A Storm of Spears : Understanding the Greek Hoplite at War

1. The Hoplite spear -- 2. Wielding the Hoplite spear -- 3. Spears, javelins and the Hoplite in Greek art -- 4. Bearing the Hoplite panoply -- 5. Repositioning the spear in "Hoplite drill' -- 6. The reach and trajectory of attacks make with the Hoplite spear -- 7. The 'kill shot' of Hoplite combat -- 8. Endurance and accuracy when fighting with the Hoplite spear -- 9. The penetration power of the Hoplite spear -- 10. The use of the Sauroter as a weapon -- 11. Conclusion : the individual Hoplite -- 12. Phalanxes, shield walls and other formations -- 13. The Hoplite battle : contact, othismos, breakthrough and rout -- 14. Conclusion : the nature of Hoplite combat. A “practical and thought provoking” study of the ancient military tactic known as the phalanx—the classic battle formation used in historic Greek warfare (The Historian). In ancient Greece, warfare was a fact of life, with every city brandishing its own fighting force. And the backbone of these classical Greek armies was the phalanx of heavily armored spearmen, or hoplites. These were the soldiers that defied the might of Persia at Marathon, Thermopylae and Plataea and—more often than not—fought each other in countless battles between the Greek city-states. For centuries they were the dominant soldiers of the classical world, in great demand as mercenaries throughout the Mediterranean and Middle East. Yet, despite the battle descriptions left behind and copious evidence in Greek art and archaeology, there are still many aspects of hoplite warfare that are little understood or the subject of fierce academic debate. Christopher Matthew’s groundbreaking work combines rigorous analysis with the new disciplines of reconstructive archaeology, reenactment, and ballistic science. He examines the equipment, tactics, and capabilities of the individual hoplites, as well as how they used juggernaut masses of men and their long spears to such devastating effect. This is an innovative reassessment of one of the most important early advancements in military tactics, and “indispensable reading for anyone interested in ancient warfare (The New York Military Affairs Symposium). The backbone of classical Greek armies was the phalanx of heavily armoured spearmen, or hoplites. These were the soldiers that defied the might of Persia at Marathon, Thermopylae and Plataea and, more often, fought each other in the countless battles of the Greek city-states. For around two centuries they were the dominant soldiers of the Classical world, in great demand as mercenaries throughout the Mediterranean and Middle East. Yet, despite the battle descriptions of Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon etc, and copious evidence of Greek art and archaeology, there are still many aspects of hoplite warfare that are little understood or the subject of fierce academic debate. Christopher Matthew's groundbreaking reassessment combines rigorous analysis of the literary and archaeological evidence with the new disciplines of reconstructive archaeology, re-enactment and ballistic science. He focuses meticulously on the details of the equipment, tactics and capabilities of the... "The backbone of classical Greek armies was the phalanx of heavily armed spearmen, or hoplites. These were the soldiers that defied the might of Persia at Marathon [490 BC], Thermopylae [480 BC] and Plataea [479 BC] and, more often, fought each other in the countless battles of the Greek city-states. For around two centuries they were the dominant soldiers of the [classical] world, in great demand as mercenaries throughout the Mediterranean and Middle East. Yet, despite the battle descriptions of Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon and other writers, not to mention the copious evidence of Greek art and archaeology, there are still many aspects of hoplite warfare that are little understood or the subject of fierce academic debate. ..."--Jacket Christopher Anthony Matthew. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [296]-307) And Index.