Wars of the Classical and

Hellenistic Era

Alexander the
Great

https://www.greecehighdefinition.com/blog/2017/2/21/hoplit
es-greeks-at-war-full-animation
The major wars of the period

• I. THE PERSIAN WARS (500-479)

• II. THE PELOPONNESIAN WARS (431-403)
• III. THE HEGEMONIES OF SPARTA AND THEBES (403-360)
• IV. THE RISE OF MACEDONIA-PHILIP II (360-336)
• V. ALEXANDER THE GREAT (336-323)
• VI. THE WARS OF THE SUCCESSORS (323-301)
Warfare
• 900-525 The Emergence of Hoplite Warfare in the Greek World
• The Phalanx: a body of men in close order, standing shoulder to
shoulder, and closing on the enemy with the thrusting spear
• Phalanx is usually eight to twelve men deep
• They are called Hoplites
• The system is related to the new city-states where all the citizens
participate in the army equally
Phalanx
 Changes at the end of the 5th and early 4 th
century BC
• Phalanx becomes lighter and more flexible
• Why? 1. Experience from the Persian invasion which was using cavalry
and missile troops. 2. Peloponnesian wars, 3. Reforms of Iphicrates
based on his experience in Egypt
• The idea was to engage in hand-in-hand battle as soon as possible
Infantry units:
• Hoplite: heavy armored footman
• Peltast: light armored footman
• Continuous warfare brought into the scene the professional warrior
(the mercenary)
Cavalry Units

• Introduction of cavalry which became progressively more heavily

armed
• before they were used only as scouts and messengers,
• now they took active part in the battles.
• Xenophon’s treatise On Horsemanship gives info on the armor and
equipment both for the riders and the horses
Warfare of
Alexander
and his
successors
4th -3rd century BC (Hellenistic period-Macedonian
Armies)
Great changes:
• The Hoplite was replaced by infantry using a two-handed pike (SARISSA)
• The changes were initiated by the Thebans and then taken over by the
Macedonians
• The Macedonian Phalanx organized in groups of 256 men each, a total of some
20.000. The Phalanx was a formidable fighting machine
• Greater use of cavalry, either heavily armed (cataphract) or light
• Elephants and chariots
• Development of siege artillery

With Philip and Alexander the Great, their army conquered Persia and Egypt, and
reached India. Afterwards, a series of large scale wars among their successors
brought about Kingdoms ruled by Alexander’s generals.
The Macedonian Phalanx. Utterly successful until its disadvantages
were exploited by the Roman legions in the 2nd Century BCE
A Hoplite from Alexander's Army
Cavalry in battle and their spears (Xyston)
Elephants in battle https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlbVlRLtDE0
Elephant Sword
15th–17th century
Indian
Chariots
Medusa, an all-time war
symbol
 Arms and weapons of the Classical and
Hellenistic Era
• Preserved examples, in tombs or sanctuaries (dedicated after battles)
• Depictions on vases, statues, coins and monumental sculpture
• Few mentions in texts

https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ancient-art-civilizati
ons/greek-art/late-classical/v/alexander-sarcophagus
 HELMETS
Classical and Hellenistic
Many of
them were
dedicated to
Sanctuaries
(Olympia,
Delphoi)
either by
friends or
enemies…
 Helmets
• Authors tried to group them and recognize different types, usually named
after the city that used them: Chalcidian, Corinthian, Attic, Illyrian,
Boeotian, Thracian, Pilos
• The ‘usual’ questions:
Is it made of a single or multiple pieces?
Is it covering only the scull or the whole head?
Is it covering the ears and the cheeks?
Is it globular or conical?
Does it have Crest?
Is it decorated?
• Corinthian

• Chalcidian
Chalcidian Helmet An Italo-Attic helmet 
Attic Helmet
Corinthian Helmet Pilos Helmet Boeotian Helme
Thracian Helmet
 The Phrygian and Cone
helmets (400-100)
• The most common Hellenistic
helmets are called Phrygian
and Cone
• The Phrygian has crest, fore
guard and cheek pieces
separate from the cap
• Known both through actual
pieces and representations
Body Armor
 Bronze cuirass – Bell-shaped or Muscle
shaped

• Bell-shaped gradually abandoned

• The most affluent could afford
Muscle-shape
Hellenistic examples
The “Thracian Cuirass”, a version of the
muscle armor
Bronze cuirass, found in the Dalboki Tomb, near Stara Zagora, Bulgaria.
5th century B.C. Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford, UK
• Muscle shaped also made of iron
• Separate iron pieces to reinforce the
shoulders
• Much heavier than the bronze ones
• Wide in the hips to allow for horse-
riding
 The Cuirass of Philip II
• Found in his tomb
• Iron cuirass made of several
plates (like a corselet, see below)
• Padded with fabric on the
interior
• But, also it was covered with
fabric, so it looked like a linen or
leather corselet
• Decorated with gold stripes and
lion heads
Shoulder-piece Corselet
• Used from 525 onwards
• Made of Linen
• Could it be an Egyptian
import by Iphicrates?
• How was it made? Linen,
leather?
• Skirt of vertical strips
• Was it for footmen or
horsemen?
• Decorated or plain?
• How were they fastened?
• Advantages: cost, weight and
ease of movement
Composite Corselet: covered
with additional scales
• The form of scales varies considerably
 The Cataphracts
• A Hellenistic form
of body armor for
cavalryman,
covering the
whole body with
metal pieces,
stiched/attached
with various ways
• Eastern Origin
Chain Mail: from 300 BCE to the Middle
Ages

• Celtic armor as depicted in the frieze of

Pergamon
 Greaves
• Thin sheets of metal anatomically covering
the lower leg.
• Lining? Information only from the objects
themselves
• Luxury object destined for the most affluent
• They could be made of bronze or iron
• Also leather for the lower troops
• Perhaps metal greaves used by officers
Shields
 Circular
• The circular Shield the main
weapon of the footman
• It was called Oplon (means
weapon)
• The one carrying it was called
hoplite
• Wooden structure covered with
thin bronze sheet

«Όπλον»
Crescent-shaped shield
• Light structure
• Known as Pelta
• The one carrying it is a Peltast
• It could also be small and circular
• Made as the large circular ones
The shields of the
Macedonian armies
• Smaller and round,
covering the body when
using the Sarissa
• All uniformly decorated
to distinguish parts of
the army
• Usually geometric
patterns
 Spears and Swords
• Usually only the spear heads are
preserved
• The length and use of the spear was a
defining factor for ancient warfare
• The use of Sarissa by the Macedonians is
usually credited for their victories
• The form and length of the swords is
also another field of controversy
Machaira or Kopis
 Bows and Slings
• Archers were first used during the Peloponnesian wars
• Mercenaries either from Crete or Scythia
• Slings had a larger range of fire than the bows
• Bronze bullets cast and inscribed, ie the state was responsible for
providing supplies
 Artillery
• Used during the Hellenistic Period
• All the information is literary
• Military and engineer manuals describe the constructions, yet without
depictions
• Bolt-throwers and Stone-throwers
• Projectiles discovered in excavations
• Catapult was invented (or perfected) in 399 for Dionysios I of Syracuse.
• Used for offensive or defensive purposes.
• Demetrius the Besieger mounted them on a mobile tower
Catapult
Rams and
Tortoise
NAVY
Particularly developed
during the Hellenistic
Period
• All the information is
literary
• Historians describe huge
structures destined to
give massive naval
battles
• Equipped with towers,
they could carry large
numbers of soldiers,
ammunition and horses
• Triremes (ships with 3
rows of oars)