![]() ![]() Finally, a helmet ( 881002), usually a Corinthian style made of bronze, protected the head and completed the armor of a hoplite. A bronze breastplate, similar to our breastplate from The Eagle ( 888014), was worn as additional protection for the vital areas. Footwear was restricted to sandals ( 100958) and often times the feet of an enemy were sought after for a crippling blow. Bronze or leather greaves ( 881006, 200854) were worn to protect the lower legs as they were not covered by the shield. Legend says that a Spartan warrior was given his shield by his mother and instructed to “come back with it…or on it.” This meant come back in victory with your shield or dead and carried on it.Īs a shield covered a hoplite from the chin all the way to the knee, other armor was sparse. ![]() The shield was so important that the Spartans implemented a system where any Spartan warrior who lost his shield was severely punished and often killed. Because of this, the shield became a symbol of unity as each man both defended others and relied on others for defense. Worn on the left arm, it provided some protection for the owner while at the same time offering additional protection to the man to the left of the owner. Each shield was round and approximately 36” to 38” in diameter. This gave it incredible strength while at the same time not making it so heavy that it became unusable. The shield was made of overlapping planks of wood covered in leather, with the face of the shield covered completely in a thin sheet of bronze. Several figurines of Isis nursing Horus have been found at the site, indicating an association with Hera and Isis.A hoplite’s most important piece of equipment, and what gave the hoplite its name, is the hoplon, the shield ( 881004). The site has been documented by archaeologists who have established a chronology against which the full range of votive objects deposited at the Heraion from the 8th century onward can be compared. The Late Archaic Heraion of Samos was the first of the large free-standing Ionic temples, but its predecessors at this site reached back to the Geometric Period of the 8th century BC, or earlier. The Heraion of Samos was a large sanctuary to the goddess Hera, in the southern region of Samos, Greece. Their armor was made of full bronze, weighing nearly 32 kilograms. The heavily armored Hoplite armor passed down in families since it was expensive to manufacture. The rich upper-class hoplites typically had a bronze cuirass, which was a rigid metal cover for the torso, of either the bell or muscled variety, as in this statue.Īlso, a bronze helmet with cheek plates, as well as greaves or the legs and other body armor. The Greeks also employed the phalanx in the Second Greco-Persian War. The Persian archers who fought in the Battle of Marathon failed because their bows were too weak for their arrows to penetrate the wall of Greek shields that made up the phalanx formation. The formation proved successful in defeating the Persians when employed by the Athenians at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC. In the 8th or 7th century BC, Greek armies adopted a military innovation known as the phalanx formation. In the modern Hellenic Army, the word hoplite is used to refer to an infantryman. However, some states did maintain a small élite professional unit, known as the “chosen.” Hoplites were not professional soldiers and often lacked sufficient military training. The hoplites were primarily represented by free citizens who were able to afford the bronze armor suit and weapons. The phalanx formation discouraged the soldiers from acting alone, for this would compromise the formation. Hoplite soldiers utilized the phalanx formation to be effective in a war with fewer soldiers than the enemy. Hoplites were citizen-soldiers of Ancient Greek city-states who were primarily armed with spears and shields. It represents the hoplite warrior more often seen in bronze statuettes. ![]() Although it is incomplete, this life-size depiction of a fully armored warrior is unique in Archaic Greek sculpture. The pieces were reassembled and the gaps filled by museum conservators. It was found about 1914 at the Heraion of Samos, which was a large sanctuary to the goddess Hera, in the southern region of Samos, Greece. This torso of a Hoplite Warrior was restored from four large fragments. The stomach muscles are highly stylized, and two spirals mark the strong pectoral muscles on the chest. The type of armor shown was worn by Spartan foot soldiers and is carved to follow the warrior’s musculature. The figure could be Ares, the Greek god of war, or Apollo, or a legendary hero warrior who died in battle. As the only visible facial features, they define the warrior as a war machine. Peering out from between the closed cheekpieces of the Ionian helmet are two almond-shaped eyes. ![]()
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