The Supply of Hoplite Equipment by the Athenian State down to the Lamian War

Prior to the ephebic reform (reform in recruitment) at Athens in 335 BCE, Athenian infantrymen or hoplites was generally expected to provide his own arms and armour. While their defeat at Macedonian hands at Khaironeia in 338 caused the Athenians to rethink how to assure their military preparedness,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of military history 2003-04, Vol.67 (2), p.361-379
Main Author: Bertosa, Brian
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age structure
Armor
Democracy
Demography
Macedonian
Military history
Military recruitment
Military strategy
Military technology
Military weapons
Orphans
Shields
Spears
War
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Summary:Prior to the ephebic reform (reform in recruitment) at Athens in 335 BCE, Athenian infantrymen or hoplites was generally expected to provide his own arms and armour. While their defeat at Macedonian hands at Khaironeia in 338 caused the Athenians to rethink how to assure their military preparedness, little was done until Alexander the Great departed for the Near East in the spring of 335. The resulting ephebic reform involved a massive increase in the city's hoplite forces, with the thetes, the poor of Athens, admitted to the hoplite ranks for the first time. The need to equip all the thetes as hoplites resulted in the likely adoption of a system of issue-and-return, which was the most economical one available. Nevertheless, each of the ephebes, the new recruits to the system, was given a shield and spear at state expense, an uneconomical and militarily questionable practice that was nevertheless continued, probably for reasons of tradition.
ISSN:0899-3718
1543-7795
1543-7795
DOI:10.1353/jmh.2003.0097