![]() The hoplite’s principal armament was a thrusting-spear between 2 and 3m in length, with a long, leaf-shaped iron blade at the top, and a spiked iron butt at the bottom. The main offensive weapon used was a 2.54.5-metre. Weighing perhaps 7 kilos, the shield was held using an arm-band combined with a hand-grip. An action so significant that a Greek general would mention it in his writings suggests a uniqueness to the motion and the phalanx it self, and contributed to the phalanx emerging as a battle formation unlike anything the world had ever seen before. The large shields, designed for pushing ahead, were the most essential equipment for the hoplites. The double-grip system dictated that the shield could be held with the left arm only, whereas a single-grip shield could easily be shifted from one hand to the other to ease the strain on arm and shoulder. The fact that Thucydides mentions the rightward motion of the phalanx due to the hoplon cannot be ignored. Furthermore, the hoplite shield had certain design drawbacks compared with other, lighter shield types having a single central grip. 5 pounds, this hoplites shield was probably made from sturdy laminated layers of. Thucydides states that all Greek armies are alike in there tendency to step right when engaging in battle, as hoplites would out of fear move to cover their unprotected sides with the left half of the hoplite next to them (see Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, 7.71). Accessories WTS Plate Carrier with Hoplite 26135 Swimmer Plates. Greek Spartan Shield Ancient Spartan Shield Designs Ancient Greek Shield Designs Greek Shield Designs Greek Hoplite Shields Spartans. sometime in the seventh century, the shape and design of the shield. Thucydides mentions the right step motion in his account of the Battle of Manitea in 418 B.C. The hoplite was named for the shield, or hoplon, that every infantryman carried. Our hoplite shield below is made out of a paper plate and some imagination We have an. Allowing a hoplite to utilize the extra portion of his fellow combatant’s shield would also imply that the hoplite phalanx would have a tendency to move right when advancing in combat (see “Formations and Tactics”). These were painted by the individual soldiers to their own design. The double grip method of holding the shield offers protection on the center and left side of the body, but leaves the right side of the body exposed, unless the hoplite utilizes the extra, redundant portion of the shield owned by the hoplite to the right of him. ![]() Two Greek hoplites engaged in battle utilizing the hoplite shield.Primarily, the shield serves as protection for the hoplite that holds it, as well as the hoplite to his immediate left.
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