Men of Bronze: Hoplite Warfare in Ancient Greece

Men of Bronze: Hoplite Warfare in Ancient Greece

Donald Kagan & Gregory F. Viggiano

Princeton University Press (2015)

Rating: ★★★★★

Men of Bronze
takes up one of the most important and fiercely debated subjects in ancient history and classics: how did archaic Greek hoplites fight, and what role, if any, did hoplite warfare play in shaping the Greek polis? In the nineteenth century, George Grote argued that the phalanx battle formation of the hoplite farmer citizen-soldier was the driving force behind a revolution in Greek social, political, and cultural institutions. Throughout the twentieth century scholars developed and refined this grand hoplite narrative with the help of archaeology. But over the past thirty years scholars have criticized nearly every major tenet of this orthodoxy. Indeed, the revisionists have persuaded many specialists that the evidence demands a new interpretation of the hoplite narrative and a rewriting of early Greek history.
Men of Bronze
gathers leading scholars to advance the current debate and bring it to a broader audience of ancient historians, classicists, archaeologists, and general readers.

After explaining the historical context and significance of the hoplite question, the book assesses and pushes forward the debate over the traditional hoplite narrative and demonstrates why it is at a crucial turning point. Instead of reaching a consensus, the contributors have sharpened their differences, providing new evidence, explanations, and theories about the origin, nature, strategy, and tactics of the hoplite phalanx and its effect on Greek culture and the rise of the polis.

The contributors include Paul Cartledge, Lin Foxhall, John Hale, Victor Davis Hanson, Donald Kagan, Peter Krentz, Kurt Raaflaub, Adam Schwartz, Anthony Snodgrass, Hans van Wees, and Gregory Viggiano.

**

Review

"In no other work will readers find the foremost experts on Greek political and military history, including Paul Cartledge, Donald Kagan, Hans Van Wees, and Peter Krentz, together."
--*Choice
*

"This book is geared to presenting the parameters of the hoplite debate in the clearest possible terms, a goal in which it succeeds. Anyone charged with teaching about hoplite warfare and its role in Greek history, let alone anyone doing original research on the subject, will find this book useful and necessary."
--Matthew A. Sears, *Bryn Mawr Classical Review
*

"
Men of Bronze
carries the debate forward brilliantly and, in the process, illuminates many other facets of the archaic and classical Greek world."
--William Shepherd, *Anglo-Hellenic Review
*

From the Back Cover

"This is the new hoplite book everyone has been waiting for--punchy, stimulating, up-to-date, and full of excitement and contention, like a hoplite scrum."
--John Ma, University of Oxford

"Controversies of great interest surround the topic of hoplite warfare and its connections to Greek society and culture. The scholars contributing to this excellent volume include some of the best in the world. The chapters present often-divergent views on crucial issues. Scholars of Greek military history, war and society, and archaic Greece will want to consult this important collection."
--Peter Hunt, University of Colorado, Boulder

MEN OF BRONZE

Hoplite Warfare in Ancient Greece

EDITED BY DONALD KAGAN AND GREGORY F. VIGGIANO

PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS PRINCETON AND OXFORD

In 2007, a Greek helmet of gilded bronze was recovered from Haifa Bay, Israel, during commercial dredging operations. Following conservation by the Israel Antiquities Authority, the helmet emerged as a remarkable example of the type of closed “Corinthian” helmet traditionally associated with Greek hoplites. The helmet had been shaped by a master craftsman from a lost-wax bronze casting less than 2 mm thick, with a riveted nose guard 11 mm thick to provide extra protection to the warrior’s face. A glittering coat of gilding covered the exterior, some of which still remains to testify to the wealth and elite status of the helmet’s original owner. Rich decoration had been applied with chasing hammers and punches: two snakes curling above the eye-holes; a palmette or peacock’s tail on the forehead; and heraldic lions on the cheek-pieces. Such elaborate decoration is rare on Corinthian helmets, though more common in the Archaic period than in the fifth and fourth centuries BC. This spectacular piece of early Greek metalworking is now on display at Israel’s National Maritime Museum in Haifa, which overlooks the waters where the helmet lay hidden for some 2600 years. Photo by Warhaftig Venezian Photographers for the Maritime Museum of Haifa. Text description courtesy of Israel Antiquities Authority and Jacob Sharvit.

Copyright © 2013 by Princeton University Press
Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street,
Princeton, New Jersey 08540
In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press, 6 Oxford Street,
Woodstock, Oxfordshire ox20 1tw

press.princeton.edu

Jacket Photograph: Haifa Bay helmet. Photo by Warhaftig Venezian
Photographers for the Maritime Museum of Haifa. Courtesy of
Israel Antiquities Authority and Jacob Sharvit.

All Rights Reserved

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Men of bronze : hoplite warfare in ancient Greece / edited by Donald Kagan and Gregory F. Viggiano.

    pages cm

“The papers published in this volume resulted from a conference on early Greek hoplite warfare held at Yale University in April 2008.”

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-691-14301-9 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Military art and science—Greece—History—To 1500—Congresses. 2. Soldiers—Greece—History—To 1500—Congresses. 3. Greece—History, Military—To 146 B.C.—Congresses. 4. Weapons, Ancient—Greece—Congresses. 5. Armor, Ancient—Greece—Congresses. I. Kagan, Donald, author, editor of compilation. II. Viggiano, Gregory, author, editor of compilation.

U33.M46 2013

355.4′738—dc23

2012047892

British Library Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available

This book has been composed in Garamond Premier Pro

Printed on acid-free paper. ∞

Printed in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

CONTENTS

LIST OF FIGURES