The spirit characterizing the new reality of the Archaic period -as it is expressed through the institution of the polis- requires from the individual to function as an integral part of the city, in order to have a place in its political world. That is to say, the individual must cooperate and suffer along with the rest of the citizens. This attitude is also revealed through the new war method that is introduced in the 7th century BC, the hoplite phalanx. Earlier, battles had the form of clashes between nobles of opposing sides. Now, fighting ability of all warriors is indispensable, so that battle order remains unbreakable.


Since the beginning of the 7th century BC, armies of most cities, of Athens for example, were composed of hoplites who procured for themselves weapons and food, with the exception of Sparta, where the equipment was provided by the state. The military picture of the Archaic city was made up by the citizen-soldier who fought as a member of a team.

The hoplite was the standard infantryman of the Greek cities, as established from the 7th century until the 4th century BC. He took his name from the most visible part of his defensive equipment, the concave -usually round shield- called hoplon. Its diameter was 1 metre approximately and it was made of copper, wood and leather. The other parts of his equipment were the cuirass, the greaves and the helmet, all made of copper. For the attack he was equipped with two spears, while the sword was not a basic part of the hoplite armour; it was used only in emergency cases and it was clearly smaller and less important than in the Geometric period (Alcaeus, no 357 in Loeb I, Greek Lyric). The poet Tyrtaeus mentions that the participation of gymnetai -who fought with bows, arrows and slings- was occasionally acceptable in the hoplite tactics during the Archaic period. The bow and sling were used since the 7th century BC and did not constitute parts of the pre-hoplite period in Greece.



The characteristic feature of the hoplite phalanx was the soldiers' overall battle array, which definitely dates before the hoplite equipment appeared in the Greek communities. The different parts of the latter appeared gradually, between 720 BC and 650 BC approximately. Generally speaking, we can not refer to a systematic and full hoplite equipment before the second half of the 7th century BC.

| introduction | agriculture | trade | state organization | Archaic Period

Note: Click on a picture for a brief description.