college requirements: CAS Humanities • BSAD Elective credit only • CALS Social Science • CEMS HSS credit.

The article will demonstrate that the bee was a symbol related to goddess Artemis and how through the cult of the goddess it gradually became the official state and military symbol of Ephesos through a multidisciplinary approach that combines History, Archaeology and Entomology.

All’immagine dominante dell’oplita come soldato della polis, campione degli ideali di moderazione e autocontrollo, si contrappone in alcune fonti un’immagine alternativa, che ne sottolinea i tratti mostruosi o inumani. Tale connotazione, caratteristica di opliti singoli e non inquadrati in formazione, è rappresentata per lo più in tragedia, ma non mancano esempi dalla prosa di età classica, tra cui cui spiccano le apparizioni di opliti ‘sovrumani’ in Erodoto.

Book review:  https://www.ajaonline.org/book-review/3735

Abstract: The anthropological study of two late 8th c. BC monumental graves, designated as T144 and T105, at the ancient necropolis of Paroikia at Paros, initially intended to investigate inter-island features of the human condition, observable as ingrained traces in the human skeletal record, as it may have related to the Parian endeavors in the northern Aegean for the colonization of Thasos.   
Through the “Paros Polyandreia Anthropological Project,” it was possible to retrieve insights into aspects of the human environments and experiences that had transpired in a Parian context, elucidated by a considerable population sample of cremated male individuals, transcending to broader features that would have involved Thasos; discerning further facets of the human condition during the Late Geometric to the Early Archaic periods in the ancient Hellenic world.                 
This book integrates the basic anthropological data, evaluations and assessments derived from the study of the human skeletal record of polyandreia T144, and T105. Bioarchaeological and forensic anthropological research results include the morphometric analyses of biological developmental growth and variability in relation to manifestations of acquired skeleto-anatomic changes, along with inquiries into the demographic dynamics, and the palaeopathologic profile of the individuals involved.  Such intra-site data juxtaposed afforded the possibility to deliberate on issues of the preparedness, intended purpose, function, and symbolic meaning of the funerary activity areas and to reflect on the organizational abilities and capacities of the political and military affairs of the Parians. 
Moreover, inter-site evaluations where relative with the burial grounds of Orthi Petra of Eleutherna-Crete, Plithos of Naxos, Athenian Demosion Sema, Pythagoreion of Samos, and Rhodes offer comparisons on taphonomy, on cremated materials’ metric analyses, and on aspects of the funerary customs and practices in the interring of cremated war dead.

RESUMO: Buscamos, no presente artigo, produzir um esboço do processo geral de desenvolvimento da pólis grega através de uma análise do papel nela desempenhado pelo soldado-cidadão. Partindo do século VIII a. e. c., discutimos uma série do que o historiador francês Fernand Braudel chamaria de " conjunturas " , recorrendo para tanto à noção de " autoridade política legítima " , desenvolvida pelo sociólogo alemão Max Weber. Esta primeira parte trata da ascensão do soldado-cidadão, a qual coincide com o desenvolvimento da pólis enquanto um espaço político, e dá a configuração clássica da pólis, na qual o soldado-cidadão figura como o mais essencial elemento. A segunda tratará do período subsequente e do declínio desse modelo de organização social após a Guerra do Peloponeso.

PALAVRAS-CHAVE: soldado-cidadão; revolução hoplítica; cidadania na Grécia arcaica e clássica.

ABSTRACT: In this paper, we intended to sketch the overall arch of development of the Greek polis by analysing the role which the citizen-soldier played in it. Beginning in the 8th century BCE, we analysed a series of what the French historian Fernand Braudel would call conjonctures – or " contexts " – by using the notion of " legitimate political authority " developed by the German sociologist Max Weber. Part 1 deals with the ascension of the citizen-soldier – which coincides with the development of the polis as a political space – and the classical configuration of the polis – which featured the citizen-soldier as its most essential element. Part 2 will deal with the subsequent period and the decline of that model of social organization after the Peloponnesian War.

