Hoplites

Hoplites
Author: Victor Davis Hanson
Publisher:
Total Pages: 304
Release: 2015-11-24
Genre: Battles
ISBN: 9781138131170

Download Hoplites Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

Explores the experiences, techniques and rituals of soldiers in battle on the plains of ancient Greece using a wide variety of contemporary research and sources.

The Greek Hoplite Phalanx

The Greek Hoplite Phalanx
Author: Richard Taylor
Publisher: Pen and Sword Military
Total Pages: 784
Release: 2021-12-22
Genre: History
ISBN: 1526788578

Download The Greek Hoplite Phalanx Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

The Greek hoplite and the phalanx formation in which he fought have been the subject of considerable academic debate over the past century. Dr Richard Taylor provides an overview of the current state of play in the hoplite debate in all its aspects, from fighting techniques to the social and economic background of the ‘hoplite revolution’, in a form that is accessible for the general reader and military history enthusiast. But the book goes further: offering a new perspective on the hoplite phalanx by putting it in the context of other military developments in the Mediterranean world in the middle of the first millennium BC. He argues that the Greek phalanx was different in degree but not in kind from other contemporary heavy infantry formations and that the hoplite debate, with its insistence on the unique nature of the hoplite phalanx, has obscured the similarities with other equivalent formations. The result is a fresh take on a perennially popular subject.

A Storm of Spears

A Storm of Spears
Author: Christopher Anthony Matthew
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2012
Genre: Greece
ISBN: 9781848842953

Download A Storm of Spears Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

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 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 of 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 individual. In so doing he challenges some long established assumptions. For example, despite a couple of centuries of the hoplites portrayed in Greek vase paintings, Matthew manages to gleam from them some startlingly fresh insights into how hoplites wielded their spears. These findings are supported by practical testing with his own replica hoplite panoply and the experiences of a group of dedicated re-enactors. He also tackles such questions as the protective properties of hoplite shields and armour and the much-vexed debate on the exact nature of the 'othismos', the climax of phalanx-on-phalanx clashes. This is an innovative and refreshing reassessment of one of the most important kinds of troops in ancient warfare, sure to make a genuine contribution to the state of knowledge. AUTHOR: Christopher Matthew has just completed his doctoral thesis on hoplite warfare at Macquarie University in Sydney, where one of his assessors has said he 'singlehandedly advanced the whole field'. He has also been invited to lecture on the subject at other Australian universities. This book, closely based on his doctoral thesis, will be his first, although he has already had several articles published in academic journals. ILLUSTRATIONS: 33 b/w diagrams

Men of Bronze

Men of Bronze
Author: Donald Kagan
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 313
Release: 2013-06-09
Genre: History
ISBN: 1400846307

Download Men of Bronze Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

A major contribution to the debate over ancient Greek warfare by some of the world's leading scholars Men of Bronze takes up one of the most important and fiercely debated subjects in ancient history and classics: how did archaic Greek hoplites fight, and what role, if any, did hoplite warfare play in shaping the Greek polis? In the nineteenth century, George Grote argued that the phalanx battle formation of the hoplite farmer citizen-soldier was the driving force behind a revolution in Greek social, political, and cultural institutions. Throughout the twentieth century scholars developed and refined this grand hoplite narrative with the help of archaeology. But over the past thirty years scholars have criticized nearly every major tenet of this orthodoxy. Indeed, the revisionists have persuaded many specialists that the evidence demands a new interpretation of the hoplite narrative and a rewriting of early Greek history. Men of Bronze gathers leading scholars to advance the current debate and bring it to a broader audience of ancient historians, classicists, archaeologists, and general readers. After explaining the historical context and significance of the hoplite question, the book assesses and pushes forward the debate over the traditional hoplite narrative and demonstrates why it is at a crucial turning point. Instead of reaching a consensus, the contributors have sharpened their differences, providing new evidence, explanations, and theories about the origin, nature, strategy, and tactics of the hoplite phalanx and its effect on Greek culture and the rise of the polis. The contributors include Paul Cartledge, Lin Foxhall, John Hale, Victor Davis Hanson, Donald Kagan, Peter Krentz, Kurt Raaflaub, Adam Schwartz, Anthony Snodgrass, Hans van Wees, and Gregory Viggiano.

Ancient Battle Formations

Ancient Battle Formations
Author: Justin Swanton
Publisher: Pen & Sword Military
Total Pages: 320
Release: 2022-03
Genre: History
ISBN: 9781526797582

Download Ancient Battle Formations Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

Justin Swanton examines the principal battle-winning formations of the Ancient world, determining their composition, function and efficacy. An introductory chapter looks at the fundamental components of the principal battle formations of heavy and light infantry, cavalry, elephants and chariots, showing how they bolstered the individual soldier's willingness to fight. The rest of the book focuses on massed infantry that reigned supreme in this era: the heavily armored Greek hoplite phalanx that was immune to the weaponry of its non-Greek opponents; the Macedonian pike phalanx that was unbeatable against frontal attacks so long as it kept order; the Roman triplex acies which, contrary to popular opinion, consisted of continuous lines in open order, with file spaces wide enough to allow embattled infantry to fall back after which those files closed up instantly against the enemy. A careful study of the Greek and Latin of the sources sheds fresh light on how these formations were organized and worked, re-evaluating many conventional notions and leading to some surprising conclusions.

