How Greeks REALLY fought | Greek Archaic Battle Tactics

There was a time when ancient Greeks dominated the battlefields of the eastern Mediterranean. The backbone of their armies were Greek hoplites, heavily armored infantrymen wielding spears and round shields. Their legendary victories were studied for centuries, but the very nature of how they actually performed combat on a close scale is often left out and misunderstood. It is generally accepted that they stood in straight lines, interlocked their shields, and pushed the enemy back with the weight of their numbers. But as this video goes on, we will actually drift far from this incorrect model, and answer million-dollar questions like how much space was kept between ranks, how likely men in the front were to survive, how long battles lasted, and many more. When we covered this topic for the ancient Romans, we chose to only focus on the period between the late Republic and early Empire, because ancient Rome spanned for centuries with constantly changing armor, weaponry, and therefore combat style. Well, the same is true for the ancient Greeks, so in this video we decided to only cover the period known as Archaic Greece, spanning from 700 to 480 BC. This is the time of the glory days, when hoplites carried the largest shields and wore the most armor, winning legendary battles like Marathon, Thermopylae, and Plataea. So without further ado, let's jump right in. From his book, historian Hansen wrote that hoplite warfare in this period was a static match between men in the heaviest of armor, and void of supporting cavalry and light infantry. Most wars took only about an hour of battle. This theory of battles involving hoplites standing shoulder to shoulder and back to shield is known as a thysmos. It spawned from the idea that hoplites of this age had very little mobility due to their super heavy armor, estimated by 19th century scholars to be 36kg in total, heavier than most medieval knights. This was then simply accepted as a fact and popularized by other scholars ever since. The theory explains that victory was achieved by pushing into the backs of those in front to drive back and rout the enemy, just like in a modern rugby match. The truth is that the word a thysmos really just means the state of being pushed, and was only mentioned three times in ancient sources. What's more is a thysmos could really have been used figuratively, as Herodotus used it to describe the Greeks pushing back Xerxes' invasion as a whole. This all makes it quite surprising how an entire system of fighting was derived from one word being taken literally. But let's also analyze the weight of Greek equipment. In the movie 300 we saw the Spartans wielding heavy bronze shields, but in reality the aspis shields would be made entirely from sheets of wood, which were only sometimes covered with a thin sheet of bronze. Remains of aspis shields were found to be made from poplar and willow, very soft and low density woods, which upon impact would actually bend rather than split. Modern reconstructions of this shield weigh only about 7.3kg, and if they aren't coated with a sheet of bronze, and most of them wouldn't be, the weight would be just 5.4kg. This is much lighter than the 9 plus kilograms which was originally assumed. Likewise, modern reconstructions of found Greek equipment concluded that a fully equipped hoplite would only carry 18-22kg of equipment, and during the Persian wars of the late archaic period, this weight would be even more reduced, as arm protection was mostly abandoned, and most breastplates would be largely replaced by leather and linen ones, while some hoplites went to battle without greaves. What we can tell from all this is that hoplites had a lot more mobility than was originally thought, and just standing around and shoving wasn't the most effective way of fighting. Now let's talk about the spacing of men within a phalanx. Each Greek army would be likely divided into blocks of infantry units, just like other armies, to better maneuver on the battlefield and react to the enemy in front. In this period, each block would be about 3-4 ranks deep, which is not very dense at all. Each unit would be very similar to a warband in that every hoplite was equipped in whatever they could afford or win as spoils on the battlefield. The place of honor was to stand in the front line and be what they called a promakos, or forefront fighter. The price of this honor was that they would have to shield the more poorly equipped men behind them from enemy missiles. If at any time this became too difficult to bear, they could move back through the unit. Many scholars used to believe that the shape and handling of the Greek aspis better protects the left side of a soldier than the right, and cite Thiccydides' comment that each soldier, out of fear, would get his unprotected side closer to his comrade to the right, making the aspis shield only suitable in tight, close order formations. While it is true that the shield protects more of a soldier's left, as does any shield carried in the left hand, hoplites would hold theirs at an angle, which provides a more natural and comfortable stance. Moreover, it allows better deflection of any incoming jabs and missiles, which could otherwise penetrate the shield if it was held perpendicular. Another argument for tight formations was a suggestion for the use of the inner rope seen attached on the inside of the Greek aspis, as depicted on vases. It was speculated that each hoplite would not only grab his own handle, but also the rope of the man on his right, creating a chain of interlocked shields. It was demonstrated to work very well with two reenactors, but it really isn't necessary. It's also very hard to imagine this working