Greek shield The Greek shield of Ancient Greece was called a hoplon or aspis. It was from this word that hoplite (a Greek soldier) is derived.[1] A hoplon was a deeply-dished shield made of wood. Some shields had a thin sheet of bronze on the outer face. This was placed just around the rim. In some periods, the shield was decorated. At other times, it remained undecorated. These large shields were designed for a mass of hoplites to push forward into the opposing army, and it was their most essential equipment.[2] The shield was carried in the left hand. It was used by Spartans as a weapon of attack. Probably the most famous decoration is the Spartan. This was a capital lambda (Λ). From the late 5th century BC onward, Athenian hoplites usually used the Little Owl (Athena's sacred bird). The shields of Theban hoplites were sometimes decorated with a sphinx, or the club of Herakles. References - ↑ Fred Eugene Ray, Jr. (2011). Land battles in 5th century BC Greece: a history and analysis of 173 engagements. McFarland. p. 9. ISBN 978-0-7864-5260-6.

their javelins at will at the enemy and, unencumbered by armour or heavy shields, easily evade any counter-charges made by heavily equipped hoplites. The Macedonian army was the army of Macedon under the leadership of Philip II and Alexander the Great. Macedonian army became noted for its speed of movement and proficiency in combat as one of the most effective and successful armies in the ancient world during the Rise of Macedon under Philip II and the campaigns of Alexander. After gaining an ascendancy in Greece the army was instrumental in t From pictorial sources, it is probable that the Hypaspists, elite members of the infantry, including the Agema of the King's personal foot guard, employed a shield of larger dimensions, the traditional Greek hoplite shield often called the aspis (ἀσπίς), though this was a general term for any shield, it is more properly referred to as the 'Argive shield'. This shield, also circular, was larger than the phalangite shield, it had sheet-bronze facing over a wooden base; it was held with the left forearm passing through a central armband with a hand-grip set just inside the rim. This shield was much more convex than the phalangite shield and had a projecting rim, both features precluding its use with a double handed pike. The style of shield used by cavalry, if any, is less clear; the heavy cavalry of Alexander's time did not employ shields. Light infantry javelineers would have used a version of the pelte (Ancient Greek: πέλτη) shield, from whence their name, peltast, derived. This was a light shield made of leather-faced wicker. The shield was of Thracian origin and was originally crescent-shaped, however, by the time of Macedonian greatness many depictions of peltai show them as being oval or round.

Greaves were of pliant bronze fastened at the back above the ankle and below the knee. Shields were of the small round or oval type, adapted to the new conditions in which the bow and arrow had given place to hand-to-hand fighting. They were held by means of two handles (ὄχανα), the left hand being thrust through the first and grasping the second. In the 5th and 4th centuries the shield bore a device or initial representing the state and also the individual’s own crest. The hoplite’s pike, about 8 ft. long, unlike the Homeric weapon, was hardly ever thrown. In the Macedonian phalanx a pike (σάρισσα), certainly 18 ft., and perhaps later in the 3rd and and 2nd centuries even 24 ft. long, was introduced. The sword was straight, sharp-pointed, short, sometimes less than 20 in., and rarely more than 2 ft. long. It was double-edged and used for both cut and thrust. A less common type was the μάχαιρα or curved sabre used by the Spartans, with one sharp edge. The hoplite had no other offensive weapons. The cavalry were heavy-armed like the hoplites except that they carried a smaller shield, or, more usually, none at all. They were armed with a lance which they wielded freely (i.e.

Abstract Hoplites were heavily armed Greek infantrymen named after their equipment.