KEYWORDS: citizen-soldier; hoplite revolution, citizenship in archaic and classical Greece.

El ejército en la antigua Grecia es un periplo por la evolución del arte de la guerra en la Hélade. Da comienzo con los precedentes que establecen la cultura minoica —el potencial de su armada desde la isla de Creta— y la micénica —el poder de los señores de la guerra del continente— en el II milenio a.C. Superada la llamada Época Oscura (siglos XI al VIII a.C.) los textos homéricos nos hablan de ejércitos de dioses y héroes que esconden una realidad guerrera de la que beberán la nacientes poleis. Y es que de la mano de estas surgirá en el siglo VII a. C. la figura fundamental de la presente obra: el hoplita, miembro de la infantería pesada griega cuya formación compacta o falange dominó los campos de batalla del Mediterráneo oriental durante casi cinco centurias. Analizamos su desarrollo y participación en las Guerras Greco-Persas, en la Guerra del Peloponeso, como parte del insigne ejército espartano o del incierto Batallón Sagrado de Tebas hasta alcanzar el apogeo con el rey Filipo II de Macedonia y su hijo y sucesor Alejandro Magno, que conquistó el mayor imperio jamás conocido. No nos olvidamos de otros elementos que acompañaban a los hoplitas como fueron la infantería ligera —peltastas, arqueros, honderos, etc.—, la caballería e incluso los elefantes de guerra. Tampoco lo hacemos de describir cómo era una campaña de uno de estos ejércitos que movía a decenas de miles de individuos por terrenos inhóspitos para enfrentarse irremisiblemente con enemigos lejanos o vecinos. En definitiva, una aventura escoltada por toda una serie de citas de autores clásicos que enmarcan una panorámica que no trata sino del origen de la historia militar en Occidente.

This article examines the social background and combat realities of classical Greek epibatai – hoplites serving on warships. After a brief overview, the core of the paper aims to show that the commonly held opinion that Athenian epibatai were drawn from the city’s lower classes needs to be revised to accommodate so far overlooked evidence that highlights the elite and more affluent background of naval infantry. In fact, they were recruited from Athens’ pool of regular hoplites, which makes their experiences much more representative, and allows us to utilise their evidence when analysing hoplite combat in general. This is followed by an outline of the various military duties epibatai had to perform both on land and at sea. It is argued that this material is significant for our understanding of hoplite warfare in general, and of a hoplite’s individual abilities in particular – especially their capacity for solo fighting.

The heavily armoured infantryman, known as the hoplite, began to emerge on the battlefields of Greece in the mid-seventh century BC. 1 The seventh century was also witness to a wave of changes in the governments of some Greek cities, which resulted in the established oligarchies and monarchies being replaced by tyrannies. The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which the emergence of the hoplite class impacted upon the political developments in Greece, and specifically with regards to the tyrannies that were established across the Greek world between c.650-500 BC. 2 During the seventh century, tyrants took control of Corinth (Cypselus), Katane (Euarchus), Megara (Theagenes), Miletus (Thrasybulus), Mytilene (Melandrus), Samos (Demoteles), Sicyon (Orthagoras), and a failed attempt to seize power in Athens (Cylon). In order to understand the extent to which hoplites may have affected these political developments in Greece, it is important to examine their influence on the battlefields. Warfare in the eighth century BC was essentially a long range skirmish oriented affair, fought by individual aristocratic warrior specialists. 3 This method of warfare was generally inconclusive, and it did not always descend into a decisive melee phase. 4 The introduction of the hoplite as a solider, and the gradual development of the phalanx as a tactical unit, was specifically implemented to " supersede long-range fighting " with decisive melee encounters decided by an increasingly uniformly armed force. 5 This emergence then eventually led to the implementation of massed phalanx based battlefield tactics, which in turn required a number of similarly armoured men in order to be effective. In order to maximise the military potential of the hoplite, and additionally to protect themselves as best they could from attacks on their flanks and rear, Greek aristocrats were obliged to recruit a sufficient number of these heavily-armoured warriors from outside of the ranks of the traditional aristocracy. To achieve this, the aristocrats were forced into widening the qualification requirements to include wealthy non-aristocratic farmers. As a consequence, for the first time warfare, which had hitherto been the domain of specialist aristocratic warriors, was opened up to include the wealthier farmer-soldiers who could afford to arm themselves with the hoplite panoply of arms and armour.

