Hoplite

For other uses, see Hoplite (disambiguation).
A Greek hoplite

Hoplites (/ˈhɒplaɪts/ HOP-lytes[1][2][3]) (Ancient Greek: ὁπλῖται, romanized: hoplîtai [hoplîːtai̯]) were citizen-soldiers of Ancient Greek city-states who were primarily armed with spears and shields. Hoplite soldiers used the phalanx formation to be effective in war with fewer soldiers. The formation discouraged the soldiers from acting alone, for this would compromise the formation and minimize its strengths.[4] The hoplites were primarily represented by free citizens – propertied farmers and artisans – who were able to afford a linen or bronze armour suit and weapons (estimated at a third to a half of its able-bodied adult male population).[5] They also appear in the stories of Homer, but it is thought that their use began in earnest around the 7th century BC, when weapons became cheap during the Iron Age and ordinary citizens were able to provide their own weapons. Most hoplites were not professional soldiers and often lacked sufficient military training. Some states maintained a small elite professional unit, known as the epilektoi or logades (means "the chosen") since they were picked from the regular citizen infantry. These existed at times in Athens, Sparta, Argos, Thebes, and Syracuse, among other places.[6][7] Hoplite soldiers made up the bulk of ancient Greek armies.[8]

In the 8th or 7th century BC, Greek armies adopted the phalanx formation. The formation proved successful in defeating the Persians when employed by the Athenians at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC during the First Greco-Persian War. The Persian archers and light troops who fought in the Battle of Marathon failed because their bows were too weak for their arrows to penetrate the wall of Greek shields of the phalanx formation. The phalanx was also employed by the Greeks at the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC and at the Battle of Plataea in 479 BC during the Second Greco-Persian War.

The word hoplite (Greek: ὁπλίτης hoplítēs; pl. ὁπλῖται hoplĩtai) derives from hoplon (ὅπλον : hóplon; plural hópla ὅπλα), referring to the hoplite's equipment.[9] In the modern Hellenic Army, the word hoplite (Greek: oπλίτης : oplítîs) is used to refer to an infantryman.

  1. ^ "hoplite | Definition of hoplite in English by Oxford Dictionaries". Oxford Dictionaries | English. Archived from the original on November 15, 2018. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  2. ^ "Definition of Hoplite". www.merriam-webster.com.
  3. ^ "hoplite". www.dictionary.com. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  4. ^ Neer, Richard T. (2012). Art & Archaeology of the Greek World: A New History, C. 2500-c. 150 BC. New York: Thames & Hudson. p. 95. ISBN 9780500288771. OCLC 745332893.
  5. ^ Gat, Azar (2006). War in Human Civilization. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. pp. 295–98. ISBN 978-0199236633.
  6. ^ Lawrence A. Tritle (23 June 2014). Phocion the Good (Routledge Revivals). Routledge. pp. 77–8. ISBN 978-1-317-75050-5.
  7. ^ Daniel J. Geagan (9 September 2011). Inscriptions: The Dedicatory Monuments. American School of Classical Studies at Athens. p. 94. ISBN 978-1-62139-001-5.
  8. ^ Cartwright, Mark (9 February 2013). "Hoplite". World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
  9. ^ Schwartz, Adam (2009). "Reinstating the hoplite. Arms, Armour and Phalanx Fighting in Archaic and Classical Greece". Historia Einzelschriften 207: 25.