Men of Bronze ii In 2007, a Greek helmet of gilded bronze was recovered from Haifa Bay, Israel, during commer- cial dredging operations. Following conservation by the Israel Antiquities Authority, the helmet emerged as a remarkable example of the type of closed “Corinthian” helmet traditionally associ- ated with Greek hoplites. The helmet had been shaped by a master craftsman from a lost- wax bronze casting less than 2 mm thick, with a riveted nose guard 11 mm thick to provide extra pro- tection to the warrior’s face. A glittering coat of gilding covered the exterior, some of which still remains to testify to the wealth and elite status of the helmet’s original owner. Rich decoration had been applied with chasing hammers and punches: two snakes curling above the eye- holes; a palmette or peacock’s tail on the forehead; and heraldic lions on the cheek- pieces. Such elaborate decoration is rare on Corinthian helmets, though more common in the Archaic period than in the fifth and fourth centuries BC. This spectacular piece of early Greek metalworking is now on dis- play at Israel’s National Maritime Museum in Haifa, which overlooks the waters where the helmet lay hidden for some 2600 years. Photo by Warhaftig Venezian Photographers for the Maritime Museum of Haifa. Text description courtesy of Israel Antiquities Authority and Jacob Sharvit. Men of Bronze Hoplite Warfare in Ancient Greece Edited by Donald Kagan and Gregory F. Viggiano Princeton University Press Princeton and Oxford Copyright © 2013 by Princeton University Press Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street, Princeton, New Jersey 08540 In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press, 6 Oxford Street, Woodstock, Oxfordshire ox20 1tw press.princeton.edu Jacket Photograph: Haifa Bay helmet. Photo by Warhaftig Venezian Photographers for the Maritime Museum of Haifa. Courtesy of Israel Antiquities Authority and Jacob Sharvit. All Rights Reserved Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Men of bronze : hoplite warfare in ancient Greece / edited by Donald Kagan and Gregory F. Viggiano. pages cm “The papers published in this volume resulted from a conference on early Greek hoplite warfare held at Yale University in April 2008.” Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-691-14301-9 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Military art and science—Greece—History— To 1500—Congresses. 2. Soldiers—Greece—History—To 1500—Congresses. 3. Greece—History, Military—To 146 B.C.—Congresses. 4. Weapons, Ancient—Greece—Congresses. 5. Armor, Ancient— Greece—Congresses. I. Kagan, Donald, author, editor of compilation. II. Viggiano, Gregory, author, editor of compilation. U33.M46 2013 355.4'738—dc23 2012047892 British Library Cataloging- in- Publication Data is available This book has been composed in Garamond Premier Pro Printed on acid- free paper. ∞ Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Contents List of Figures vii Preface ix Donald Kagan and Gregory F. Viggiano Introduction xi Donald Kagan and Gregory F. Viggiano Chapter 1 The Hoplite Debate 1 Donald Kagan and Gregory F. Viggiano Chapter 2 The Arms, Armor, and Iconography of Early Greek Hoplite Warfare 57 Gregory F. Viggiano and Hans van Wees Chapter 3 Hoplitai/Politai: Refighting Ancient Battles 74 Paul Cartledge Chapter 4 Setting the Frame Chronologically 85 Anthony Snodgrass Chapter 5 Early Greek Infantry Fighting in a Mediterranean Context 95 Kurt A. Raaflaub Chapter 6 The Hoplite Revolution and the Rise of the Polis 112 Gregory F. Viggiano Chapter 7 Hoplite Hell: How Hoplites Fought 134 Peter Krentz vi Contents Chapter 8 Large Weapons, Small Greeks: The Practical Limitations of Hoplite Weapons and Equipment 157 Adam Schwartz Chapter 9 Not Patriots, Not Farmers, Not Amateurs: Greek Soldiers of Fortune and the Origins of Hoplite Warfare 176 John R. Hale Chapter 10 Can We See the “Hoplite Revolution” on the Ground? Archaeological Landscapes, Material Culture, and Social Status in Early Greece 194 Lin Foxhall Chapter 11 Farmers and Hoplites: Models of Historical Development 222 Hans van Wees Chapter 12 The Hoplite Narrative 