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Reinstating the Hoplite: Arms, Armour and Phalanx Fighting in Archaic and Classical Greece
Recent research into the military history of ancient Greece has questioned the central role traditionally ascribed to the famous hoplite phalanx by historians and suggested that even as late as the Persian Wars of 480-479 BC, Greek battles consisted essentially of open fighting and duels between individual combatants, in an almost Homeric fashion. In this meticulous study, Adam Schwartz in turn questions the new orthodoxy. Departing from a detailed scrutiny of hoplite equipment and its physical characteristics, the author demonstrates that this equipment must in fact have been developed specifically to meet the needs of warriors fighting in phalanx formations, which, it is shown, can be traced back into the eighth century BC. In this way, the study is not only a reappraisal of the role of the phalanx, but also a significant contribution to the study of Archaic Greek history. Great emphasis is, furthermore, placed upon the illumination of such crucial questions as the duration of the average hoplite battle and the role of the othismos - pushing - in deciding the outcome. In short, this book will quickly claim its place as one of the basic studies of ancient Greek hoplite battle.
1112984516
Reinstating the Hoplite: Arms, Armour and Phalanx Fighting in Archaic and Classical Greece
Recent research into the military history of ancient Greece has questioned the central role traditionally ascribed to the famous hoplite phalanx by historians and suggested that even as late as the Persian Wars of 480-479 BC, Greek battles consisted essentially of open fighting and duels between individual combatants, in an almost Homeric fashion. In this meticulous study, Adam Schwartz in turn questions the new orthodoxy. Departing from a detailed scrutiny of hoplite equipment and its physical characteristics, the author demonstrates that this equipment must in fact have been developed specifically to meet the needs of warriors fighting in phalanx formations, which, it is shown, can be traced back into the eighth century BC. In this way, the study is not only a reappraisal of the role of the phalanx, but also a significant contribution to the study of Archaic Greek history. Great emphasis is, furthermore, placed upon the illumination of such crucial questions as the duration of the average hoplite battle and the role of the othismos - pushing - in deciding the outcome. In short, this book will quickly claim its place as one of the basic studies of ancient Greek hoplite battle.
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Reinstating the Hoplite: Arms, Armour and Phalanx Fighting in Archaic and Classical Greece

Reinstating the Hoplite: Arms, Armour and Phalanx Fighting in Archaic and Classical Greece

by Adam Schwartz
Reinstating the Hoplite: Arms, Armour and Phalanx Fighting in Archaic and Classical Greece

Reinstating the Hoplite: Arms, Armour and Phalanx Fighting in Archaic and Classical Greece

by Adam Schwartz

Overview

Recent research into the military history of ancient Greece has questioned the central role traditionally ascribed to the famous hoplite phalanx by historians and suggested that even as late as the Persian Wars of 480-479 BC, Greek battles consisted essentially of open fighting and duels between individual combatants, in an almost Homeric fashion. In this meticulous study, Adam Schwartz in turn questions the new orthodoxy. Departing from a detailed scrutiny of hoplite equipment and its physical characteristics, the author demonstrates that this equipment must in fact have been developed specifically to meet the needs of warriors fighting in phalanx formations, which, it is shown, can be traced back into the eighth century BC. In this way, the study is not only a reappraisal of the role of the phalanx, but also a significant contribution to the study of Archaic Greek history. Great emphasis is, furthermore, placed upon the illumination of such crucial questions as the duration of the average hoplite battle and the role of the othismos - pushing - in deciding the outcome. In short, this book will quickly claim its place as one of the basic studies of ancient Greek hoplite battle.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9783515103985
Publisher: Franz Steiner Verlag
Publication date: 04/05/2013
Series: Historia - Einzelschriften , #207
Pages: 337
Product dimensions: 6.65(w) x 9.45(h) x (d)

About the Author

Adam Schwartz (Ph.D.) is a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Copenhagen, specialising in warfare in Archaic and Classical Greece. Other areas of interest include the 'Homeric society', Aristotelian political philosophy and the Second Sophistic.

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