For hundreds of years, warfare
in Classical Greece was dominated by the hoplite, or heavy
infantryman.
These were generally citizen-soldiers, with each man providing his own
equipment and serving when necessary in defense of his city.
Hoplites
fought in a phalanx, a dense line of spearmen six or more ranks
deep.
Each was armed with the large round shield (which we now incorrectly
call
the hoplon), a spear, and a sword, and typically wore a helmet, body
armor,
and greaves.
This site deals with
reconstructing
the hoplite of the Persian War era, 490-480 BC, the period in which the
classic Corinthian helmet and composite cuirass
were most common. By the time of the Peloponesian Wars, fifty
years
later, much had changed.
This is NOT an attempt to start
an ancient Greek living history group or hoplite unit!! If you
want
to do something like that, go for it, and sign me up, but I myself am
far
too swamped running the Twentieth Legion to found a whole new
group.
This is just a couple guys making
some
Greek stuff on the side in our copious spare time, and sharing our
findings
and experience with anyone loopy enough to try it. The
descriptions
of equipment and construction will not be as in-depth and thorough as
on
the Twentieth Legion site,
but
feel free to contribute more if you can.
Unfortunately, new
research and better examination of old research is rapidly making much
of the information on this old site obsolete! I am leaving up as
much as may be helpful, and trying to update where I can, but it is not
likely that I will be building all new equipment to replace what I now
find to be less than accurate.
Also be aware that much of
the old information will continue to circulate for years, and that many
popular books must now be used with great caution. That includes
all our beloved basic sources: Peter Connolly's Greek Armies,
and/or
pertinant
sections of Greece and Rome at War; John Warry's Warfare in
the
Classical World; the Osprey Elite volume The Ancient Greeks
by Nick Sekunda; and AM Snodgrass' Arms and Armour of the
Greeks.
If you thought finding good information for Roman equipment was difficult, let alone sources for accurate reproductions, you ain't seen nothin' yet. The ancient Greeks seem to have gone out of their way to make every item of armor or weaponry difficult to reproduce, and modern archeologists seem to have hidden away vast quantities of artifacts just to keep reenactors from finding out how the darn things were made. It's a challenging era, you bet.
ELSEWHERE ON THIS SITE:
| Making a Hoplon | Linothorax R&D | Higgins Armory Helmets | The BRONZE AGE |
| Weapons | PHOTOS! | Bibliography |
Manning Imperial--Craig Sitch, P.O. Box 27 Redan, Vic Australia 3350. Phone 03 5338 8995 http://www.manningimperial.com/. HOPLON!! Looks gorgeous! Also beautiful Corinthian helmet, greaves, sword, and more. Prices in Australian dollars, good for us Yanks but shipping is murder!
"Wulf"--United Kingdom, wulf.lighting AT virgin DOT net,
or sabre.wulf AT virgin DOT net.
Makes a very nice aspis (shield), including those on the www.hoplites.co.uk
web site. Not cheap! He may be hard to get hold of (being
very busy!), but this is the only contact information I have for him.
Lonely Mountain Forge--Joe Piela, http://www.lonelymountain.hoplologia.org/
(new site, still growing!).
Tom and I got our Corinthian helmets from him--you can see Tom's
being raised in one piece on Joe's website, and Tom's greaves,
too.
He does excellent work and his prices are good. His backlog is
about
18 months but he meets his deadlines.
Imperium Ancient Armory--California. http://www.imperiumancientarmory.com/.
Deepeeka gear and other sources, generally very good. Also an
excellent linothorax!
La Wren's Nest --Lawrence Brooks, 35 Chadbourne Ridge Road,
Hollis,
Maine 04042.207-727-5844, fax 207-727-4596. http://www.lawrensnest.com.
Deepeeka helmets, weapons, and accessories (See below).
ASPIS/HOPLON BLANKS--Michael Broyles, mjbroyles AT
yahoo DOT com. Approximately $450 plus shipping. Any
covering or fittings would be extra.
By-the-Sword--http://www.by-the-sword.com. Full line of Deepeeka gear (see below). (Steer clear of the other brands!)
***Deepeeka Steelcrafts, India--This is the supplier for many
vendors.
While these items are far more accurate than any previous "off the
shelf"
gear, there are still flaws of various degrees. Their
"Italo-Corinthian"
helmet (AH6058B) is decent even though it is brass. But
skip the steel
version and don't bother with the crest. I do not find their
AH6111 "Spartan Early Corinthian" helmet as appealing, though other
people find it acceptable. Their swords look pretty
good, and the Horsehead falcata is quite nice, though I haven't seen
the
others up close and don't know how good the details are. Their
muscle
cuirass and bell cuirass are huge, not something you can wear and move
in. Their old #AH3987B "Greek Scaled Armor" linothorax is bad,
but their new #6125 "Alexander the Great Linen Cuirass" looks pretty
good. Their old #AH3721 "Greek shield" is
garbage, and their newer #6116 Athenian Shield seems to be too small
(haven't
seen a close report of it yet).
BEWARE: Many vendors offer Deepeeka's good stuff
and
bad without any distinction between them!
For a complete critique of
Deepeeka's
Greek products, email me at matthew_amt AT yahoo DOT com.