Archery had a dominant role in Bronze Age, especially in later period. The technological evolution from the self bows to the composites was a significant factor that affected the Warfare in several ways. Composite’s critical advantage was that they can be made smaller because they retain their strength through the correlation of different materials (wood, sinew, horn). They had more strength, far more range and their small
size results in more mobility than the self bows1. The first depiction of a probable composite bow lays in the victory stele of Naram-Sin of Akkad (23rd century BC)2. It was introduced into Egypt by the Hyksos in the 18th Century. The earliest example of a composite bow was found in the tomb of Ahmose Penhant (16th century BC)3 while thirty-two more have been found in the tomb of Tutankhamen4. However we do not have any archaeological examples from the Aegean Bronze Age world. This brief study will try to approach the issue of the use of composite bows in the Minoan and Mycenaean Warfare attempting to include all the possible archaeological iconographical and textual evidence that could support this argument.

In the military culture of Ancient Greeks Mercenary is in a very important position. Many citizens served as mercenaries in the polis and in the military expeditions. These soldiers have often served in the neighboring states or even in the armies of enemy States rather than their own country. Since the archaic period these soldiers were found even in the service of the Babylonian, Egyptian, and Persian kings. The trained soldiers have even risen to become the personal guards of the kings of Persia and Egypt, and even some have become the governors of the region. It has pushed many kingdoms to take advantage of the mercenaries because of the warrior features of the Greeks and the strong influence of the phalanx system of the heavy infantry hoplites in the battlefield. Apart from these military situations, economic and sociological problems also caused mercenary to spread to all social strata and became a source of livelihood for every public sector.

Current combat simulations deal well with large unit formations, weapon systems, and physical effects such as attrition. Human factors such as morale, cohesion, and effects of stress are modeled much less adequately. Of the human
factors affecting the psychology of a combat unit, military psychologists have identified cohesion as one of the most important. The concept of cohesion, referring to both the interpersonal relationships between soldiers in a military unit
and to the morale solidarity of a military force, has been central to military analysis for many years. A model framework has been developed that can operationalize the concept of
cohesion by measuring the relationship between members of a small combat unit to the individual soldier’s reaction to battlefield stress. This framework is such that it will be able to be implemented in any modeled environment that has a
need to represent cohesion within the context of a training or analysis experiment. To evaluate the assumption of constant human factors, a model was created to represent a classical Greek phalanx unit. Three historically based scenarios were run to validate the model. The results show that a model with the properties defined in the framework can represent a reasonable facsimile of infantry combat showing the effect of stress and cohesion. These results imply possible uses for the framework in the future of military training, analysis and
experimentation using computer simulations.

The archaic poets were the first witnesses and also intellectual generators of processes led to the constitution of social-political structures of classical Greek poleis. Tyrtaios (1st half of 7th century BC) is one of the oldest. In his elegy (fr. 12) he set thouridos alkē (furious valour) as an ultimate virtue. This phrase can be already found in Homer who uses it as a name for one of the many warriors’ aretai. The aim of the paper is to give a complex analysis of fr. 12, explore the meaning of the phrase used by both poets, and show a new context in which it was set by Tyrtaios. Consequently, we try to grasp one of the origins of the “new rational-political order” and show the way, how the lyric transformed the old epic values into the new political ones.