The Phalanx, the Spear, and the concept of Unlimited War
Classical Greece
Time Frame – approx. 500 to 300 BC
Politics/Economics – Unique for this area of the world at this time, and for reasons still unclear, the various city-states of the southern Balkan Peninsula reformed their society from the chieftain/king led tribes of its own past to a form of democratically led republics. The victory of the combined city-states against the more powerful Persian Empire led to a robust growth in trade with other countries, fueled by an unchallenged control of the Aegean Sea. With the subsequent increase in the standard of living came an astounding development in science, mathematics, art, music, philosophy – all unprecedented in that these were individual pursuits, not serving a powerful king and without serving a specific religious end.
The source of the famous myths and legends, however, come from even before the far earlier “Greek dark ages” – before 1200 B.C., a period of time in which even written language in the peninsula came to disappear altogether. The stories of the Iliad, Odyssey, the panoply of heroes and demigods converted to constellations survived only because of a strong oral tradition that survived the annihilation of the Minoan/Mycenaean civilizations. Of this earlier intermediate period we know next to nothing. [That they were technically savvy is proved by bronzework in armor and weapons that was not reproduced in classical Greece – or even today.] By the time the stories of Troy, etc., were written down, they were likely highly influenced by the intervening 700 years of progress.
Fashion/Manners – Although hardly forming a “leisure class”, the average citizen could enjoy exhibitions of and even participate in what would now be called the liberal arts. The explosion of individual artistic, physical, and mental pursuits was matched by an attempt to elevate daily life, at least for landed citizens, and add a level of elegance and grace not seen in neighboring cultures. The tightly sewn garments of an earlier time gave way to loose raiment that flowed around the body, and for some activities, even this was too constricting, nudity being preferred. From the extant artwork, we can surmise that posture and movement showed pride without arrogance, striving for an elegance not unlike that of modern dancers, but without any of the self-consciousness.
Civilian Conflict – There is no reason to believe (and no evidence exists) that Greeks, even in Sparta, wore even so much as a small knife except when traveling outside of their own state. Most men might have had some training in boxing and wrestling, but outside of the Olympian competitors, these were mere athletic exercises, not serious contests. One can surmise that most disputes which turned physical would not involve the use of a weapon.
That is not to say that violence was any less common than it is today, but that the weapons used would probably be items found near at hand.
Warfare – It is no exaggeration to say that the Greeks invented the concept of modern warfare. By that I mean that they would bring their forces to bear with the intent of winning by committing their entire assembled army to inflict the maximum number of casualties on the other side. Most of the Greek city-states depended on raising armies of heavy infantry composed of citizen/farmer-soldiers, arranged in thick lines [the phalanx] for fighting in the field. Armed with pikes, the masses of men would form a bristle-hedge of spear points which could clash and push back the opposing force. Since the assembled soldiers were only part-time warriors, training was rudimentary. By having the soldiers stand shoulder to shoulder, the overlapping shields protected them from most opposing arrows and spears, and since they were lined up several rows deep, the only place to go was forward. Since the soldiers in the back had very little to fear, there was very little desertion. The orders were simple – go forward and kill as many of the enemy as possible. While prior empires had used that phalanx, none committed to it as a decisive all-or-nothing strategy. The Persians especially saw Greek warfare as something brutal and terrifying.
The Greek heavy infantry was supported by a smaller number of soldiers [light infantry] who would throw javelins into the enemy lines and sometimes engage in hand-to-hand combat using the sword. An even smaller number of archers were employed, also to weaken the opposing force. Cavalry was so limited, both in number and in effectiveness, that it was never a factor in battle.
Soldiers were made up of only the landed citizenry, for, having a stake in the outcome of a war, they could be counted on to stay the battle better than mercenaries or slaves. They also had the financial means to provide themselves with the necessary armor and weapons. The exception was Sparta, which created a warrior society. All free-born males at birth were evaluated for physical flaws. Those deemed weak were immediately killed. At the age of seven all boys were removed from their families and began constant training in fighting and physical conditioning. At the age of eighteen they began serious military training and at twenty were taken into what was essentially a professional standing army and there remain until at least the age of thirty. The Spartans superior training, toughness and constant readiness for battle usually made them victorious in battle.
But all Greek armies operated in essentially the same way. The combination of armor, shield, pike and sword could weigh up to 70 pounds. A charge by the phalanx might be slow, but the impact on the enemy could be enough to break their line. Should the first blow be insufficient, the subsequent lines of the phalanx would quickly catch up and press against the backs of their front line compatriots, suddenly adding more and more weight and force to the contest. Pike heads might force their way between shields and cause a few casualties, but the tide would turn when one section of the phalanx could push its way through the enemy, causing a breach in the front line. This would give the leading soldiers room to thrust and hack at the now exposed “inside” of the opposing line, behind their shields. The sudden break down of the shield wall would inevitably lead to a killing zone in the area around the break, those standing firm impaled by pikes, those turning to run quickly cut down by the swords of the light infantry. When one side became the clear winner, the advantage was rarely pressed home. The winner was acknowledged and a truce often called so that both sides could gather their dead before leaving the field of battle.
Battles by necessity had to be fought on open plains in order for the Greeks to assemble the phalanx, and farmers could only be called in large numbers when planting and harvesting duties did not interfere, so quickly taking the fight to the enemy and forcing a decisive battle was crucial. The battle plan would be discussed before engaging, but there was really no way to work out even simple variations on the straight ahead slow charge, so generals always led and fought alongside their troops. Less common were battles in which a moving army was caught by surprise in a narrow defile or in a canyon trail.
Interestingly, the heroic warriors of the Homeric tales did not spring from this period of Greek wartime success, but from the far earlier time when the Greek tribes still fought in a ritualistic mode, with key warriors – champions – battling in order to determine victory for the entire tribe. While the phalanx battles of the City/States might have soldiers numbering in the several, even tens, of thousands, the earlier tribal Greek battles would have had only a few dozen actual warriors on each side. Of course, by the time the earlier fables were written down hundreds of years later, the champion warriors are placed within the context of large phalanx armies. It is analogous to the Arthurian romantic legends favored by the later Gothic medieval knights, where they would endow a near mythic early warrior with the weapons and fighting style of the later storytellers.
Weapons available – The vast majority of warriors used only spear and shield, and uniformity was not common, as each soldier had to provide his own weaponry. Few had access to the shortsword, and few of these would actually find a use for it in battle. Thrown spears and heavy rocks were also used before the battle-lines were engaged (from which we get our Olympic field events – javelin and shot-put).