Hoplites and Phalanxes

Question 1

What was 8th century Greek warfare like?

Answer 1

Fluid and disorganized, and battlefield dominated by a few, comparatively well-armed aristocratic “heroes”

Question 2

What was the main weapon in the 8th century?

Answer 2

Throwing spear, it limited the amount that tactics could be refined

Question 3

What led to the glorification of heroes?

Answer 3

Homer, and this idea of individuals fighting (aspects were unreal) as heroes fought for themselves and their own glory

Question 4

When was the phalanx introduced?

Answer 4

7th century; first heard of in Spartan Tyrtaeus’s poems

Question 5

Why was the phalanx developed?

Answer 5

Opening of new and old trade routes, beginning of colonial movement led to the spread of wealth in the homeland - a greater number of men could afford helmets, armour, greaves, shield

Question 6

What was a factor in the decline of individual prowess?

Answer 6

Increasing number of armoured infantry

Question 7

What did technological innovation show?

Answer 7

Reinforced the growing willingness to co-operate

Question 8

What technological innovations occurred?

Answer 8

Shields were redesigned from having one single strap/handle in the middle with a shoulder support to having a double-grip: one the middle where the forearm supported (armband), and one at the edge/rim for the hand to grip

Question 9

What was the downside to the double-grip shield?

Answer 9

Only protected a soldier’s left side, so they would rely on the man to their right to protect their right flank - they would all shift to the right in paranoia

Question 10

What was the throwing spear abandoned for?

Answer 10

The thrusting spear

Question 11

When were swords used?

Answer 11

Only in emergencies (spear gets broken or lost in battle)

Question 12

What was frowned upon after the introduction of the phalanx?

Answer 12

Acts of courage if it meant leaving the line - a man could be killed by the cowardice of those next to him

Question 13

Who was Aristodemus?

Answer 13

sole survivor of Thermopylae; was seen as a disgrace to his fellow Spartans as he would leave the line and abandoned his fellow sufferer from ophthalmia, Eurytus, to his death

Question 14

What was the ultimate disgrace for a soldier?

Answer 14

To lose his shield, as it was a soldier’s duty to carry his shield for the sake of the whole line

Question 15

Where did the word hoplite come from?

Answer 15

Possibly ‘hoplon’ which could mean ‘shield’

Question 16

When did hoplite-like equipment begin to appear?

Answer 16

Before 700 BCE (metal corslets depicted on Attic vase about 720), actual bronze panoply found in an Argive grave of 710, typical Corinthian helmet had appeared by 685

Question 17

What was a Corinthian helmet?

Answer 17

It covered the whole head, leaving only the eyes and mouth clear

Question 18

Where was the first representation of hoplites in a phalanx?

Answer 18

On a proto-Corinthian vase of about 670 (Chigi vase is from 650 or later)

Question 19

Where did hoplites first appear?

Answer 19

Argos

Question 20

Who first used the double-grip shield?

Answer 20

The Argives (Argos) (first mainland Greeks)

Question 21

What is the Battle of Hysiae?

Answer 21

Where hoplites may have first took part, battle where Argos defeated the Spartans for the last time

Question 22

What sometimes appeared on a hoplites shield?

Answer 22

A blazon, consisting either of the initial letter of their nationality, or a national symbol

Question 23

How did hoplites battle?

Answer 23

A close-knit formation about 8 deep (sometimes varied)

Question 24

What is othismos?

Answer 24

Final ‘heave’ where one side bore down on the other; ranks literally crashed together, shield to shield

Question 25

How did hoplites use their spears?

Answer 25

Typical thrust was over-arm, aiming for the throat and shoulders, over the rim of the shield

Question 26

What mattered in a phalanx?

Answer 26

Weight and cohesion of the soldiers

Question 27

How were Spartans so dominant in Ancient Greece?

Answer 27

Rigourous training that young Spartans were subjected to - possibly as early as age of 7, and at least 14, as well as the ability to combine

Question 28

What was an enomotiai?

Answer 28

A Spartan tactical unit of 35 men

Question 29

What was a pentekostyes?

Answer 29

A Spartan tactical unit that consisted of 4 enomotiai

Question 30

What was a lochoi?

Answer 30

A Spartan tactical unit that consisted of 4 pentekostyes

Question 31

What was a mora?

Answer 31

A Spartan tactical unit, consisting of 32 enomotiai (8 pentekostyes with 160 men, 2 lochoi with 640 men); a full strength mora had 1,280 men

Question 32

What did Spartan tactical units allow them to do?

Answer 32

Allowed them to assemble a force of any size by varying the number of morai - six in all

Question 33

What happened when a Spartan king was in the field?

Answer 33

They had 300 Hippeis (‘knights’) who acted as a royal guard and fought on foot

Question 34

What is the Battle of First Mantinea?

Answer 34

c.418, Sparta vs Athens and Argos + allies in the Peloponnesian War; Sparta won the battle by luring their enemies to fall through the Spartan line

Question 35

What was the 2nd Messenian War?

Answer 35

669-657, the Messenians revolted against Sparta, but were ultimately defeated

Question 36

Who was Tyrtaeus?

Answer 36

A Greek Spartan poet who wrote on military themes and first documented the phalanx in his work

Question 37

Who is Victor Hanson?

Answer 37

An American historian, classical professor and military scholar who wrote on Greek warfare and hoplites

Question 38

Who was Leonidas?

Answer 38

Spartan king who led Spartans and allies at Thermopylae against the Persians; he died fighting with about 1000 of his soldiers

Question 39

What is a hoplon?

Answer 39

A convex, circular shield about 3 feet in diameter made of composite wood and bronze

Question 40

What did light troops use as weapons?

Answer 40

Missile-weapons - archers, javelineers, slingers, even stone-throwers and they played a minor role in archaic and classical Greek warfare

Question 41

What armour did hoplites have?

Answer 41

Greaves, breastplate, helmet, double-grip shield, and thrusting spear, a sword for emergencies

Question 42

Who was Thucydides?

Answer 42

One of the first historians, he documented many Greek battles and wars, particularly the Peloponnesian Wars; he recorded the first political and moral analysis of a nation’s war policies

Question 43

What is the difference between a hoplite and a light troop?

Answer 43

The weapons they used and how they used them

Question 44

How did the defeat of a nation’s hoplites affect it?

Answer 44

It was a blow to the city state’s social and political fabric, which is why one battle often decided wars