Deepeeka has a website at http://www.deepeeka.com,
but they only sell wholesale so no price information is
available.
Prices will vary from vendor to vendor. Deepeeka will not be able
to give you any more detailed information about the historical accuracy
of their products, either, since they only copy what someone shows them
or what they see in pictures. They don't understand authenticity
or reenacting!
Daniyal Steelcrafts
(DSC) is another Indian manufacturer, and their line of products is
expanding. Their prototype Greek shield is gorgeous! You
might be able to buy it through Imperium Ancient Armory in California, http://www.imperiumancientarmory.com/,
or Armamentaria in the UK, http://www.armamentaria.com/store/
I have given up on Museum Replicas and Windlass Steelcrafts. Nothing that they have is any better than the equivalent item from the above sources, and most of it is worse. They have demonstrated repeatedly that they have no knowledge or concern for historical accuracy in their pre-medieval products.
People often ask about the cast
bronze Greek helmets from Hellenic Art--Some
of these look decent, but I don't believe Greek helmets were ever
cast.
These helmets are simply too heavy to wear, plus they are finished with
an "antique" patina (green paint) rather than being polished, and some
of them are
not
very accurate in appearance. I have also heard a report of sloppy
workmanship. EXPENSIVE, too! But if you want...
For a long list of
suppliers of materials and equipment, see the Legio XX Suppliers page, http://www.larp.com/legioxx/supplrs.html.
The Greek Military section of the Roman
Army Talk
forum
http://www.romanarmytalk.com/rat/
--RAT discussion on Footwear, http://www.romanarmytalk.com/rat/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=5854
THE PHALANX Email
discussion list
http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~sparta/phalanx/
King Leonidas and the Spartans of Thermopylae
http://300spartanwarriors.com/
http://www.300spartanwarriors.blogspot.com/
The Greek Warriors--Hoplite unit in New York
http://www.thegreekwarriors.com/
Spartan & Amazon Warriors--Western Pennsylvania
http://www.spartanandamazonwarriors.com/
Alexander the Great Club, email discussion list
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/karnaketernal/
The Hoplite Association, UK--A hoplite reenactment group, and
they look good!
http://www.hoplites.org/
http://www.4hoplites.com/
--Includes more equipment guides, etc.
Sydney Ancients--Mark Kelly. Hoplites and other ancient
types,
Australia.
http://www.sydneyancients.5u.com/
Hoplite group, Germany
http://hetairoi.de/
Listing of Greek Festivals in the US--Need
some place to wear this stuff, right?
http://www.greek-fest.com
"Everything
Spartan, Lakonian, and Messenian"--Check out the
LINKS on this site!
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Aegean/7849/
Sparta: Her People, Her Culture, Her Legacy--by Kevin
Marshall
and Kevin Hendryx, still under construction but GREAT book list.
http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~sparta/
Ekdromos
http://cerberus.netfirms.com/Ed/ekdromos/index.htm
Greek Arms and Armor in the Shefton Museum, University of
Newcastle
http://www.ncl.ac.uk/shefton-museum/arms/armsindex.html
Ancient Greek Armour, Shields and Helmets--Great links and
photos, but beware of the links to equipment vendors!
http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/war/Armor2.htm
Hellenic Macedonia--Artifact Photo Gallery. Includes
Philip II's equipment and more.
http://www.macedonian-heritage.gr/HellenicMacedonia/en/gallery.html
Metropolitan Museum of Art--Muscled cuirass
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/gwar/ho_1992.180.3a.htm
Four interesting helmets
http://www.insecula.com/oeuvre/O0009458.html
Hermann Historica Munchen--Antiquities Auction house, browse
through for photos of helmets, armor, etc.
http://www.hermann-historica.de/gb/index.htm
"Lloydian Armour: Hoplite"
http://www.lloydianaspects.co.uk
"Der Salzherr von Hallstatt"--Reconstruction of a
Hallstatt-era
Warrior. GORGEOUS stuff!
http://www.hallstattzeit.de/
Slinging.org--Stone Age Ballistics--A number of great
articles
on slings and slinging, links, etc.
http://www.slinging.org
University of Pennsylvania Museum --Used to have a Virtual
Exhibit,
but it seems to be gone.
http://www.museum.upenn.edu/
The Twentieth Legion--see how I spend most of my time
and
energy
http://www.larp.com/legioxx/index.html
| Making a Hoplon | Linothorax R&D | Higgins Armory Helmets | The BRONZE AGE |
| Weapons | PHOTOS! | Bibliography |
THIS PAGE AND THIS AUTHOR
My vital statistics:
Matthew
Amt, Laurel, MD, email matthew_amt AT yahooo DOT
com . (Be sure to put something distinctive
in the
subject line, or your message may get deleted as spam!)
This is my first attempt at constructing my own site, and I am keeping
it simple so that it packs as much information as possible with the
fewest
distractions. It was constructed using Netscape Composer.
Modifications
will be made from time to time, and each section has the date of its
latest
update at the top.
I will not make Greek equipment
for you! I will not form or run a Greek unit! I will not
publish
a Greek hoplite newsletter! I have constructed this website to be
of some assistance to anyone dabbling in this era, and you may contact
me if you think you can wheedle more information out of me (oh,
probably).
And of course if you think you have something to add, by all means let
me know!
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