04-03-2009, 02:07 PM
The very idea of a 'phalanx' i.e. ordered ranks of men in combat seemingly goes back to Sumerian times, let alone Homer !
One can also read whatever one wants into the Chigi vase depiction, as I've already said.....but the obvious interpretation is that it shows men arming for battle, followed by a charge into contact, followed by the combat between two foes i.e. 'phalanx warfare'.......of course, following the 'collision' men are no longer running/charging !
Even if Herodotus' statement repeating Athenian propaganda (" these were the first [Hellenes] to endure looking at Median dress and the men wearing it, for up to then just hearing the name of the Medes caused the Hellenes to panic") were to be true, and it is patently not ( ask any Ionian ! ) it has been shown that the idea of Hoplites charging over 8 stades ( 1600 yards - almost a mile) is an obvious exaggeration. To claim that a "Hoplite revolution" was still on-going on the basis of this one propaganda statement is stretching credulity.
In essence, the Chigi vase illustrates what Herodotus writes of as occurring at Marathon - the Hoplites form up in line and charge into contact in a formed body....it really doesn't matter whether the 'in step' is an artistic convention or whatever. To argue that the process of Hoplite/phalanx warfare is not shown on the Chigi vase is a form of 'special pleading'. If one adopts a holistic approach, instead of examining single bits of evidence the probable likelihood is clear. For example, Spartan tradition had it that they adopted "Phalanx/Hoplite' warfare c. 750 BC during a war with Amyclae . There is more in this regard too which points to a similar date. The rise of Phalnx/Hoplite warfare is linked to the rise of the poleis/city-state.....
One can also read whatever one wants into the Chigi vase depiction, as I've already said.....but the obvious interpretation is that it shows men arming for battle, followed by a charge into contact, followed by the combat between two foes i.e. 'phalanx warfare'.......of course, following the 'collision' men are no longer running/charging !
Even if Herodotus' statement repeating Athenian propaganda (" these were the first [Hellenes] to endure looking at Median dress and the men wearing it, for up to then just hearing the name of the Medes caused the Hellenes to panic") were to be true, and it is patently not ( ask any Ionian ! ) it has been shown that the idea of Hoplites charging over 8 stades ( 1600 yards - almost a mile) is an obvious exaggeration. To claim that a "Hoplite revolution" was still on-going on the basis of this one propaganda statement is stretching credulity.
In essence, the Chigi vase illustrates what Herodotus writes of as occurring at Marathon - the Hoplites form up in line and charge into contact in a formed body....it really doesn't matter whether the 'in step' is an artistic convention or whatever. To argue that the process of Hoplite/phalanx warfare is not shown on the Chigi vase is a form of 'special pleading'. If one adopts a holistic approach, instead of examining single bits of evidence the probable likelihood is clear. For example, Spartan tradition had it that they adopted "Phalanx/Hoplite' warfare c. 750 BC during a war with Amyclae . There is more in this regard too which points to a similar date. The rise of Phalnx/Hoplite warfare is linked to the rise of the poleis/city-state.....
"dulce et decorum est pro patria mori " - Horace
(It is a sweet and proper thing to die for ones country)
"No son-of-a-bitch ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country" - George C Scott as General George S. Patton
Paul McDonnell-Staff
(It is a sweet and proper thing to die for ones country)
"No son-of-a-bitch ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country" - George C Scott as General George S. Patton
Paul McDonnell-Staff
