Greek Hoplites and Their Weapon of Choice: The Aspis

The powerful shield that gave social standing to farmer-soldiers

Phalanx fighting on a black-figure amphora, circa 560 B.C. The hoplite phalanx is a frequent subject in ancient Greek art. (Public Domain)

Defending one’s homeland requires the use of the most powerful weapons at hand. In ancient Greece, soldiers used the spear, sword, and shield. From about 700 to 300 B.C., the Greeks chose the aspis as the shield of choice. Hoplites, the infantry of ancient Greek city-states, defended their lands for centuries with this most important weapon.

The aspis was heavy, thick, and large, at about 3 feet long and weighing 15 to 20 pounds. Made of wood and often covered in brass, it had a bowl shape, a grip on one edge, and a leather thong in the middle to put one’s arm through. The shape, grip, and handle allowed for great mobility, given that one could hold it tight and still rest the top edge on the left shoulder, as hoplites took up the shield with their left hand so that they could wield offensive weapons with the right.

Hoplite, fifth century. (Jona Lendering-Livius.org/CC0)

Greek Weapons and Armor

The aspis was designed primarily to defend against spears. Its massiveness resisted a weapon that brought a lot of force against the wearer, though from a limited range of direction. The aspis also protected the wearer from the force and pressure of a spear’s point thrust directly at him, as opposed to a lighter weapon’s hacking attack, like a sword.

Hoplite warriors used a spear six to eight feet long. These soldiers also carried one- to two-foot long swords for use later in battle, or if the spear broke.

The hoplite’s heavy helmet, which covered almost all of the face and neck, was also designed for defense against an enemy’s spear. It had very small slits for the eyes and a small opening for the mouth. The narrow eye slits, however, posed a potential problem: They impeded the soldier’s peripheral vision, and thus made it difficult to see an enemy coming from the side. At first, this might seem to be a huge oversight.

The Aspis and the Phalanx

The shield, the spear, and the helmet were used together with a very effective military tactic that resolved this potential problem: The phalanx was a tightly massed formation in which soldiers did not need peripheral vision.

Hoplites shown in underhand (L) and overhand attack positions. (Public Domain)

The shield protected not only the hoplite soldier’s left side, but also the right side of the hoplite on his left. This formation created one line, or row, in the phalanx, which had many lines deep. The lines behind pushed the row ahead with great force.

Many historians envisioned a hoplite battle in this way: The two armies engaged by smashing together. This kind of fighting required the phalanx to stay as one body, and hold together. As long as the soldier retained the courage and clarity of mind to keep his shield covering the man on his left, and the man on that soldier’s right did the same, soldiers could fend off the spears from the enemy. Were a warrior to separate from his fellow soldiers, all in the phalanx would be in jeopardy.

The Aspis and Social Status

The hoplite shield stood for more than battle armor; it also implied social standing in Greek society. Hoplites tended to be property owners. With the exception of the Spartans, they were often men who farmed their own properties.

A freeman without property would have a lot of difficulty obtaining an aspis, a highly crafted and expensive item.

Although they were landowners, hoplites were not at the top of the social scale; they were not aristocrats. One thing makes this very clear: They fought on foot, not on horses.

At that time, noblemen owned horses. Pasture for horses was very limited in Greece and they were not useful in running a successful farm. Owning a horse was its own status symbol, and meant that one could fight on horseback.

The heavy, round aspis was completely inappropriate for men fighting on horseback, but carried a powerful social status in Greek society. Ordinary Greeks with property who fought for their city-state gradually obtained a certain political standing, and the aspis symbolized this. Aristotle associated heavy armor with commoners for exactly this reason, stating in his “Politics” that “as the states grew and the wearers of heavy armor had become stronger, more persons came to have a part in the government.”

Aristotle’s interpretation of the hoplites’ social standing is supported by modern historians, including Donald Kagan and Victor Davis Hanson.

Fighting Instead of Taxation

Considering Aristotle’s view, the kind of society that created the aspis as a weapon of war in turn helped to develop the aspis as a symbol of citizenship. Making the aspis came at a substantial cost of time, property, and other personal resources. Such a heavy shield was not useful for individual hand-to-hand combat, or for protecting one’s house from robbers. It was an investment in the city-state.

Chigi vase with Hoplites holding javelins and spears. (Public Domain)

The aspis was a powerful tool in battle when used correctly, in conjunction with a multitude of other warriors using the same shield and discipline. Making the personal investment in this tool meant that one was a powerful force not only in battle, but also in the city-state one fought for.

This was a time when the city-states were most influenced not by kings, nobles, or a simple majority, but by adult men who were just wealthy enough to afford their own armor. Noticeable in Greek culture was the absence of taxation. A Greek citizen during the era of the hoplite was not required to support his city-state with his money or goods, but with his weapons and his body itself.

The rise of democracy in Athens, and the defeat of the Persian invasion that occurred shortly after, brought hoplite warfare its greatest prestige and most notable victories.

Hoplite, fifth century. (Jona Lendering-Livius.org/CC0)

Studying history not only means understanding what happened at one moment in time, but also requires a deep dive into the thinking of the time and physical objects (artifacts) that might have helped determined the direction of a society.

Ideas and artifacts work together in harmony to teach history. We can grasp how they work together by looking at the role of weapons, especially the aspis, in shaping the social and political culture of the ancient Greeks.

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