Page images
PDF
EPUB
[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

The

scarcely exceeded zoo. At the period of the Persian wars, on the other hand, the number of men who formed the phalanx had risen to 5,000, thus giving to this formation the weight and importance of a division of an army. Still later, in the wars of the Greeks with the Romans, the phalanx embodied an army 16,000 strong. But notwithstanding these very decided changes in the numerical force of this body, from first to last the Greek phalanx maintained unchanged the same tactics and the same manner of fighting. hoplites were formed sixteen deep; the soldiers in the same rank stood firmly pressed one against the other, helmets touching helmets, shields partly covering shields (as Homer tells, for already, in his early time, the idea of that close and deep battalion, the phalanx, had dawned upon the Greeks); and grasping their long spears (sarisses), they strove to resist and defeat the attacks of the enemy by compactness and cohesion. Later, when treating of the Roman legion, we shall see both the advantages and the disadvantages of this system of fighting very clearly set forth by a master of ancient military tactics, the historian Polybius.

For offensive weapons the Greek hoplite had the sword, and the spear, pike, or sarisse, of which latter mention has just been made. This last term "sarisse," is particularly applicable to the pike when it was in use in the Macedonian armies; but under whatever name it might have been known, this long pike, with some slight variation in its length, was always the same weapon. In the time of Polybius the length of the pike was twenty-one or twenty-four feet; so that in the phalanx formation the pikes of the front rank projected at least sixteen feet in advance of the line; while those of the second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth ranks severally projected about thirteen, ten, seven, four, and two feet; and so the head of each file presented to the enemy the points of six levelled pikes, each one of them about three feet in

advance of the next in the series.

Some examples of Greek

weapons are represented in the woodcut, Fig. 7.

The sword, long when compared with that of the Romans, but rather short than long if placed side by side with the swords of the middle ages, is pointed, double-edged, swelling with graceful curves in the middle of the blade, and nar

[blocks in formation]

2. A Javelin-head.

1. A Dagger. 3. A bronze Belt. 4 and 6. Lance-heads. 5. Arrow-heads. 7. Sword-scabbard. 8 and 9. Swords.

rower as the blade approaches the hilt. Thus, like the earlier weapon represented in Fig. 6, No. 1, it has some resemblance in its contour to the sage-leaf. It is fixed to the hilt by rivets passing through a long and strong spike. The scabbard, in form an attenuated oblong, constructed of metal and variously adorned, generally is guarded at its extremity with an enriched button or bouterolle.

The defensive equipment of the hoplite consisted of a leathern tunic (not a corslet or cuirass), a helm, shield, and greaves.

The shield was generally round, but occasionally oval Its exact dimensions are not known, for in the early monuments shields appear of very different sizes; none, however, are seen to cover the whole man from head to heel, like the Homeric shield of Hector. It is probable that the ancient shield, in consequence of its excessive weight, did not remain very long in fashion. Some Greek shields of the period now before us are seen to reach from the shoulder to the knee; and another, a more common type, is of still smaller dimensions, and covers but little more than the breast. The largest of these shields may be considered to have been borne by the hoplites, and to be the true battle-shield of all the Greek soldiers. The feature which is common to all these shields is the bold convexity of the external surface; and they also are alike in having their circle bounded at its circumference by a flat band or border: an example of such a shield as this is given in Fig. 16.23

In Greek monuments three distinct varieties of helms are depicted. One, which appears to date back from a remote antiquity, consists of a close-fitting cap, a lengthened neckguard, pendant guards for the face which are attached to the cap on each side by hinges to give free movement, and an elevated visor or frontlet of a triangular pediment-like form, which in reality is simply a decoration for the front of the helm. (See Fig. 8, Nos. 2 and 4.) The crest, with the panache or plume, appears under a great variety of forms; but the prevailing arrangement is for the prolonged crest to be carried from the visor to the neck-guard, and to be covered with a plume or tuft displayed like a fan. This gives that fine military aspect to the helm, with which all are familiar who have studied either the original ancient monuments, or

pictures and engravings which give faithful representations of them. (See Fig. 16.)

The second type of Greek helm may be described as a deep head-piece with a long projecting peak, visor, or "nasal," and at the back a deep neck-guard (garde-nuque); upon the peak or visor, the nose and eyes of a human

[graphic][graphic][merged small][graphic][graphic]

Fig. 8.-Nos. 2, 3, 4. GREEK HELMS. No. 1. A LYDIAN HELM.

There

face are indicated with more or less distinctness. seldom is any crest, but some examples are surmounted by the figure of a bird or animal, as the figure of an owl, a lion, a horse, &c. This is the well-known helm represented on figures of Minerva (Pallas Athené), to which we shall again advert when we come to treat of decorated armour.

The third variety, distinguished as the "Boeotian Helm," was preferred to all others by warriors-a preference easy to

be understood when we consider the characteristic qualities of the helm itself. It is a deep head-piece, with neck and cheek-guards (jugulaires), the whole being wrought into a simple solid mass, which would cover and effectually protect the wearer from the shoulders upwards, with the exception of the face only; and even here the nasal, seconded by the projection of the cheek-guards, would afford an almost perfect defence-a defence, indeed, nearly as perfect as was consistent with freedom for sight and breathing. This helm is shown in Fig. 8, No. 3. In front, this helm, from the arrangement of the nasal and of the cheek-guards,

[graphic][merged small]

has somewhat the appearance of the human countenance in its essential features of eyes and nose. It is the true military helm of the Greeks; and it may be assumed as certain that it was universally adopted, soon after its introduction, by all the élite of the Greek warriors, including the whole array of the hoplites. In Fig. 8, No. 1, an example of a Lydian helm is given.

24

The greaves (cnémides) at this period, instead of the pewter of the Homeric age, were made of bronze. They were fitted to the limbs, so that in consequence of their form, and aided by the elasticity of the metal, they were worn without requiring any clasp or other fastening. It appears also that his greaves were made specially to fit each warrior. are given in Fig. 9.

Examples

« PreviousContinue »