The Hoplite Revolution and the Rise of the Polis | Men of Bronze: Hoplite Warfare in Ancient Greece | Princeton Scholarship Online (2024)

FAQs

What does the idea of the hoplite Revolution try to describe? ›

According to the theory of a hoplite revolution, these new hoplite-level men forced the aristocrats to share political power by threatening to refuse to fight and thereby cripple the community's military defense.

What were the effects of hoplite warfare on the Greek Poleis? Hoplite warfare effected the Greek poleis in that it was start of democracy. Since the hoplites were also everyday citizens, they wanted to have a say in what wars they were fighting in.

Because they defended the poleis and proved extremely effective on the battlefield, the hoplites would go on to demand better political representation, something that would have a major impact on Greek politics as a whole.

Overview. The hoplite phalanx of the Archaic and Classical periods in Greece c. 800–350 BC was the formation in which the hoplites would line up in ranks in close order. The hoplites would lock their shields together, and the first few ranks of soldiers would project their spears out over the first rank of shields.

While the phalanx formation was unwieldy, the equipment heavy, and pursuit difficult, Greek hoplites were the best fighters in the Mediterranean world and in great demand as mercenaries in Lydia, Babylonia, and Egypt.

Hoplites (/ˈhɒplaɪts/ HOP-lytes) (Ancient Greek: ὁπλῖται, romanized: hoplîtai [hoplîːtai̯]) were citizen-soldiers of Ancient Greek city-states who were primarily armed with spears and shields. Hoplite soldiers used the phalanx formation to be effective in war with fewer soldiers.

At different periods they also had plenty of light infantry (an army could have many more light than the heavy), some kinds of medium infantry, and hired mercenaries. Hoplites were good in field battles but not invincible, and they're not especially good in siege warfare, which was more important until modern times.

Impact of the Peloponnesian War

The Delian League had broken up, leaving the peninsula fragmented. Athens, the once powerful city-state, was weakened. Even victorious Sparta was left weaker after exhausting itself from the war. It would be easy for foreign powers to invade Greece and take it over.

How did the hoplites gain political power? support of Solon and Cleisthenes/Aristocrats who lost power, allied with the hoplites and overthrew old aristocracies, forming tyrannies. If he survived his infancy, a typical male citizen of Sparta would have gone through these life stages.

What is polis and why is it significant? The polis was both a territory consisting of a central town and a surrounding area, and a principle of organizing a community. The polis is significant because it gave Western civilization its language of politics and the idea of democracy.

How did the phalanx affect Greek society? ›

Overall, the development of the phalanx was another step toward the establishment of a more inclusive system of governance. The dominance of the aristoi was questioned in their own game, making it more difficult for them to control the public sphere.

The soldiers, called hoplites, were armed by the wealthy aristocrats and would march into battle as a unit to attack the enemy. These units of soldiers working together formed strong bonds and created another level of social class as soldiers, beginning the social pyramid of ancient Greece.

The “hoplite revolution,” then, was built around this Aristotelian idea that military transformations prompted political transformations, something that reflected the experience of the time. The theory sketched a structured process hypothesizing three different stages connected to three successive revolutions.

The hoplite phalanx's success was based on disciplined unity and collective action. The formation required tightly packed rows of hoplites, each protecting their comrade, which allowed effective collective pushing tactics in battle. This also influenced Greek city-states' social and political structures.

The extreme length of the sarissa meant that up to five layers of pikes protruded ahead of the front man – allowing the phalanx to steamroll any opponent. So long as its rear and flank were protected, the formation was extremely powerful both as a defensive and an offensive weapon.

The soldiers that fought for the Greek city-states were known as hoplites. The word hoplite is thought to come from the word ta hopla, meaning tool or equipment, which also describes the main piece of equipment that a hoplite carried, a large round shield called a hoplon.

a heavily armed foot soldier of ancient Greece.

Hoplites were heavily armed Greek Infantrymen. These soldiers were Greek citizens that carried shields and swords. They were one of the first citizen soldiers of the time. It was common it Greek city-states for these citizen-soldiers to be expected to equip themselves and be ready for the role.

Hoplites were citizen-soldiers of Ancient Greek city-states and their primary armor were spears and shields. Hoplite soldiers would of been wearing about 70lbs of armor. The most important aspect of Hoplite warfare was the phalanx formation.