hoplite (hŏp`līt), heavy infantry infantry, body of soldiers who fight in an army on foot and are equipped with hand-carried weapons, in contradistinction originally to cavalry and other branches of an army.
..... Click the link for more information. soldier in the armies of classical Greece. Hoplites were usually protected by helmets, cuirasses, and leg armor. They carried large shields, javelins, heavy swords, and sometimes battle-axes and fought in the tightly organized phalanx phalanx, ancient Greek formation of infantry. The soldiers were arrayed in rows (8 or 16), with arms at the ready, making a solid block that could sweep bristling through the more dispersed ranks of the enemy.
..... Click the link for more information. formation. In classical Greece, hoplites were often citizens of city-states, who paid for their weaponry as a duty of citizenship. Among the most famous hoplites was Socrates Socrates (sŏk`rətēz), 469–399 B.C., Greek philosopher of Athens.
..... Click the link for more information. , who fought for Athens during the Peloponnesian War Peloponnesian War (pĕl`əpənē`zhən), 431–404 B.C.
..... Click the link for more information. .

hoplite

Heavily armed foot soldier of ancient Greece whose function was to fight in close formation. They probably first appeared in the late 8th century BC. They were equipped with new and heavier armour, including a metal helmet, breastplate, and shield; each had a sword and a 6-ft (2-m) spear for thrusting rather than throwing. From then on, battles were won not by individual champions but through the weight of massed hoplite phalanxes breaking through enemy ranks. Though the phalanx was unwieldy and the equipment cumbersome, Greek hoplites were the best fighters in the Mediterranean world.

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hoplite

hoplite