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Hoplites are probably one of the first things that come to mind when one thinks of "Ancient Greece". Equipped with a bronze spear and wearing bronze armor or a linothorax, and hefting the aspis—the hoplite’s bronze shield—they fought in phalanxes. The classic mode of fighting in this formation was the "othismos", the push, with the aim being to disrupt the enemy phalanx and break their formation. But, over the past few decades, views on hoplite warfare have been called into question and seriously revised, because there are problems in the source material. So, what are these problems, and how do...

An ancient Greek Corinthian helmet was found in a fifth century BC grave in the Taman Peninsula, southwest Russia. Made of bronze, ancient Greek Corinthian helmets covered the entire head and neck, with slits for the eyes and mouth, protruding cheek covers (paragnathides) and a curved protrusion in the back to protect the nape of the neck. The helmet has a padded interior made of fabric or leather to protect the warrior’s skull. These helmets were essential for the Greek hoplites, the famous foot soldiers of the phalanxes.

A 2,500-year-old slab, a relief depicting marching Ancient Greek warriors, or hoplites, has been discovered among other finds in the recent archaeological excavations of two temples of ancient god Apollo on the St. Cyricus Island, today a peninsula, in the Bulgarian Black Sea town of Sozopol.The newly discovered slab with Ancient Greek warriors, or hoplites, appears to a piece of a larger depiction, other parts of which were discovered during digs in 2018 and 2019 in the zone of the two temples of deity Apollo Iatros ("The Healer") – one from the Late Archaic period and one from the Early...