MATTHEW AMT'S

GREEK HOPLITE PAGE

For the reenactor, living historian, or reconstructionist with too much spare time and money

       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 mainly with reconstructing the hoplite of the Persian War era, 490-480 BC, which is the most popular with reenactors.  However I will also add some guidelines for earlier and later gear as well, e.g. 7th-6th centuries BC, Peloponnesian War (c.430-400 BC), and Hellenistic (Alexander and later).  I have noticed that many people collecting Greek equipment have no guidance beyond movies and the advertisements written by vendors, so this site will attempt to lay out some basic information and recommendations.  My research has hardly been exhaustive, but this should get you started.

       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 to found a whole new group.  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.

       New research and better examination of old research has changed some of our old beliefs.  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; various Osprey volumes; and AM Snodgrass' Arms and Armour of the Greeks

       Research and shopping are hard!  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, but with these guidelines you should be able to skip most of the research, and reduce the time and and danger of shopping.

       Oh, movies--yes, they are very inspirational for a lot of folks!  But I have not watched any of them, they just aren't my thing.  And as far as history goes, the rule of thumb is to assume that everything you see in a movie is WRONG, and go from there.  Movies are for fun, but go elsewhere for knowledge, eh?  Thanks!

ELSEWHERE ON THIS SITE:

Hoplite Home Page
Clothing Helmets Photos
Shield--Aspis/Hoplon Armor Weapons
Bibliography The BRONZE AGE



SUPPLIERS

Manning Imperial--Craig Sitch, Australia, http://www.manningimperial.com/.   One of our favorite custom armorers, making excellent shields, helmets, greaves, swords, and more.  Heck, just go to his site and browse the photos--THAT is what everything should look like!

Lonely Mountain Forge--Joe Piela, http://www.lonelymountain.hoplologia.org/ .  My friend 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 7 months but he meets his deadlines.

Imperium Ancient Armory--California.  http://www.imperiumancientarmory.com/.  Deepeeka gear and other sources, generally very good.  (Linothorax looks great but is obsolete glued linen--ask about leather or quilted linen?)

Kult of Athena--http://www.kultofathena.com.  Good reputation for service.  Deepeeka and Daniyal equipment (see below), plus their own versions of a few items.  Don't even look at the other brands.

By-the-Sword--http://www.by-the-sword.com.  Full line of Deepeeka gear (see below).  (Steer clear of the other brands!)

Armae--http://www.armae.com/.  France (click British flag for English).  Deepeeka and Daniyal gear, plus their own line which is mostly good. 

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).

"Wulf"--United Kingdom, wulf.lighting AT virgin DOT net, or sabre.wulf AT virgin DOT net.  Makes a very nice aspis (shield).  Not cheap!  He may be hard to get hold of (being very busy!), but this is the only contact information I have for him.

ASPIS/HOPLON BLANKS--Michael Broyles, mjbroyles AT yahoo DOT com.  Approximately $450 plus shipping.  Any covering or fittings would be extra.

Bronze Age Craft--Neil Burridge, UK.  http://www.bronze-age-swords.com/aegean_swords.htm (bottom of page)  Trilobate arrowheads in cast bronze!  Darken the sky with really good arrows!

Venetian Cat Greek Pottery-- http://venetiancat.com/Price-List2.html  If you want FABULOUS ceramics, Julia Passamonti is the lady to go to.

***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.   BEWARE: Most vendors offer Deepeeka's good stuff and bad without knowing the difference!  See the various pages on this site for what's usable.
       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 Greek shield is heavy, but gorgeous!  Available through Kult of Athena (http://www.kultofathena.com) or directly from Daniyal.  You might also 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/ 

       Avoid 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 reasonable in form, but they claim to be cast rather than correctly hammer forged.  Most are inaccurate in appearance, too heavy to wear, painted green rather than polished, and  EXPENSIVE!  Better for the shelf than the head.

       For a long list of suppliers of materials and equipment, see the Legio XX Suppliers page, http://www.larp.com/legioxx/supplrs.html.



LINKS

The Forum for Ancient Reenacting--A relatively new board, aimed at reenactors in North America
http://ancientreenacting.proboards.com/index.cgi 

Online Agora
http://www.hippeis.com/forum/index.php  

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/

The Warriors of Greece--Charlotte, North Carolina
http://www.thewarriorsofgreece.com/ 

Taxeis Plataia--The Plataians--Canada
A branch of Hoplologia
http://www.plataians.org/
http://www.hoplologia.org/

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  

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/

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

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

Hoplite Home Page
Clothing Helmets Photos
Shield--Aspis/Hoplon Armor Weapons
Bibliography The BRONZE AGE


THIS PAGE AND THIS AUTHOR

       This page last revised 2/27/13

       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!)   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!  But I'm really not likely to make equipment for you or run a group, sorry!

Copyright Matthew R. Amt, 2012.  Permission is granted to print, download , or copy information on this site for personal use, or for sharing freely with other interested persons, as long as due credit is given.  Permission is NOT given for commercial use or personal profit.  When in doubt, just ask!