There were very few cavalry in Ancient Sparta, as the inhabitants considered this branch of the army insignificant. The main force was the foot soldiers (hoplites). Their weapons consisted of a heavy shield, a sword, and a long spear.
Greek hoplites: who are they?
It's no secret that the history of the Ancient World almost entirely consists of armed conflicts and brutal wars. Each state sought to have its own combat-ready armies, and Greece was no exception. The bulk of its troops were hoplites - heavily armed foot soldiers. They first appeared in the army of Ancient Sparta. Greek hoplites, in fact, were citizen soldiers and served for the benefit of the city-state in which they lived.
In those days, military service was the duty of every man. Therefore, any of the meetings of citizens inevitably turned into a gathering of either veterans who had already served their time, or soldiers who were still in the service at that time. It turns out that every citizen of a free policy sooner or later became a hoplite.
It must be said that these heavily armed foot soldiers, from the 7th century and for the next four centuries, dominated the battlefields. It is known thatbefore the father of Alexander the Great, King Philip II, hoplites were the basis of the classical phalanx.
In ancient Greece, the infantry was divided into several tactical units. Mora were the highest, then suckers, which, in turn, were divided into smaller units. The chiefs commanding pestilences were called polemarchs, and suckers were called lohags.
Armaments
Greek hoplites always carried Argive shields, or hoplons. They had a round shape and weighed more than 8 kg. An interesting fact is that when fleeing, the warriors first of all threw down their shields because of their exorbitant weight, so the loss of a hoplon was considered shameful for any hoplite. They were used not only to cover the body during the battle, but also as a stretcher on which wounded or dead comrades were placed.
Historians often associate the origin of the famous expression "with a shield or on a shield" with this Greek equipment. Most often, the hoplon consisted of a wooden base, which was upholstered with iron or bronze sheet on the outside, and covered with leather on the inside. It had comfortable handles, where the warrior's hand was threaded. The main weapons of the hoplites were xiphos - short straight or mahairs - curved swords with a reverse bend. In addition, they were also supposed to wear xistons - three-meter spears for throwing.
Weapons production
Initially, the state did not care about providing its soldiers with weapons and even passed a law according to which every Greek hoplite (5century BC e.) was obliged to equip himself at his own expense, although full uniforms were expensive (about 30 drachmas). This amount was comparable to the monthly income of an artisan. Usually such expensive weapons were inherited.
By the way, its production in ancient Greece flourished mainly in policies, and it was imported to small settlements from other places. At the time of Pericles, a rather large workshop was operating in Athens, where they were engaged in the manufacture of shields. Perhaps it was the largest production in ancient Greece. It employed about 120 slaves and a fairly large number of free citizens.
Greek Hoplite Armor
Initially, warriors wore Illyrian helmets, or skittles, on their heads. They were made of bronze and decorated with a horsehair comb. They were in use from the 7th to the 6th centuries. BC e., until they were replaced by Corinthian. The new helmets were completely enclosed and only had openings for the mouth and eyes. Outside of combat, they were usually shifted to the back of the head. Later, Chalkid helmets appeared, which also left the ears open. In the II century. BC e. Thracian ones were considered the most popular - with a relatively small crest, complemented by figured cheek pads and a visor.
The warrior's torso was protected in front and behind by an anatomical cuirass - hippothorax. Most often, she weighed about 1 talent (about 34 kg), but some soldiers had armor twice as heavy. Over time, the hippothorax was gradually replaced by a lighter version - a linen shell called linothorax.
Other parts of the body were also protected. So, the Greek hoplites wereequipped with leggings - knimids, as well as bracers, which were used until the very middle of the 5th century BC. BC e. Proof of this fact are the numerous archaeological finds discovered by scientists on the Peloponnesian Peninsula. On many amphoras and other household items, images were quite often seen where a Greek hoplite (a photo of a fragment of such a vessel is presented below) fights with a weapon in his hands against another enemy.
Transformations in the army
In the 7th–5th centuries. BC e. a reform was carried out to weight the armor of the hoplites. Most likely, such measures were taken in order to save the lives of the soldiers, since the Spartan army at that time consisted of only 8 mora, which is a little more than 4 thousand soldiers.