256 Victor Davis Hanson List of Contributors 277 Index 279 List of Figures Frontis Hoplite helmet ii Figure f- 1 Map of Ancient Greece xxiv–xxv Figure 2- 1 Rhodian plate, c. 600 BC 58 Figure 2- 2 Line drawings illustrating the use of the hoplite shield 60–61 Figure 2- 3 Classical hoplite equipment, Attic tombstone, late fifth century BC 62 Figure 2- 4 Protocorinthian aryballos from Lechaion, c. 690 BC 63 Figure 2- 5 Protocorinthian aryballos from Perachora, c. 675 BC 64 Figure 2- 6 Battle frieze from the Berlin aryballos, Middle Protocorinthian aryballos, c. 650 BC 65 Figure 2- 7 Battle frieze from the Macmillan aryballos, Middle Protocorinthian, c. 650 BC 66 Figure 2- 8 Chigi vase, Middle Protocorinthian olpe from Veii, c. 640 BC 67 Figure 2- 9 Alabastron from Corinth, c. 625 BC 69 Figure 2- 10 Middle Corinthian krater, c. 600– 575 BC 69 Figure 2- 11 Battle in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea 71 Figure 9- 1 Amathus bowl 183 Figure 10- 1 Keos Survey: numbers of sherds that can be dated to a single century 198 Figure 10- 2 Thespiai, southern approaches, Geometric- Archaic sites 203 Figure 10- 3 Thespiai, southern approaches, Classical- Hellenistic sites 205 Figure 10- 4 Keos Survey, Protogeometric- Geometric sites 206 Figure 10- 5 Keos Survey, Archaic- Classical sites 206 Figure 10- 6 Methana, Early Iron Age and Archaic sites 208–9 Figure 10- 7 Methana, Classical sites 210 Figure 10- 8 Berbati- Limnes Survey, Geometric- Archaic find spots 211 Figure 10- 9 Berbati- Limnes Survey, Classical- Hellenistic find spots 213 vii Preface Donald Kagan and Gregory F. Viggiano The papers published in this volume resulted from a conference on early Greek hoplite warfare held at Yale University in April 2008. The idea for the conference grew out of a spirited debate that took place following a panel presentation at the American Philo- logical Association’s annual meeting at San Diego in January 2007, “New Perspectives on Ancient Warfare.” From the audience, Gregory Viggiano argued in favor of the the- ses of Victor Davis Hanson’s The Western Way of War and The Other Greeks against the positions of Peter Krentz and Hans van Wees. These scholars later agreed to continue the debate in a formal setting. Viggiano then discussed with Donald Kagan the unique possibility of having the world’s leading scholars on the subject air out their differences face- to- face at Yale. Further discussions with Paul Cartledge helped bring about the Yale conference. The conference panels debated a variety of issues surrounding the hoplite orthodoxy and the attempts to revise it: (1) questions concerning the origins of the tactics and weapons employed by the Greek hoplite (heavily- armed infantryman), fighting in massed formation on behalf of his autonomous city- state (polis); (2) ques- tions about the political, economic, and social significance of the new mode of fight- ing; and (3) questions regarding the impact hoplite warfare had on Greek culture in general. All these issues have in recent years been at the center of one of the liveliest and most important controversies in the fields of classical studies, ancient political history, and ancient military history. We want to thank everyone who contributed to the success of the Yale conference, which was held at the Hall of Graduate Studies on the Yale campus. Our first concern in putting together an international workshop was making sure that the scholars would be willing to come and debate, so we are grateful to all the participants for sharing our enthusiasm for the idea. We were very fortunate to have Susan Hennigan’s superb as- sistance in arranging the travel and stays of the participants, and in taking care of all the logistics (meals, programs, audiovisual equipment, etc.) for the event. One scholar remarked that everyone got along so well because there was so much good food to eat. The panel sessions were well attended by faculty, undergraduate and graduate students from Yale, as well as faculty from Sacred Heart University, especially the Department of History. A number of scholars and graduate students from universities as far away as ix