ShadesWolf
09-12-2003, 15:51
Ancient Greek Cavalry
by Shem Francis Barnett
Introduction
The ancient Greeks have received short shrift from most war games rules and this is nowhere more evident than with the mounted arm. Indeed Greek cavalry is often poorly regarded outside of the war gaming fraternity; by historians in general. I intend in this paper to challenge this view by analyzing the performance of Greek cavalry in the Classical period, looking at its organization, equipment and training, as well as at the engagements in which Greek cavalry took part during the fifth and fourth centuries.....
The Greek Hippeis
The Greek word for cavalry, hippeis (often translated as 'nobles' or 'knights'http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif, was simply a term for one of the wealthier classes of a Greek polis. For example there were four classes of wealth in Athens: at the very top were the pentekosiomedimnoi (those whose income was at least 500 units of produce), followed by the hippeis (300-500 units), and together these made up the upper-classes, both the aristocracy of the 'old families' and the neoplouteis (nouveau riche). ....
After these came the zeugitai (200-300 units), which were the 'middle-class' and formed the hoplite phalanx of the army or served as marines. Last were the thetes, the poorest class, who were the rowers of the triremes and fought as skirmishers on land.....
Because such a majority of our evidence comes from Athens, I will focus on Athenian cavalry, although much that is true of the Athenians applies to the cavalry of other poleis. A brief survey of the cavalry of other states follows to highlight some of the differences.....
Politics and Power
In a land dominated by endemic war, political power in the state went to those who were the primary warriors of the polis. In the so_called Dark Age of ancient Greece (ca. 1150_900), and the Geometric Age (ca. 900_700), the aristocracy ruled the state, and cavalry, and perhaps chariots, were the essential arm of the military. Then some time in the eighth or seventh century, the middle classes, the hoplites, became the most important soldiers in Greece with the development of the true phalanx. These expanded their dominance of the battlefield to the realm of politics and became the leading political class. Although they often chose members of the aristocracy as their chief magistrates, the key word is 'chose'. ...
The cavalry of many Greek states was often viewed with some suspicion by the governing classes.....
The North and South
Although the cavalry of Thebes and Greece north of Boeotia is relatively highly regarded, a survey of its performance against the cavalry of the southern poleis is revealing. Aside from Spartan cavalry, which was handily defeated by the Thebans at Leuctra, almost all our evidence involves the Athenian cavalry. Although the Athenian hippeis was present at several battles which the Athenians lost, we have no way of knowing what part the cavalry played in many of them. Of the engagements between Athenian and northern cavalry actually reported, honors seem to be in favor of the Athenians, as can be seen below. ...
Yet when the Pharsalians grew troublesome to him, by pressing upon his army and halting its passage, he led out five hundred horse, and in person fought and routed them, setting up a trophy under the shadow of Mount Narthacius. He valued himself very much upon that victory that with so small a number of his own trained men he had vanquished a body of men that thought themselves the best horsemen in Greece." (Plutarch, Agesilaos 2.2_5)....
Training
The first thing to bear in mind when looking at Greek cavalry, and indeed most Greek military forces of any kind, is that they were essentially a citizen militia. There was no 'soldier' profession; any citizen (and in some cases other sections of the populace, for example the metiokoi (resident foreigners) in Athens, and the periokoi (dwellers_around) and helots in Sparta) between the ages of about eighteen and sixty could be called up for a campaign or battle.
In the case of the cavalry of most Greek states, however, the hippeis were volunteers from within the richer citizen segment. To be considered a member of the upper classes in most states was a measure of wealth, and this would include both the aristocracy of the old families as well as the nouveau riche of the merchant classes.....
However, they were rallied from flight and rejoined the battle, completing victory for the Athenians "Plutarch, interpreting this tardiness as a failure in his {Phokian's} courage, fell on alone with the mercenaries, which the Knights perceiving, could not be contained, but issuing also out of the camp, confusedly and in disorder, spurred up to the {Macedonian} enemy. The first who came up were defeated, the rest were put to the rout. Plutarch himself took to flight, and a body of the enemy advanced in the hope of carrying the camp, supposing themselves to have secured the victory. But by this time, the sacrifice being over, the Athenians within the camp came forward, and falling upon the enemy put them to flight, and killed the greater number as they fled among the entrenchments, while Phokion, ordering his infantry to keep on the watch and rally those who came in from the previous flight, himself, with a body of his best men, engaged the enemy in a sharp and bloody fight, in which all of them behaved with signal courage and gallantry. Thallus, the son of Cineas, and Glaucus of Polymedes, who fought near Phokian, gained the honors of the day. Cleophanes, also, did good service in the battle. Recovering the Knights from their defeat, and with his shouts and encouragement bringing them up to succor the general, who was in danger, he confìrmed the victory obtained by the infantry." (Plut. Phok. 12_13)....