However, starting from the middle of the 5th c. BC e. the equipment of the Greek soldiers began to be lightened: linen shells began to displace anatomical cuirasses. Bracers have also almost completely disappeared. The reason for this was a change in the formation of troops. It became denser and deeper, and the number of soldiers in the detachments doubled. Only the number of Spartan formations remained unchanged - 144 warriors each. Due to changes in formation, chopping blows were delivered less and less, so the hands of the soldiers were not in danger of being cut off. Now piercing weapons were increasingly used, so the spears lengthened from 3 to 6 meters. So the Greek hoplites began to turn into sarissophores - foot soldiers who formed the basis of the phalanx.
Traditions
Usuallythe Spartans went on a campaign on a full moon, and before that their ruler always made a sacrifice so that they would be lucky. Fire, taken from Sparta, was always carried in front of the army, which was necessary for kindling fires, now for camp sacrifices. In addition, they took with them the image with the Dioscuri embracing. They personified the fraternal union of comrades in arms and were ideals for Spartan warriors.
The Greek army camp almost always had the shape of a circle and was well guarded by helots. I must say that during the campaigns the Spartans dressed very smartly. Instead of the usual coarse cloth cloak, they wore purple robes, and instead of a parka, polished weapons. Entering the battle, the soldiers put on wreaths, as if they were going to some kind of holiday.
Army structure
Not only Greek hoplites served in the troops. Who are the peltasts and slingers who helped the Spartans in battle, you will learn further. Since the Greeks considered cavalry to be completely useless, horses were often used only to transport rich warriors to the battlefield. Therefore, in those days, in addition to heavy infantry (hoplites), there was also light infantry, consisting of the poorest townspeople and slaves. The latter, despite their forced existence, were quite reliable people devoted to their masters.
Each hoplite always had his own slave, who helped him put on his equipment. In battle, the slaves were slingers who carried cloth bags with several dozen clay or stone cores up to 40 cm in diameter.there was a special belt loop, equipped with a thickening. This was the sling. She was masterfully spun over her head, and then released. The core flew out and overtook the enemy with great speed, inflicting serious injuries on exposed parts of the body.
Throwers
Peltasts were called light infantrymen armed with darts. They were recruited from among the poorest citizens called up for service, who did not have the opportunity to purchase weapons and hoplite armor. It happened that some of them purchased such uniforms at city expense.
Peltasts threw their weapons at a distance of about 15 m. They did not need a large supply of darts, since they managed to use only a few in the short time until the enemy approached closely. I must say that the dart as a weapon was much more dangerous than an arrow, because, getting into the enemy's shield, it got stuck in it, preventing any defensive manipulations.
Physical fitness and education
As you know, the Greek hoplites are militias who could hardly keep the formation while moving, and there was no question of hand-to-hand combat skills. Of course, it can be assumed that free citizens were engaged in some kind of physical exercise, but there was neither the opportunity nor the strength to work constantly on improving their bodies, especially when they reached a more mature age, and even peasants.
Spartans are another matter. From childhood, each of them was taught the art of war. They knew how to fight right, and rightlywere proud of it. Spartan hoplites not only knew how to perfectly keep the line, in which they were helped by flutists, but also competently fought hand-to-hand combat. They were almost the best warriors of the Ancient World.
300 Spartans
It is safe to say that it was the Greek hoplite who played the main role in protecting their cities from enemy troops. 480 BC e. - this is the time when the huge army of the king of Persia Xerxes crossed the strait and invaded foreign territory. Greece was forced to defend itself. Her allied army consisted of detachments of hoplites sent from eleven cities, including Sparta. In order to prevent further advance of the enemy inland, the Greeks tried to block the narrow Thermopylae passage. For two days they managed to repulse the superior forces of the Persians, but the betrayal of one of the local residents, who led the enemy detachments around the defenders, did not give a single chance of victory. The entire Greek army retreated, except for three hundred Spartans and two more detachments - Thebans and Thespians, who, however, also surrendered at the mercy of the enemy in speed.
The Spartans knew that they could not win the battle, but law and honor did not allow them to retreat. Here, in Thermopylae, they defended their land - Opuntian Locris and Boeotia, through which the Persian army was supposed to pass. Courageous hoplites did not retreat and died, taking an unequal battle.
Time inexorably runs forward, but history still retained irrefutable evidence of the existence of the free city of Spartaand his brave warriors who defended their land from enemies. Their heroism is still admired by many people, and eminent directors make films about them. In addition, in almost any store that has a souvenir department, there is sure to be at least one fairly realistic figurine of a Greek hoplite in an unusually beautiful outfit.