for an entire front line in the chaos of battle, when sections would be pushed back while others pushed forward. The hoplites would have to detach fairly quickly to gain mobility and better deal with the specific situation in front of them. If the ropes were indeed used in this way, I think it was just to maintain straight ranks during marching and setting up for battle, but again it's not very necessary. Far more likely in this period, each hoplite had a space of 70 to 90 centimeters, or about 3 feet, to maneuver, though this was not standardized. Some would bunch up while others would fan out, and this would all vary as the battle went on. To me this makes perfect sense. If you imagine yourself in the middle of the unit, you would require some space to move and breathe without feeling trapped with no escape in a claustrophobic environment. In later periods after fighting the Persians, hoplites would actually adapt to fight in much denser formations, specifically to counter the heavy missile fire of the Persians. But let's leave the classical period for another video. During the Archaic, 3 feet was the most comfortable for optimal performance, not too spacious to feel unprotected, while not too dense to hinder movement. This gave the Greeks a lot of mobility, as witnessed by the Persians at the Battle of Plataea, where we were told the Spartan hoplites fought like cavalry, performing organized false retreats, only to suddenly turn around and kill many pursuing Persians who broke formation. Recreating ancient combat is a big passion of mine, but when it comes to modern vehicle combat, no game comes close to War Thunder, the most comprehensive vehicle combat game ever made, which lets you play as more than two and a half thousand tanks, planes, helicopters, and ships of ten major nations, ranging from biplanes and armored cars of the 1920s to fighter jets and battle tanks of today. I would recommend this game just for the fact that every vehicle has the most sophisticated hitboxes modeled down to their individual components, which allow you to not only heavily customize your own vehicles, but also disable the enemy's engines, fuel tanks, weapons, or crew. So immerse yourself in the authentic sound effects, graphics, and intense PvP battles with a worldwide community of over 70 million players. War Thunder can be played for free on PC, PlayStation, or Xbox, so click the link in the description to get a massive bonus pack which includes premium vehicles, an exclusive decorator, and much more, available only for a limited time. Before engaging the enemy in battle, it was customary for Greek generals to perform the Sphagia, a pre-battle sacrifice to the gods of the underworld. Then, unlike the Romans, whose generals safely rode behind the battle line on horseback, Greek generals would stand anywhere within the army, typically on the right flank, and sometimes even in the front lines with their elite bodyguards. To test the readiness of the front line before combat, Greek generals were known to utter a word to the man on their side. The word would then be passed from man to man until it reached the furthest commander on the other side of the battle line, who would then utter back another word as a sign of receival. When that word came back and was uttered to the general, he knew his men were focused and ready to fight. Then, under the sound of music, some armies would start to sing or dance, which gave them a sense of confidence, unity, and patriotism. Others, like the Spartans, would march towards the enemy under their music and silence. As units approached each other, at least one side would always lose heart and slow down before contact, either to throw missiles or utter insults, so the battle line would not engage all at once. And if any brave men kept up their speed, they would find themselves too few in number to clash into the enemy, and would have to slow down and rejoin their comrades. Polybius writes that any obstacles, like bushes or ditches, were enough to disrupt the formation, which is yet another advantage for keeping some space between each man. When the time was right, a charge was ordered, and some Greek armies would pick up the pace while screaming war cries. In this phase, they would start to lose their formation, kind of like what we saw in the movie Troy when the Greeks charged the Trojans, but almost never would two armies just slam into each other's shields, committing mindless suicide. As a general rule, soldiers wouldn't do anything unless they were sure they would survive, and in this case it was to stop just out of reach of the enemy's spears, and engage in careful combat to test the enemy. Now would be a great time to touch on the legendary debate of how Hoplites held their spears. Was it with an underhand or overhand grip? Both are depicted on vases, but which one really was it? From what I gather from scholars and reenactors, the underhand grip is less tiring for longer periods of time and more intuitive for one-on-one combat, but requires more space to be used effectively so as to not stab the man behind with the rear tip of the spear. The overhand position, however, is better suited for close order formation, and can easily be used to attack enemies on the left and right without needing much space to maneuver. Also, at this time, each Hoplite carried two spears which were both well-suited for throwing, and with the overhand grip, the enemy would never know if the next attack would be jabbed or thrown. And with some practice, you can actually throw the spear and catch its end before it leaves the hand to pull it back, which allows for even greater range. With these points considered, it's almost certain that the overhand grip was more prevalent, though both grips would