Organization
Our main source for the actual organization of ancient Greek cavalry is Xenophon, who wrote both a treatise on horsemanship (Peri Hippikes) and a manual written for the commander of the Athenian cavalry (Hipparchikos). This naturally deals with the cavalry of Athens, and we shall use them as our model, but much of what he says can be applied to the mounted troops of other states.
Athens' hippeis were augmented by two separate corps, the hippotoxitai and the hammipoi. The hipppotoxitai were horse_archers. These numbered two hundred men, and they appear to have been present from the 440s until some time in the first half of the fourth century. They were probably not Scythians, as is often thought, but Athenian citizens (Alcibiades the younger served with them in 395 and as his joining them was a form of demotion it is unlikely he was an officer (Lysias, 15.6)....
The Boeotians had adopted hammippoi by 418 (Thuc. 5.57), and the Spartans were using them by 395 (Plu, Ages.10.3). By 365, the Athenians had supplemented their basic cavalry force with a corps of hammipoi (Xen, Hipp. 5.13), and the Argives had done the same by the 360's (Xen. Hell, 7.2.4). Their numbers are sometimes unclear, but in the case of the Thebans and of Gelon's troops the ratio of infantry to hippeis was one to one....
A mention of the somewhat mysterious hyperetai must be made. The term is usually translated in the Classical period as 'servant' or 'attendant' for example, the hoplites' attendants, or batmen, who carried their shields and generally assisted them were called hyperetai. By the Hellenistic period (from after Alexander to the Roman and Parthian conquest of Greek Asia and Europe) cavalry hyperetai seem to have become officers' aides de camps (Arrian, Tactica, 10.4; 14.4), but it is less clear as to what their role was during the Classical period. ...
Equipment - Offensive
In general it seems that the arms and armor of a hippeis varied from state to state, but also within the state amongst individuals as one would expect from an aristocratic group. The cavalryman of ancient Greece carried either javelins or a lance for his main offensive arms, and sometimes both, as can be seen for example on the Panaitios relief in Athens. He also usually carried a sword as a secondary weapon.
When carrying javelins, it appears that usually two or three were carried. The javelins are sometimes shown in art with throwing loops, which were held around the fingers and gave the throw greater range and accuracy.
The lance used by cavalry was about the same length as a hoplite spear, around eight feet long, and is sometimes depicted with a butt spike. Sometimes two are carried. ...
Equipment- Defensive
Throughout our period breastplates were common, although their frequency of use and type fluctuated with the times. Some cavalry is depicted with very little armor, and these may well have been prodromoi or scouts, or simply depict hippeis who preferred to fight unarmored. Unlike hoplite breastplates, cavalry breastplates were quite often composed purely of bronze _ for example the bell_cuirass which flanged from the waist _ rather than the bronze_linen composite cuirasses more common to the hoplites....
Greek cavalry appear not to have used shields. There are some depictions of men mounted on horses carrying an aspis, but these may well have been mounted hoplites, although at least one of these shows the rider in combat (Bologna 363, see Spence, 238) There is also a depiction of some horsemen holding horses by the reins and armed with a pelte (a small shield, either round or crescent_shaped) from about 500 at the Michigan State University (see IG Spence, 235). Shields were being used earlier than is often thought in Magna Graecia the Spartan colony of Taras was using them by the fifth century as shown on two Greek coins (GC 335, 797), and there are many such representations from the fourth century....
Combat Effectiveness vs. Hoplites
Cavalry are very often depicted fighting hoplites in friezes and on vases, (for example the Defiles relief and the Eleusis relief), the latter often depicted in defeat. This evidence, combined with a close reading of our literary sources, reveals that cavalry often fought hoplites, and that they were frequently successful. ...
For proof that cavalry charged and defeated already disordered hoplites Herodotus at Plataea, gives this example: "The victors however pressed on, pursuing and slaying the remnants of the king's army. Meantime, while the flight continued, tidings reached the Greeks who were drawn up round the Mt. Heraeum, and so were left out from the battle, that when the fight was begun, and that Pausanias gaining the victory. Upon hearing this, they rushed forward without any battle order, the Corinthians wisely taking the upper road across the skirts of Mount Kithaeron and the hills, which led straight to the temple of Demeter; while the Megarians and Phliasians followed the level route through the plain, These last troops had almost reached the enemy, when the Theban horse spied them, and observing their disarray, dispatched against them a company which Asopodorus, the son of Timander, was commander. Asopodorus charged them with such effect that he left 600 of their dead upon the plain, and, pursuing the rest, compelled them to shelter in vicinity of Kithaeron." (Her. 9.69)....
