What types of armies where in ancient greece?

Answer 1

Hoplites - These were soldiers who had a long spear, 8 to 12 feet long, used for a thrusting tactic. These made up the backbone of all Greek armies, many Hoplites were Greek citizens, who were free, who had decided to join the army. There were also mercenary Hoplites later when Alexander the great was conquering Asia Minor to defeat the Persians.

Macedonian Phalangites - The following type is a Macedonian hoplite. Philip of Macedonia changed the style of the hoplite to fit his own needs. Philip needed a cheap and easy way to get a Hoplite. He needed it to fight hand to hand like a Phalanx. And for it to be cheap and made up of peasants and maybe middle-class Macedonians. He had to pay for this personally, not like some other infantrymen who paid for their armor.

Ekdromoi - The northern Greeks developed a type of Hoplite which wore less armor called an Ekdromoi. However, at first these hoplites were not wide spread and the Greek military did not change that much. But at the end of the Persian war and the Peloponnesian war this type of hoplite became very wide spread. They would carry javelins and some would become mercenaries. These hoplites themselves started to change. They had lighter armor, wider shields, and more practical helmets.

Ifkratican Hoplite - After the Peloponnesian War drew to an end in 404 B.C. and Thebes' rise to power in 371 B.C. a few changes appeared and they were aimed at Greek hoplites. During this time a new type of hoplite appeared which was called the Ifkratican hoplite. The changes to hoplites these hoplites made were so radical that you could not recognize it as a normal hoplite after. The generals of these hoplites changed the outfit so they had more of an advantage when fighting a peltast. This hoplite had superior weapons and armor, but he was slower on the battlefield due to this. So the leaders changed the design so they were not so slow.

Theban Sacred Band - This was a group of picked individuals, about 150. They were picked to form an elite army in the 4th century BC. They were a crucial role when the Greeks had to fight a Macedonian invasion. They were organized by the Theban commander Gorgidas. But they were annihilated in 338 BC by Philip II of Macedonia.

Spartan Hoplites - The Spartan hoplites were recognized more than any other hoplite. The Spartan hoplites had years of training to become the perfect soldiers. Spartan hoplites are recognized for their invention of the Phalanx formation, a deadly formation to kill many enemy soldiers. The Spartans once had to fight an entire army of Persians with only 300 soldiers. The Spartans were able to defend for a number of days. The Spartans were able to deflect Persian arrows with their shields. The Persians claimed to have so many arrows they could block out the sun. The Spartans did not fear dying, dying was actually the greatest honor for a Spartan.

The Spartans wore a red cloak, and the Spartan symbol on their hoplon (shield), they had a helmet and it was common for a Spartan to have long hair. The Spartans had some of the greatest willpower and equipment.

Athenian Hoplite - These would carry a shield with a crest on it representing a clan, or tribe etc. They would carry a long spear, 2 to 3 meters long with a leaf shaped iron blade and a pointed iron butt. Their sword would be about 60cm in length and would be double edged, also leaf shaped. They would have a helmet of Corinthian type, the face would be enclosed by large cheek and nose guards. They would have a dyed horse hair strip on their helmet.

They would sometimes wear greaves, these would be bronze and would protect the shin, they would be flexible enough to clip on and off. They would have a shield, between 80 cm and 1 meter in diameter. It would have a wooden core and a leather lining, also a hand grip. The Athenian army was a city-militia in which every fit man was obliged to serve. About a third of the Athenian army were farmers. You were ranked upon your wealth in this army. Some of the soldiers were rich enough to afford proper equipment for the army. The armor was expensive, so it was passed down the family line of soldiers and only replaced when necessary.

Militia - These were people who could join the army at any stage and were part time units. Most of the Spartan army was made up of these part time soldiers who simply grabbed a weapon to fight the enemy at anytime. These could be from slaves to citizens. They were very cheap and easy to get.

Hoplite Phalanx - These were elite Hoplites who carried the normal shields and spears of the hoplite. However, the Hoplites in this elite group could attack the enemy in the Phalanx formation, this was deadly to all melee units. The Phalanx wore more and elite armor than the Hoplites. Deadly groups of the Phalanx such as the Theban sacred band were dreaded among cavalry.

Toxetes - These were archers. These archers were simple archers, just like any other archers. The archers would be good at fighting other footmen such as the Hoplites. And the Toxetes were the main archers in the Greek army.

Gastraphetes - These were ranged units armed with a crossbow. They were extremely good at attacking units from a distance and could be used to attack buildings, like a mini siege engine. Their crossbow was very powerful. This type of unit was good at attacking infantry.

