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Short description

These proud citizens of Macedon and Kabyle fight in the style of their forefathers.

Description

These proud citizens of Macedon and Kabyle fight in the style of their forefathers: as well-armoured hoplites. Even if old-fashioned since the days of the great Philip and Alexander, if need arises these citizens will take up their family’s spare dory and aspis-shield to hold the ground against any foe who dares to challenge their honour. Protected by linothorax armour, greaves, and a combination of Pilos, Chalcidian and Phrygian helmet types, these men form a useful supplement to fill out your infantry or to guard the walls of their polis.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

There is some debate among historians whether the city of Kabyle was founded by Philip II of Macedon in 342/341 BC (Nankov, Urbanization (2020), p. 403) or whether he conquered an already existing city (Demosth. or. 8.44; 10.14). What is clear is that Kabyle was drawn into the Macedonian sphere of influence, and populated by what Strabo (VII.6.2.C320) describes as ‘the most villagious people’ of Philip’s kingdom. This, as well as the fact that they were outside of the Argead and Antigonid military system, suggests that Kabyle’s inhabitants will most likely not have fought in a state-of-the-art pike phalanx, but as more traditional hoplites. As part of Philip’s (re)construction, Kabyle received a sanctuary of Artemis Phosphoros, a temple of Apollo, and an Agora (as shown by archaeological excavations). Peter (Die Münzen der thrakischen Dynasten (2015), p. 210) thinks there must also have been a temple of Herakles, since clubs appear on the coins of the Kabylian kings. Kabyle’s prime goddess, Artemis Phosphoros, is displayed on this unit’s shields.

By 270 BC, the hoplite had lost its former supremacy on Mediterranean battlefields. Having been the dominant feature of Greek warfare since the seventh century BC, by the time in which RIS starts, hoplites’ vulnerabilities against mixed arms forces had become clear, even if they still appeared on the battlefield. It is interesting to note that the word ‘hoplite’ was not derived from their shield, the word ‘hopla’ rather referring to the entire equipment of ‘arms and armour’ (Lazenby and Whitehead, ‘The myth’, Classical Quarterly 46-1 (1996), pp. 27-33).

Hoplite’s principal weapon was the thrusting spear (dory), eight to nine feet long, with an ash or cornel wood shaft, iron head, and an iron or bronze but spike. The centre of the shaft was bound with cord for a secure grip. The spear was usually used in an overarm thrust, but it could also be thrust underarm or even thrown. The “Argive” shield (called aspis) is large, 80 cm - 1 meter in diameter, convex, made of wood covered with a thin bronze sheet, and was carried with two handles, a bronze porpax in the centre through which the forearm passes, and a cord antilabe at the rim. Hoplites commonly wore greaves, clipped around the legs by their own elasticity. Over the Greek woollen tunic, chiton, the hoplite wore a non-metallic corselet. The heavier and more expensive iron cuirass had increasingly disappeared since the 5th Century BC, as hoplites sought to be swifter and more flexible on the battlefield. It was replaced by a linen corselet – the linothorax – wrapped around the body, tying under the left arm and was split below the waist into strips called pteryges (feathers) for ease of movement. Hoplites formed up into a formation on a frontage of about 3 feet per man, with each man’s right protected by his neighbour's projecting shield. In this formation, the hoplites found mutual protection from an accumulation of shields to their front, rear and side. In the heat of Greek summer, men often waited until the last moment to put on their armour and shield, usually assisted by slave attendants (Hunt, ‘Military Forces’ (2008), pp. 108-117). By the time in which RIS starts, hoplites had thus become lighter and more vulnerable to missiles than their archaic and classical predecessors. As old-fashioned citizen levy, they may hold a line, but will not perform as good as contemporary elite or professional forces raised by the Hellenistic dynasts.