Spartan army 400 - 390

[Giannis K. Hoplite]

But it's only speculation and pure modern thinking. 2 Major battes in 31 years says nothing. There were dozens other battles and these were not necessarily smaller that the usual,old,traditional,regional battles.
We just DON'T KNOW what they wore. No ancient source said that hoplites abandoned their armor. In fact there are mentions of soldiers being hit through armor. The speculation derives from the fashion of art in late 5th century. But was it just fashion? Interestingly,most people are ready to accept that the majority of hoplites abandoned armor at that time,but they consider nudity in all previous battle depictions as artistic license and heroic nudity!
Unfortunately the decline in Spartan economy among other things influenced the bronze statuettes production. These give a fairly good picture of Spartan soldier from the 7th-6th century bc. Guess what! They're exactly the same as any other hoplite from the rest of Greece!
Khaire
Giannis