be used depending on the situation. In tight formation, the overhand grip is more effective, but when in a duel or fighting cavalry, the underhand grip seems deadlier, with the jabs coming from below. Not to mention it only takes a slight movement of the hand to switch grips, and I don't think anyone can argue that across centuries no Hoplite ever switched grips in battle. So now let's jump into the more exciting topic of what Hoplite combat really looked like. The only two instances where we can really visualize something similar is in the movement of riot police and reenactors. Now it's important not to take either as the absolute truth, as the former don't use greek style spears and shields, and while reenactors do, they obviously don't fight to hurt each other, let alone kill. When someone is wielding greek equipment and trying to kill the enemy while trying not to die, a different reality from both of these will be observed, because human actions change when you factor in the fear of death, which kicks in sooner or later for everyone, no matter how fearless they were before battle. With these limits addressed, there still is a lot we can learn from these two areas. Riot police, for example, often operate in a very dynamic manner. The danish riot police, for example, use a front line of armored policemen holding two-handed plexiglass shields to create a tight defensive screen. But when they need to go on the offensive, they open up their ranks and allow policemen with smaller shields to rush forward and engage rioters who got too close. Their smaller shields and little to no armor gives them crucial mobility to effectively fight one-on-one before retreating back behind the shield wall, and we have plenty of evidence for light infantry being used in greek battles. Although in this period they were only missile units, either archers, javelin men, or stone throwers, they would have operated in a similar way, being thus added to the ranks of the hoplites and bolstering the size of each unit. As for reenactors like Paul Bardunias, they prove that formations that are too loose, like having three feet between each hoplite, as proposed by Hans van Wees and other scholars, simply don't work. This is because a looser formation will be significantly disadvantaged because of the amount of spears each hoplite would have to face. Moreover, those in the back would naturally want to move forward to help the front rankers fight the enemy, which can be easily done because the spear doesn't require as much space as a sword does to be used effectively. Also, forming a shield wall provides better protection from missiles and is quite easy and intuitive even for inexperienced people to form on the first try. So both riot police and reenactors proved that these formations didn't necessarily have to be too loose, too tight, or made up of only hoplites. On the contrary, they could still be very effective in dynamic formations with light infantry, who depending on the situation could provide a This would give the units a perfect balance between defensive and offensive capabilities. Now this quote from Tyrtaeus, a spartan poet, makes perfect sense. As the battle started, the front lines of both armies would stop just out of reach of each other's spears and would each jab the enemy when they needed to. The most common targets were the face, neck, chest, and legs. Any dead or wounded would be quickly removed and replaced through the spacious formation. After exhaustive fighting, some units of both armies would back off to catch their breath while still exchanging insults and spears. The light infantry would at times move in front of the hoplites to launch arrows, javelins, and stones. When some officers or brave soldiers regained their confidence or were enraged at the taunting enemy ahead, they would rally groups of men around them to initiate a charge. In this way, combat would be broken and resumed at various times across the battlefield depending on each unit's individual skill, bravery, or success against the enemy. During extensive fighting, some spears would be broken and hoplites would have to switch to their swords and engage closer with the enemy. If any physical pushing did occur, it was here, as those behind the promokoi moved in to support them. If any unit lost hope, it would be the men from the back that would begin to rout, which would greatly demotivate those around them. Upon seeing this, the winning side would normally press on their advantage with a surge of confidence, which would in turn cause their enemy even more fear and panic. This cycle would eventually climax in a full rout, with all units pouring into the breach to capitalize on the success. At this stage, the swift light infantry and cavalry would be the deadliest at running down and slaughtering the enemy as they ran, and it's during routes like these that units suffer the most casualties, and if they can't contain it, the entire army could share the same fate. A special thanks to Paul Bardunias for helping us break down the fascinating topic of Greek warfare. I have uploaded some very interesting parts of our discussion on our channel's Patreon, so consider signing up and helping us create more videos for you. Don't forget to support us by trying out War Thunder through the link in the description. All new and returning players that haven't played in six months will receive a bonus pack which includes a vehicle decorator, 100,000 silver lions, and 7 days of premium account. Hurry up and claim it because it's only available for a limited time. Make sure you're subscribed and have the bell notifications turned on, because we plan on covering combat in the Classical Greek and Late Roman periods as well. I hope to see you in the next one.