![]() Limited manpower did not allow most Greek city-states to form large armies which could operate for long periods because they were generally not formed from professional soldiers. The fragmented political structure of Ancient Greece, with many competing city-states, increased the frequency of conflict, but at the same time limited the scale of warfare. Hoplites shown in two attack positions, with both an underhand thrust and an overhand prepared to be thrown In the modern Hellenic Army, the word hoplite ( Greek: oπλίτης : oplítîs) is used to refer to an infantryman. ὁπλῖται hoplĩtai) derives from hoplon ( ὅπλον : hóplon plural hópla ὅπλα), referring to the hoplite's equipment. The word hoplite ( Greek: ὁπλίτης hoplítēs pl. The phalanx was also employed by the Greeks at the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BCE and at the Battle of Plataea in 479 BCE during the Second Greco-Persian War. The Persian archers and light troops who fought in the Battle of Marathon failed because their bows were too weak for their arrows to penetrate the wall of Greek shields that comprised the phalanx formation. The formation proved successful in defeating the Persians when employed by the Athenians at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BCE during the First Greco-Persian War. In the 8th or 7th century BCE, Greek armies adopted the phalanx formation. Hoplite soldiers made up the bulk of ancient Greek armies. These existed at times in Athens, Argos, Thebes, and Syracuse, among others. Some states maintained a small elite professional unit, known as the epilektoi ("chosen") since they were picked from the regular citizen infantry. Most hoplites were not professional soldiers and often lacked sufficient military training. The hoplites were primarily represented by free citizens – propertied farmers and artisans – who were able to afford a linen armour or a bronze armour suit and weapons (estimated at a third to a half of its able-bodied adult male population). ![]() The formation discouraged the soldiers from acting alone, for this would compromise the formation and minimize its strengths. Hoplite soldiers used the phalanx formation to be effective in war with fewer soldiers. During the Greek Archaic Era (7th cent – 479 BC), the Dipylon shield was made mostly of bronze and had a smaller size: that is the "Boeotian" type of shield, named after Boeotia, where it was popular….Hoplites ( / ˈ h ɒ p l aɪ t s/ HOP-lytes ) ( Ancient Greek: ὁπλίτης : hoplítēs) were citizen-soldiers of Ancient Greek city-states who were primarily armed with spears and shields. The shape of the Dipylon shield denotes its origins from the famous Minoan and Mycenaean eight-shaped shield. These belts were called "telamones" (ôåëáìþíåò). The shield had at least one central handle for its holding by the warrior in battle, and one or more shoulder belts, in order to hang it on his back when not used. Notches also facilitated the hanging (suspension) of the Dipylon shield on the warrior's back, in order not to restrict his elbows when he walked. In the middle of its surface, the Dipylon shield had two semicircular notches for the easier handling of the offensive weapons (spear or sword). It had a curved form in order to embrace the warrior's body. Despite its size, the Dipylon shield was light due to its materials. It was made of wicker and leather, without excluding further strengthening of wooden parts. It was a large and long shield, covering the warrior from chin to knees. The Dipylon shield is named after the Athenian Dipylon gate, where a number of pottery with depictions of that type of shield, was discovered. The shields of the Geometric period belonged to two main types: the "Dipylon" type shield and the "Herzsprung" type. The Geometric Period (11th-8th centuries BC) preceded the invention of the hoplite warfare and the hoplite phalanx (about 700 BC).
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