Men of Bronze

Men of Bronze
Author: Donald Kagan
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 312
Release: 2015-11-24
Genre: History
ISBN: 0691168458

Download Men of Bronze Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

A major contribution to the debate over ancient Greek warfare by some of the world's leading scholars Men of Bronze takes up one of the most important and fiercely debated subjects in ancient history and classics: how did archaic Greek hoplites fight, and what role, if any, did hoplite warfare play in shaping the Greek polis? In the nineteenth century, George Grote argued that the phalanx battle formation of the hoplite farmer citizen-soldier was the driving force behind a revolution in Greek social, political, and cultural institutions. Throughout the twentieth century scholars developed and refined this grand hoplite narrative with the help of archaeology. But over the past thirty years scholars have criticized nearly every major tenet of this orthodoxy. Indeed, the revisionists have persuaded many specialists that the evidence demands a new interpretation of the hoplite narrative and a rewriting of early Greek history. Men of Bronze gathers leading scholars to advance the current debate and bring it to a broader audience of ancient historians, classicists, archaeologists, and general readers. After explaining the historical context and significance of the hoplite question, the book assesses and pushes forward the debate over the traditional hoplite narrative and demonstrates why it is at a crucial turning point. Instead of reaching a consensus, the contributors have sharpened their differences, providing new evidence, explanations, and theories about the origin, nature, strategy, and tactics of the hoplite phalanx and its effect on Greek culture and the rise of the polis. The contributors include Paul Cartledge, Lin Foxhall, John Hale, Victor Davis Hanson, Donald Kagan, Peter Krentz, Kurt Raaflaub, Adam Schwartz, Anthony Snodgrass, Hans van Wees, and Gregory Viggiano.

An Invincible Beast

An Invincible Beast
Author: MATTHEW CHRISTOPHER
Publisher: Pen & Sword Military
Total Pages: 544
Release: 2022-04-30
Genre:
ISBN: 9781399085267

Download An Invincible Beast Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

The Hellenistic pike-phalanx was a true military innovation, transforming the face of warfare in the ancient world. For nearly 200 years, from the rise of the Macedonians as a military power in the mid-fourth century BC, to their defeat at the hands of the Romans at Pydna in 168BC, the pike-wielding heavy infantryman (the phalangite) formed the basis of nearly every Hellenistic army to deploy on battlefields stretching from Italy to India. And yet, despite this dominance, and the vast literature dedicated to detailing the history of the Hellenistic world, there remains fierce debate among modern scholars about how infantry combat in this age was actually conducted. Christopher Matthews critically examines phalanx combat by using techniques such as physical re-creation, experimental archaeology, and ballistics testing, and then comparing the findings of this testing to the ancient literary, artistic and archaeological evidence, as well as modern theories. The result is the most comprehensive and up-to-date study of what heavy infantry combat was like in the age of Alexander the Great and his Successors.

Brill's Companion to Greek Land Warfare Beyond the Phalanx

Brill's Companion to Greek Land Warfare Beyond the Phalanx
Author: Roel Konijnendijk
Publisher: Brill's Companions to Classica
Total Pages: 372
Release: 2021
Genre: History
ISBN: 9789004501720

Download Brill's Companion to Greek Land Warfare Beyond the Phalanx Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

"After decades of controversy, there is now a growing consensus that Greek warfare was not singular and simple, but complex and multiform. In this volume, emerging and established scholars build on this consensus to explore Greek warfare beyond its traditional focus on hoplites and the phalanx. We expand the chronological limits back into the Iron Age, the geographical limits to the central and eastern Mediterranean, and the operational limits to include cavalry, light-armed troops, and sieges. We also look beyond the battlefield at integral aspects of warfare including religion, the experiences of women, and the recovery of the war dead"--

The Psychology of the Athenian Hoplite

The Psychology of the Athenian Hoplite
Author: Jason Crowley
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 251
Release: 2012-08-02
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1107020611

Download The Psychology of the Athenian Hoplite Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

Using current socio-psychological research, this book reveals exactly why amateur Athenian hoplites unhesitatingly engaged their enemies in savage close-quarters combat.

Reinstating the Hoplite

Reinstating the Hoplite
Author: Adam Schwartz
Publisher: Franz Steiner Verlag Wiesbaden GmbH
Total Pages: 352
Release: 2009
Genre: History
ISBN:

Download Reinstating the Hoplite Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

Recent research into the military history of ancient Greece has questioned the central role traditionally ascribed to the famous hoplite phalanx by historians and suggests that even as late as the Persian Wars of 480-479 BC, Greek battles consisted essentially of open fighting and duels between individual combatants, in an almost Homeric fashion. In this meticulous study, Adam Schwartz in turn questions the new orthodoxy. Departing from a detailed scrutiny of hoplite equipment and its physical characteristics, the author demonstrates that this equipment must in fact have been developed specifically to meet the needs of warriors fighting in phalanx formations, which, it is shown, can be traced back into the eighth century BC. In this way, the study is not only a reappraisal of the role of the phalanx, but also a significant contribution to the study of Archaic Greek history. Great emphasis is, furthermore, placed upon the illumination of such crucial questions as the duration of the average hoplite battle and the role of the othismos - pushing - in deciding the outcome. In short, this book will quickly claim its place as one of the basic studies of ancient Greek hoplite battle.