Schwartz Reinstating the Hoplite

Arms, Armour and Phalanx Fighting in Archaic and Classical Greece
1. Auflage 2013
ISBN: 978-3-515-10503-3
Verlag: Franz Steiner
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: 1 - PDF Watermark

E-Book, Deutsch, Englisch, Band Band 207, 337 Seiten, E-Book-Text

Reihe: Historia – Einzelschriften.

Recent research into the military history of ancient Greece has questioned the central rôle 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 rôle 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 rôle of the othismos – pushing – in deciding the outcome. In short, this e-book will quickly claim its place as one of the basic studies of ancient Greek hoplite battle.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Schwartz, Adam

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Alte Geschichte & Archäologie Geschichte der klassischen Antike Griechische Geschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Kunst Kunstgeschichte Kunstgeschichte: Klassisch (Griechisch & Römisch)
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Militärgeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Alte Geschichte & Archäologie Geschichte der klassischen Antike Klassische Archäologie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1;CONTENTS;6
2;ACKNOWLEDGMENTS;10
3;1. INTRODUCTION;12
3.1;1.1 CONVENTIONS;12
3.2;1.2 AIMS AND PURPOSES;12
3.3;1.3 RESEARCH HISTORY;14
3.4;1.4 SOURCES AND METHODS;19
4;2. HOPLITE EQUIPMENT AND ITS LIMITATIONS;26
4.1;2.1 THE HOPLITE SHIELD;26
4.2;2.2 HEADGEAR;56
4.3;2.3 BODY ARMOUR;67
4.4;2.4 OFFENSIVE WEAPONS;82
4.5;2.5 PHYSICAL LIMITATIONS – CONCLUSIONS;96
5;3. THE PHALANX;103
5.1;3.1 THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PHALANX: MYTH OR REALITY?;103
5.2;3.2 THE SHIELD IN PHALANX FIGHTING;147
5.3;3.3 DEPLOYMENT;158
5.4;3.4 OTHISMOS;184
6;4. DURATION OF HOPLITE BATTLES;202
6.1;4.1 THE PROBLEM OF TEMPORAL DESIGNATIONS;202
6.2;4.2 CONTRIBUTING FACTORS;209
6.3;4.3 UNUSUALLY LONG BATTLES;218
6.4;4.4 EXCURSUS: THE POSSIBLE INFLUENCE OF LITERARY CONVENTIONS;223
7;5. CONCLUSION;227
8;APPENDIX;236
9;BIBLIOGRAPHY;294
10;LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS;304
11;INDICES;306

Über Autor(innen)

Schwartz, Adam
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.