The Formation of the Hoplite Militia in Athens
https://doi.org/10.26907/2541-7738.2023.1-2.19-31
Abstract
This article considers how the draft to the Athenian hoplite army was organized in the 5th–4th centuries B.C. The available historical sources do not describe the conscription system for hoplites until the 5th century B.C., so its functioning in the archaic period remains unknown. Interestingly, the conscription of hoplites was generally determined by the structure of the civilian part of Athenian society. It could have appeared with the introduction of the phalanx in Athens under Solon and finally took shape after the reforms of Cleisthenes. Over time, this original conscription system underwent major changes: at first, it was based on the conscription lists compiled by each phyle, i.e., the lists of citizens who were to be drafted for a particular campaign; later, the conscription was held by the eponyms, i.e., only citizens of certain age groups were drafted for service. The results obtained show that the new system must have been introduced between 386 and 366 B.C. The conclusion is made that the old conscription system was changed to improve the military structure of the polis.
References
1. Rhodes P.J. A Commentary on the Aristotelian Athenaion Politeia. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1981. xiii, 795 p.
2. Christ M.R. Conscription of hoplites in classical Athens. Classical Quarterly, 2001, vol. 51, no. 2, pp. 398–422. doi: 10.1093/cq/51.2.398.
3. Frost F.J. The Athenian military before Cleisthenes. Historia, 1984, Bd. 33, H. 3, S. 283–294.
4. Crowley J. The Psychology of the Athenian Hoplite. The Culture of Combat in Classical Athens. Cambridge, Cambridge Univ. Press, 2012. 252 p.
5. Tumans Kh. The military organization of the Greeks in the archaic period (Athens, 8th–6th centuries B.C.). In: Frolov E.D. (Ed.) Antichnoe obshchestvo. Problemy politicheskoi istorii: Mezhvuzov. sb. [Ancient Society. Problems of Political History: An Interuniversity Collection of Articles]. St. Petersburg, Izd. S.-Peterb. Univ., 1997, pp. 6–19. (In Russian)
6. De Ste Croix G.E.M. Athenian Democratic Origins and Other Essays. Oxford, Oxford Univ. Press, 2004. 464 p.
7. van Wees H. Greek Warfare: Myths and Realities. London, Duckworth, 2004. xiv, 349 p.
8. French A. Solon’s hoplite assessment. Historia, 1961, Bd. 10, H. 4, S. 510–512.
9. Rosivach V.J. Zeugitai and hoplites. Ancient History Bulletin, 2002, vol. 16, pp. 34–43.
10. Valdés Guía M., Gallego J. Athenian zeugitai and the Solonian census classes: New reflections and perspectives. Historia, 2010, Bd. 59, H. 3, S. 257–281.
11. Gabrielsen V. The impact of armed forces on government and politics in archaic and classical Greek poleis: A response to Hans van Wees. In: Chaniotis A., Ducrey P. (Eds.) Army and Power in the Ancient World. Stuttgart, Franz Steiner Verlag, 2002. pp. 83–98.
12. Surikov I.E. Athena the warrior: Solon, Peisistratos, and the militia of the Athenian polis in the 6th century B.C. In: Mnemon. Issledovaniya i publikatsii po istorii antichnogo mira: Sb. st. [Mnemon. Studies and Publications on the History of the Ancient World: A Collection of Articles]. St. Petersburg, Izd. S. Peterb. Univ., 2010, no. 9, pp. 27–54. (In Russian)
13. Tumans Kh. Rozhdenie Afiny. Afinskii put’ k demokratii: ot Gomera do Perikla (VIII – V vv. do n.e.) [Birth of Athena. The Athenian Way to Democracy: From Homer to Pericles (8th–5th Centuries B.C.)]. St. Petersburg, Gumanit. Akad., 2002. 544 p. (In Russian)
14. Zel’in K.K. Bor’ba politicheskikh gruppirovok v Attike VI v. do n.e. [The Struggle of Political Factions in Attica in the 6th Century B.C.]. Moscow, Nauka, 1964. 272 p. (In Russian)
15. Shuvalov V.V. Themistocles’ Naval Law. Vestnik Drevnei Istorii, 2006, no. 2, pp. 24–42. (In Russian)
16. Gabrielsen V. Financing the Athenian Fleet: Public Taxation and Social Relations. Baltimore, Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, 1994. xvii, 306 p.
17. Rosivach V.J. The thētes in Thucydides 6.43.1. Hermes, 2012, vol. 140, no. 2, pp. 131–139. doi: 10.25162/hermes-2012-0014.
18. Jameson M.H. A Decree of Themistokles from Troizen. Hesperia, 1960, vol. 29, no. 2, pp. 198–223.
19. Gluskina L.M. The Troizen inscription with the Decree of Themistokles. Vestnik Drevnei Istorii, 1963, no. 4, pp. 35–52. (In Russian)
20. Daux G. Chronique des fouilles 1959. Bulletin de correspondance hellénique, 1960, vol. 84, liv. 2, pp. 617–874. (In French)
21. Meiggs R., Lewis D. (Eds.) A Selection of Greek Historical Inscriptions to the End of the Fifth Century B.C. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1969. 308 p.
22. Doenges N.A. The campaign and battle of Marathon. Historia, 1998, Bd. 47, H. 1, S. 1–17.
23. Gomme A.W. The Athenian hoplite forсe in 431 B.C. Classical Quarterly, 1927, vol. 21, nos. 3–4, pp. 142–150. doi: 10.1017/S0009838800001221.
24. Gomme A.W. A Historical Commentary on Thucydides. Vol. 2, Books 2–3. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1956. 436 p.
25. Thompson W.E. Three thousand Acharnian hoplites. Historia, 1964, Bd. 13, H. 4, S. 400–413.
26. Lapini W. Les hoplites atheniens de 431 (Thuc. 2.13.6). Mnemosyne, 1997, vol. 50, no. 3, pp. 257– 270. (In French)
27. Andrewes A. The hoplite katalogos. In: Shrimpton G.S., McCargar D.J. (Eds.) Classical Contributions: Studies in Honour of Malkolm Francis McGregor. New York, J.J. Augustin, 1981. pp. 1–3.
28. Harris E.M. Aeschines and Athenian Politics. New York, Oxford Univ. Press, 1995. 238 p.
29. Stylianou P.J. A Historical Commentary on Diodorus Siculus. Book 15. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1998. 602 p.
30. Hamel D. Athenian Generals: Military Authority in the Classical Period. Leiden, Brill, 1998. 254 p.
31. Sekunda N.W. Athenian demography and military strength 338–322 B.C. Annual of the British School at Athens, 1992, vol. 87, pp. 311–355. doi: 10.1017/S0068245400015203.
Review
For citations:
Vostrikov I.V. The Formation of the Hoplite Militia in Athens. Uchenye Zapiski Kazanskogo Universiteta Seriya Gumanitarnye Nauki. 2023;165(1-2):19-31. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.26907/2541-7738.2023.1-2.19-31
Views:
250
Email this article 