Greek Hoplites
About 650 BC, Greek generals in various different city-states came up with a new way of fighting battles that gave Greek soldiers of the Archaic period a big advantage over the soldiers of other countries like Egypt or the Lydians. Instead of fighting all in a big crowd, running forward and just trying to get at the enemy any which way, Greek generals trained their soldiers to fight in lines, shoulder to shoulder. In this way each man (women were not allowed to be soldiers) was protected by the shield of the man standing next to him. When they all marched forward together, no enemy spears or arrows could get through their wall of shields.
A hoplite shield
A soldier who fought this way was called a hoplite
(HOP-light), and a group of soldiers who fought this way were called
a hoplite phalanx (FAY-lanks).
A hoplite phalanx was a very strong military formation - but it only
worked if all the soldiers were well trained, and if they were all brave
enough to hold the line. If anyone started to run away, the whole line
would fall apart, and it wouldn't work. Or, if some men went slower
than others, or got out of step, it wouldn't work. So hoplites needed
to spend a lot of time training, the way people today train to be in
a marching band, for instance.
More about Greek hoplites (page two)
To find out more about Greek military methods, weapons, and armor, check out these books from Amazon.com or from your library:
Greek Hoplite (Soldier Through the Ages), by Martin Windrow (1985). For kids, from Scholastic.
Greek Hoplite 480-323 BC, by Nicholas Sekunda (2000). From Britain. A good first guide, useful for painting models or illustrating reports.
Warfare in the Classical World: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Weapons, Warriors and Warfare in the Ancient Civilisations of Greece and Rome, by John Warry . Not especially for kids, but there are lots of pictures, and not too much text, so it would be a good choice anyway.
Greece and Rome at War, by Peter Connolly (1998). Again, not for kids, but kids do like it.
Hoplites: The Classical Greek Battle Experience, edited by Victor Davis Hanson (reprinted 1993). Essays by different specialists, more or less accessible to interested adults. The writers don't discuss strategy and tactics so much as the experience of the actual individual soldier.
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