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Consequently, every man in a formation of hoplites would know that he would stand little chance against his foes were he to break ranks.
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It would be worthwhile getting every man to use equipment which would increase group cohesion, even if each man in the group had slightly less efficient kit.Ī hoplon is a fairly good shield when used in line with many other men also using hoplons, but it is close to useless in individual combat.
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The main reason why a large formation of spearmen will lose against another is that that it breaks up. I write this because it seems to me that its design is specific to the problem outlined above. It is my belief that the hoplon was designed with the citizen in mind. This is easy enough for a well-drilled professional killer, but for the manager of a pottery, flanked on one side by a baker, and the other by a poet, does not come so naturally. To hold firm, each man must be confident that the man next to him will do his job. A large formation of troops which wavered in the face of an attack, would lose against another which held firm. These men were not full-time soldiers, and had to have faith in their fellows. This was quite a commitment, and meant that armies became larger, well-equipped, and composed of reasonably wealthy middle-class men.
HOPLITE SHIELD GRIPS FULL
To qualify for full citizenship, a man had to outfit himself with hoplite panoply, and be available for war. In the days of the hoplite, armies were made up of large numbers of citizens of the emerging Greek city states. Before that, warfare in Greece was between warlords and warrior élites, who tended to ride around on horses and chariots, exchanging insults and chucking javelins about the place, and occasionally coming to blows. The introduction of the hoplon coincides with the adoption of the hoplite phalanx formation, and citizen warfare. Soldiers with this sort of shield were hoplites. LLOYDIAN ARMOUR: Hoplite shield HOPLITE PANOPLY: ShieldĪ hoplite was defined by his shield, the hoplon.