
Hoplites riding dolphins
An Attic red-figure psykter
A red-figure vessel currently in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York depicts a line of spearmen riding dolphins. What is this object and how should we interpret the scene that decorates it?

A marble lekythos in Leiden
Hoplites during the Classical period
“Hoplites” of the seventh century BC were “men of bronze”. A few centuries later, they had shed most of their armour, as a marble lekythos in Leiden shows.

Ancient Greek shield blazons
Greek shields from at least the later eighth century BC onwards were often decorated with abstract or figurative blazons.

Early Tarentine warfare
The horse or the hoplite?
It is often assumed that the ancient Greeks practised one type of warfare. This is problematic, as can be illustrated by a quick look at the early history of Tarentum, Southern Italy.

The ancient Greek hoplite
Roel Konijnendijk, Joshua Hall, Matthew Lloyd, Owen Rees, and Josho Brouwers talk about the ancient Greek hoplite.

The Battle of the Champions
One of the most interesting battles mentioned by the Greek historian Herodotus is perhaps the “Battle of the Champions”, fought between the Spartans and the Argives.

The hoplite’s “hoplon”
The typical Greek word for shield was not hoplon, and the hoplite is therefore not named after it. Yet, the myth persists.

Battlefield rock, paper, scissors
Combined arms in ancient armies
Ancient generals came to appreciate the value of combined arms. But why is it a good idea to deploy a mix of different kinds of warriors?

A Storm of Spears
A book by Christopher Matthew (2012)
In this book, Christopher Matthew aims to reassess existing models of hoplite warfare by adopting a more hands-on approach.
No further results.