World of the Greeks

Between the 7th and 3rd Centuries BC the Greeks gave the known world artistic, philosophical and scientific advances but also developed a form of warfare that would rule the roost until the time of Alexander. This was the Hoplite, a citizen-soldier defending his city and it's trade, settling in the far flung regions of Asia and Africa and finally becoming the most sought after mercenary in the world.

Before 700BC Greek warfare had been similar to that in the rest of the East, nobles in chariots fighting heroic duels while the lesser followers made up the numbers and fought amongst themselves. The infantry contingents became more solid as time went on until it was they, not the mounted arm, that ruled the battlefields. This formation became known as the phalanx and would be the premier fighting style in the eastern Mediterranean for 400 years. As time went on and Hoplites met different peoples with varied fighting styles they adapted tactics to include an increased skirmishing arm until the heyday of the Hoplite was eclipsed first by the light troops that supported them and finally the pikes of the Makedon.

New Miniatures from World of the Greeks