Ancient Greek weapons and armor were primarily geared towards combat between individuals. Their primary technique was called the phalanx, a formation consisting of massed shield wall, which required heavy frontal armor and medium-ranged weapons such as spears.[1] Soldiers were required to provide their own panoply, which could prove expensive,[2] however the lack of any official peace-keeping force meant that most Greek citizens carried weapons as a matter of course for self-defence.[3] Because individuals provided their own equipment, there was considerable diversity in arms and armor among the Hellenistic troops.[4]
The poorest citizens, unable to afford the purchase or upkeep of military equipment, operated on the battlefield as psiloi or peltasts; fast, mobile skirmishing troops.
Weapons that used copper were becoming obsolete at the time. This is because copper was very weak compared to iron and bronze weapons. Iron was plentiful back then and allowed smaller nations in Greece to arm themselves with weapons that were lighter and stronger than copper. Bronze was still used but rare because of how hard it was to find tin, and therefore the weapons of ancient Greece were made of iron and copper. This would help them in the Greco-Persian Wars.[citation needed]
- ^ Richard Holmes (1 April 2008). Weapon. Dorling Kindersley. p. 40. ISBN 978-1-4053-1619-4. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
- ^ Stephen Batchelor (23 September 2008). The Ancient Greeks For Dummies. John Wiley & Sons. p. 59. ISBN 978-0-470-98787-2. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
- ^ Robert Sallares (1991). The Ecology of the Ancient Greek World. Cornell University Press. pp. 406. ISBN 978-0-8014-2615-5. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
- ^ William Kendrick Pritchett (8 January 1986). Studies in Ancient Greek Topography. University of California Press. p. 24. ISBN 978-0-520-09698-1. Retrieved 7 June 2012.