Greek Military
HoplitesThe Hoplites were the heavily armed infantry soldiers of the Greeks. People think that the name "hoplite" comes from a Greek word "hoplon" for a specific shape of shield with a flat rim and two handles on the inside, was invented by 700 B.C. It was usually bronze-rimmed wood. By 425, the Spartan shield generally had a thin sheet of bronze over it. Its size depended on the length of the wearer's forearm.
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The PhalanxThe word phalanx is usually used to describe Greek armies. The first Greek author to use the word φαλαγξ is Homer, and in his poems it means something like an organized battle line. This is notable because in Homer's poems, warriors fight individual combats whereas the soldiers in a phalanx (the hoplites) fight as a group.
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The Battle of MarathonMarathon was in no sense a decisive victory over the Persians. But, it was the first time the Greeks had defeated the Persians on land. According to the Greek historian Herodotus, who was born in the year of the battle, an Athenian soldier named Pheidippides ran from Athens to Sparta to ask for help. This event was later turned into the popular legend that Pheidippides ran from Marathon to Athens.
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