There are several examples of cavalry defeating large numbers of hoplites in good formation. A brief survey follows. In 429, as already mentioned earlier, at Spartolos an Athenian expedition, which was composed chiefly of hoplites, was sent to Calcitic. The Chalcidian hoplites were defeated, but their cavalry and light troops beat their Athenian opposite numbers. The Chalcidian cavalry and light_armed infantry then attacked the Athenian main infantry force, forcing the Athenians back with missile fire and skirmishing tactics. Thucydides says the Chalcidian cavalry kept charging in whenever they saw an opportunity and that it was this that contributed most to the rout of the Athenians. The Athenians lost about twenty percent of their men, a large number (Thuc. 2.79).....
Combat Effectiveness vs. Psiloi and Peltasts
Because psiloi and peltasts were lightly armed and fought in loose formation, cavalry was very effective against them, especially when fighting in open terrain although Xenophon recommends that cavalry use hunting as an opportunity to train for fighting in broken terrain. Accounts of engagements between cavalry and psiloi or peltasts are rare in the sources, no doubt because the light infantry avoided them at all costs (See Thuc. 4.72 for the defeat of the Athenian psiloi by Theban horse at Megara.) Xenophon mentions one case wherein mercenary peltasts in the pay of Thebes were caught by Olynthian cavalry in the open in 377 and heavily defeated (Xen, Hell. 5.4.54). ....
Theban cavalry surprised and routed Spartan peltasts in 377, and again in the following year they defeated another force of Spartan peltasts (Xen. Hell. 5.45.39, 44_5). At the disaster the Spartans suffered at the hands of Athenian peltasts at Lechaeum in 390, only those Spartans who attached themselves to their cavalry were saved, this indicating that the peltasts were reluctant to pursue those hoplites screened by cavalry.
It is clear from our sources that psiloi and peltasts were very vulnerable to cavalry in the open.
Combat Effectiveness - Auxiliary Troops
The hammipoi did not assist from nearby or in reserve but fought directly amongst the cavalry,...
We know little of the effectiveness of the Athenian hippotoxitai. We do know that they rode ahead of the hippeis, according to Xenophon's Socrates (Xen. Memorabilia 3.3.1). One would imagine they contributed much to the flexibility of the Athenian cavalry....
Reserves and Flank Attacks
Cavalry, due to their speed, are ideally suited to both flanking maneuvers and to acting as mobile reserves, although the hippeis seem to have usually been deployed either on the wings or at times in front of the main army. In Thucydides' description of the battle of Delium, the Theban cavalry acts as a flanking force, taking the Athenians in the flank by surprise and thus causing their panic and defeat (Thuc. 4.96).
Pursuit and Screening
Although pursuit and post_battle screening are not usually simulated in most war game rules, cavalry are obviously very well_suited for this, and a brief survey of such actions by Greek cavalry follows: The Theban cavalry pursued the defeated Athenians at Delium, though the fall of night limited the pursuit (Thuc 4.96). ...
After the Athenians under Alcibiades defeated a large force of Persian cavalry in 409, the Athenian cavalry and a small force of hoplites pursued them until dark (Xen. Hell.1.2.16). The Spartans defeated the Persian cavalry in 395, and these were pursued by Agesilaos' hippeis, who also captured the Persian camp. At the 'tearless battle' of 368, the Spartans defeated the Arcadians and Argives; the cavalry, with help from Dionysus' Celtic mercenaries, pursued the defeated and cut down many of them....
Conclusion
A careful study of the evidence _ literary, archaeological and artistic _ asks some important questions of received wisdom about ancient Greek cavalry. Although northern Greek cavalry did not suffer under the same political restraints as the southern Greek hippeis, and although they are usually regarded as much superior to other Greek cavalry, we can see that the gap in quality, if any, is much less than is usually supposed....
Hakonarson
09-14-2003, 11:31
The Northern Greeks did have good cavalry - Thessalians were renowned for theirs, and Theban was also considered better than Southern Greek cavalry.
To a large extent this was, apparently, a matter of geography - there were larger plains in those areas that were more suited to that arm - perhaps some one with first hand knowledge of Greek geography can confirm this?
However the Macedoninas were only "Greek" once Phillip and Alexander made them so, and the Thessalians were considered "rustic" and only marginally Greek - their emphasis on cavalry was one of hte reasons the more southern Greeks didn't really regard them as "properly" Greek http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif
Shades Wolf adequately covers the Northern "Greeks" IMO - however the thrust of his argument appears to be in showing that Southern Greek Cavalry was good too.
But he's a little short on real examples of it's battleworthiness and concrete conclusions drawn from those - no-one doubts its effectiveness in pursuit of a broken foe, or its ability to ride down lightly equipped troops - indeed that's pretty much what it's role was
However the article/paper/posting is IMO a more general overview on Southern Greek cavalry organisation, equipment, and a brief history of a few engagements etc. that IMO doeesn't support the idea that
Quote[/b] ]The achievements of the Greek cavalry on the battlefield were monumental
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