Peltasts- These were men who threw javelins to counteract enemy archers such as the toxetes. They were not good at fighting anything else but other archers. The Peltasts were effective against ranged units. Peltasts were lightly armored soldiers who had no armor except for their helmet. Their main job was to protect the flanks of the Hoplites. They would usually have about 7 javelins to throw. They were also armed with a long spear. They would carry an oval shaped shield as well.

Skirmishers - These were people who either had slings, arrows or javelins. The skirmishers were like archers. The skirmishers were very light infantry who had no armor. They were very quick around the battlefield. Skirmishers could be people too poor to afford proper armor.

Psiloi - These were missile troops who had no armor. They were equipped with a bow, a sling, or a javelin.The Psiloi rarely carried shields. Psiloi fought in an extended open order.Their job on the battlefield was to skirmish with the enemy ahead of the main clash. Psiloi were citizens just like the Hoplites, though they were two poor to afford a normal shield.

Myrmidon - These were infantrymen similar to the Hoplite, though they were armed with a sword and shield. This was an elite unit that was heavily armored. Unlike most Greek soldiers, it depends where you went in Greece to see this soldier or not. It is a melee unit good against cavalry.

Prodromos - This was a Greek soldier good at killing other Greek cavalry. It was quick and was armed with a spear to reach out and lunge at the enemy. This is yet another example of a counter-unit.

Kataskopos - This is the name given to scouts. The Greeks called the Roman scouts Kataskopos before the Roman conquest. This cavalry was lightly armed and was a poor fighter as it had no weapons or armor. But it was quick and could easily get messages and scout around a lot during a battle. This type of unit was not intended to be used in battle.

Cataphract - Not widely used until much much later. The Seleucid Empire was a faction in these times that had Cataphracts. A cataphract was a heavily armed horseman that was dreaded. The horse, and man would be armed. They would carry a shield and a lance. They could completely turn the tide of a battle for the losing side. They were dreaded and the impact they made could make enemies run to the hills.

Hetairoi - This is a type of Greek cavalry that was also used for scouting, it was fast, yet had armor. These were said to have been the cavalry of Poseidon, the god of the sea. These cavalry are seen mainly to be a normal cavalry unit like the Hippikon.

Hippikon - This was a Greek cavalry soldier. It was armed with a shield and a sword. It was the main cavalry in the Greek army. The Hippikons did not come into the Greek army until a lot later as the Greek cavalry before the Hippikons came was made up of mainly the Kataskopos.

Hamippos - Like the Kataskopos, these were men who were lightly armed. But this type was intended to battle. It was a unit that was good at attacking other enemy cavalry. These were infantry armed with a simple sword that were good at quickly chasing enemy cavalry and maybe catching them off guard.

Petrobolos - This was Greek catapult good for attacking enemy cities. It was designed like a mangonel and was good at hurling rocks at the enemy city. These were rarely used in battles, they were only used when attacking an enemy city.

Helepolis - This was the Greek version of the siege tower. This was designed to carry men and to hurl ballistic missiles at the enemy city. It had spikes at the bottom to stop enemies from creeping inside. The most famous use of this would be during the Trojan war when a Helepolis type siege weapon was built to get inside Troy.

The soldiers wore breastplates, a bronze helmet, and greaves to protect their shins. Their shields would be packed away until they were needed. The Greeks invented lots of counters to their own infantry as the Greeks were divided into many cities. There was no country known as 'Greece' in ancient times. The Greek cities would fight among each other.

But the Greeks would sometimes gang up on Another Country, as seen when Macedonia tried to invade Greece, and the same case with Persia. The Greeks, when fighting, would need counters to their own units as many of the Greeks had the same types of soldiers, because during the Bronze age the whole of Greece was under one kingdom.

The Greek army would consist of mainly citizens who wanted to fight, sometimes people would be forced into the army. The wide range of Greek soldiers was effective against neighboring factions, but was easily overcome by the Romans during their conquest of Greece.

Answer 2

The core of the army comprised hoplites (armoured infantry). They had a small cavalry force to protect the flanks, augmented by Scythian horse-archer slaves. They also had a substantial supporting light infantry (raised from their non-propertied class, armed with bows and javelins).

Answer 3

There were several types of fighters in the Roman army. First of all they were all trained in the basic infantry maneuvers. From there some were assigned to the artillery where they manned the various siege engines and catapults. There were archers and slingers who were auxiliaries and there was always a cavalry unit with each legion.

Answer 4

Hoplite is probably the word you are looking for - the heavy armoured infantry.

Answer 5

Their armoured infantry were hoplites. Their light infantry were peltasts. Their cavalry were hippeis.

Answer 6

Ancient Greek hoplite warriors perfected intense infantry tactics, and were able to withstand superior forces such as the Persians.

Answer 7

Hoplites