Hey folks! Apologies for this coming out late - alas the pedant household has been struck by a nasty cold that has made keeping up with work this week quite challenging. No post this week, on account of it being Christmas time. May you all have a Merry Christmas or a Happy Holidays or simply … Continue reading Gap Week: December Holidays, 2025
Month: December 2025
Intermission: Battle Pulses
This week we're going to take a brief break from our series on hoplites (I, II, IIIa, IIIb, Intermission, IVa, IVb) to address a broader question in how we understand the mechanics of warfare with contact weapons, which is the mechanics of the concept of a 'battle pulse.' This notion, that front lines in contact … Continue reading Intermission: Battle Pulses
Collections: Hoplite Wars, Part IIIb: A Phalanx By Any Other Name
This is the second half of the third part of our four-part series (I, II, IIIa, IIIb, Intermission, IVa, IVb) discussing the debates surrounding ancient Greek hoplites and the formation in which they (mostly?) fought, the phalanx. Last week, we discussed the development of hoplite warfare through the Archaic period (c. 750-480). Our evidence for … Continue reading Collections: Hoplite Wars, Part IIIb: A Phalanx By Any Other Name
Collections: Hoplite Wars, Part IIIa: An Archaic Phalanx?
This is the third part of our four-part series (I, II, IIIa, IIIb, Intermission, IVa, IVb) discussing the debates surrounding ancient Greek hoplites and the formation in which they (mostly?) fought, the phalanx. Last week, we looked at how the equipment which defined the hoplite - hoplite (ὁπλίτης), after all, means 'equipped man') - and … Continue reading Collections: Hoplite Wars, Part IIIa: An Archaic Phalanx?