- The Oxford Handbook of Warfare in the Classical World
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- CONTRIBUTORS
- Abbreviations and Spelling Norms
- Chronology
- Emperors from Augustus to Heraclius
- Preface
- Maps
- War and Warfare in Ancient Greece
- War and Warfare in Ancient Rome
- Greece: Winning Ways in Warfare
- Rome: A Story of Conflict
- The Archaeology of War
- Warfare and Environment in the Ancient World
- The Classical Greek Experience
- The Three Thousand: Alexander’s Infantry Guard
- The Hellenistic World at War: Stagnation or Development?
- War and Society in Greece
- The Rise of Rome
- Imperial Rome at War
- War and Society in the Roman Empire
- Men at War
- Treating the Sick and Wounded
- Keeping Military Discipline
- The Business of War: Mercenaries
- Logistics: Sinews of War
- War at Sea
- Arming Greeks for Battle
- Arming Romans for Battle
- Greeks Under Siege: Challenges, Experiences, and Emotions
- Generalship: Leadership and Command
- Finding the Enemy: Military Intelligence
- Horses for War: Breeding and Keeping a Warhorse
- The Development and Training of Cavalry in Greece and Rome
- Greek Rituals of War
- Roman Rituals of War
- Greeks and Achaemenid Persians
- The Germanic and Danubian Transfrontier Peoples
- Military and Society in Sasanian Iran
- The Athenian Expedition to Sicily
- The Peloponnesian War and Its Sieges
- Epaminondas at Leuctra, 371 b.c.
- Demetrius “the Besieger” and Hellenistic Warfare
- The Second Punic War
- Roman Warfare with Sasanian Persia
- Epilogue: The Legacy of War in the Classical World
- Index
Abstract and Keywords
This chapter explores the Greek armored infantrymen and the weapons they carried. The hoplite shield is called Argive. The Boeotian is a shield that appears on seventh- and sixth-century BC vase paintings and on Boeotian coins. Xenophon's ideal helmet was a hat-like helmet. Many vase paintings indicate that the corslets represented in them were built by cutting them from a sheet. Armoring of the limbs was restricted to the use of greaves and ankle guards. The principal weapon of soldiers for centuries has been the thrusting spear. There should be a metal reinforcement in the butt end of the thrusting spear and its head weight varies from ca 0.12 to 0.95 kg. Victory on the battlefield had necessitated effective weapons and armor. The depth of a formation could impose psychological pressure on opponents, while shield blazons presented terrifying, apotropaic warnings.
Keywords: Greek armored infantrymen, weapons, hoplite shield, helmet, corslets, thrusting spear, battlefield, shield blazons
Eero Jarva, Lecturer of European Studies at the University of Oulu, Finland
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- The Oxford Handbook of Warfare in the Classical World
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- CONTRIBUTORS
- Abbreviations and Spelling Norms
- Chronology
- Emperors from Augustus to Heraclius
- Preface
- Maps
- War and Warfare in Ancient Greece
- War and Warfare in Ancient Rome
- Greece: Winning Ways in Warfare
- Rome: A Story of Conflict
- The Archaeology of War
- Warfare and Environment in the Ancient World
- The Classical Greek Experience
- The Three Thousand: Alexander’s Infantry Guard
- The Hellenistic World at War: Stagnation or Development?
- War and Society in Greece
- The Rise of Rome
- Imperial Rome at War
- War and Society in the Roman Empire
- Men at War
- Treating the Sick and Wounded
- Keeping Military Discipline
- The Business of War: Mercenaries
- Logistics: Sinews of War
- War at Sea
- Arming Greeks for Battle
- Arming Romans for Battle
- Greeks Under Siege: Challenges, Experiences, and Emotions
- Generalship: Leadership and Command
- Finding the Enemy: Military Intelligence
- Horses for War: Breeding and Keeping a Warhorse
- The Development and Training of Cavalry in Greece and Rome
- Greek Rituals of War
- Roman Rituals of War
- Greeks and Achaemenid Persians
- The Germanic and Danubian Transfrontier Peoples
- Military and Society in Sasanian Iran
- The Athenian Expedition to Sicily
- The Peloponnesian War and Its Sieges
- Epaminondas at Leuctra, 371 b.c.
- Demetrius “the Besieger” and Hellenistic Warfare
- The Second Punic War
- Roman Warfare with Sasanian Persia
- Epilogue: The Legacy of War in the Classical World
- Index