![]() The Hoplites, in its diverse forms, remained in vogue for a period of about 700 years and disappeared only during the reign of Alexander the Great that is during the 4th century BC. Though initially its presence or absence in warfare did not make much of a difference yet in the subsequent wars when more innovations came to be made in these weapons, these weapons proved to be real assets. It is believed that many of these would be mercenary troops which were hired from the regions lying on the outskirts of Greece. hoplites would be armed with an eight foot long spear, a short sword, and their namesake the hoplon shield 5 A Greek phalanx, typically eight. ![]() There seems little evidence of standardisation, at least up to and including the 5th century: each hoplite chose his own shield design. There were an increase in the use of light infantry like peltasts (javelin throwers) and archers as well. Hoplite shield design was incredibly varied. Peloponnesian Warĭuring the Peloponnesian war, a slight innovation was observed. Another advantage of attacking in such a manner was that it kept the army of soldiers alert during a combat at a particular time rather than to just be limited up to the first few ranks. These frontal attacks were very difficult for the enemy to handle. The phalanx presented a shield wall along with a bunch of spears pointing to the enemy thereby actually performing frontal attacks on them. ![]() The hoplites would lock their shields together and then few of the foremost of soldiers would then project their spears out over the first rank of shields. Made to fit Warlords Greek Hoplite shields but will fit MOST other 28mm Hoplite. The Hoplite Phalanx belonging to the Archaic and Classical periods of Greece was a formation in which the hoplites would line up in ranks in close order. 1 x Ancient Greek Hoplite Shield Decals Sheet (96 Shield decals per sheet). Though there are no records which point out that there was any drill practice which was carried out but there are glimpses on vases as well as on statues which indicate faintly towards a drill movement.īut one thing which can be stated with much certainty is that there was no formal training for side arms like Axe or sword since these were considered to side weapons. They persisted during the middle ages as the buckler and the last use of a shield in battle by westerners was the Scottish Highlander targe which was a small round shield.It would be an impossible task to even think that the hoplites did not undergo any formal training to be a part of the army. Whatever the reason, the shield came full circle by the end of the western Roman Empire and round shields became the norm again. It also needs to be considered that finances played a role in ancient battles as much as today and attempts to keep costs down were undertaken so some societies only had a greave on the left leg as that was the leg most likely to be forward. Something else to consider is that a common method of fighting was the spear held over the head and used in a downward stabbing motion, the legs wouldn't be in much danger in mass combat. How that influenced the famous Greek shield we can only speculate.Įlongated or oval shields did become very common during the iron age and the Greeks themselves adopted a type they called the thyreos which they possibly copied from the Romans. The bronze age saw the dominance of geometric art which was squares, lozenges, zigzags and also concentric circles. Smaller flatter round shields do appear in other parts of Europe during the bronze age and it could be something as simple as you can trace the outline of a shield with a simple compass made of a scribe attached to a piece of string. It can't be answered with any certainty as it likely had a cultural reason, the same way the earlier figure of 8 shields used by the Mycenaeans might seem an odd choice. The gladius' short reach, combined with the necessity to get up close and personal to use the shield as a primary weapon, means a larger shield (curved to fit around the body, works better. The gladius is strictly a thrusting weapon, so restriction of arm movements is no longer of significance. The opponent is mauled by the shield, it's top edge and boss in particular used to wear an opponent down until his guard drops and the gladius can be slipped under his ribs. The greater reach of the spear also keeps the opponent at bay, so less defensive coverage is necessary.įor Roman Legionnaires of the classic period, the shield is actually the primary weapon, the gladius (short sword) secondary. ![]() Because of the many different ways in which a spear was used by a hoplite in offence, in and out of formation, a lighter round shield was more suitable by providing less interference with the spear use. ancient greek warrior spartans helmet stamp badge logo design 2. For a hoplite, the spear is the primary weapon and the shield only a secondary weapon, being primarily defensive. Find Ancient Greek Shields stock images in HD and millions of other royalty-free stock.
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