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Home , 460s, 490s, 5th century, Acropolis, Eurymedon (mythology), Hoplite

HESPERIA 7I (2002) F I G H T I N G BY T H E R U L E S Pages23-39 THE INVENTIONOF THEHOPLITE

AGON

AB ST RACT

This examinationof the unwrittenrules of Greekwarfare suggests that the ideologyof hoplitewarfare as a ritualizedcontest developed not in the 7th ,but only after 480, when nonhoplite arms began to be excludedfrom the .Regular claims of victory,in the formof battlefieldtrophies, and concessionsof defeat,in the formof requestsfor the retrievalof corpses,ap- pearedin the . Other 5th-centurychanges in militarypractice fit the theorythat victories over the Persiansled to the idealizationof massedhand- to-handcombat. Archaic probably fought according to the limited protocolsfound in .

In a collectionof essayspublished in 1968,Jean-Pierre Vernant, Marcel Detienne,and Jacqueline de Romillyspoke of Greekwarfare as an agon, a contest,conceived like a tournamentwith ceremonies and rules.1 Though it wasnot altogether new, this idea soon spread to otherinfluential French scholarssuch as YvonGarlan and RaoulLonis.2 Pierre Ducrey and W. KendrickPritchett have put the subjecton a muchfirmer foundation bymeticulously collecting the evidence for many Greek military practices, andVictor Davis Hanson has described the misery of Greekbattle in gritty detail,even while popularizing the idea that Archaic warfare followed un- writtenprotocols.3 This view of Greekwarfare dominates the field.4

1. Vernant1968, with Vernant ("la AmericanSchool of ClassicalStudies 3. Ducrey1999; Pritchett 1971-1991; guerregrecque classique est un agon," at Athensfor a wonderfulyear as a Hanson1995, 2000b. p. 21);Detienne ("Le heurt des visitingprofessor in 2000-2001.I also 4. In his WarfareinAncient : phalangesest soumisa regles,il a des wantto thankaudiences at the College A Sourcebook,a textbook intended for aspectsludiques: c'est un agon, a la fois Yearin Athensand the American undergraduates,Sage describes the way concourset combat,epreuve et jeu," Collegeof Thessalonikifor their good of warin ArchaicGreece as "short sharp p. 123);and de Romilly("La guerre questionsafter oral presentations of an clashesthat were the productof mutual entrecites etait, en effet,un etatlatent earlierversion of this paper.Edgar agreementand had some aspects of an maisnon pas incontrole. Con,cue Krentz,Marion Krentz, M. B. Richard- arrangedcontest" (1996, p. xvii).Connor commeun tournoi,elle comportaitses son,Hans van Wees, and Hesperia's describesthe"extensive codification and riteset ses limites,"p. 211). refereesmade many helpful comments thoroughritualization" of Archaic land I amgrateful to the National on writtendrafts. warfare(1988, p. 18), andphrases such Endowmentfor the Humanitiesfor a 2. See Brelich1961; Garlan 1974, as "rulesof combat[battle, conflict, con- generousfellowship, and to the 1975;and Lonis 1979. duct]"run throughout Mitchell 1996.

American School of Classical Studies at is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve, and extend access to Hesperia ® www.jstor.org 24 PETER KRENTZ

JosiahOber has made the most explicit attempt to setout the unwrit- ten conventionsof hoplitewarfare. In his article"The Rules of Warin ClassicalGreece,"s Ober lists a dozen"common customs (koina nomima) of the Greeks"that governed interstate conflict. He maintainsthat these rulesof developed after the Homeric epics were put into writing about 700, and that they brokedown after about 450, especiallyduring the PeloponnesianWar. During the Archaic period, the rulesof hoplitewar- fare"helped to maintainthe long-term practical workability of thehoplite- dominatedsocio-military system" by making frequent possible with- outrisking"demographic catastrophe."fi Hanson also believes that ideologydominated Archaic warfare, as farmers agreed to decidedisputes throughpitched battles. "After the creationof the hoplitepanoply," he writes,"for nearly two anda halfcenturies (700-480 B.C.) hoplitebattle was Greekwarfare."7 Hanson attributes the breakdownof thisadmirable systemto the PersianWars and the growthof the Athenianempire, a generationbefore the PeloponnesianWar. The earliestreferences to Greekmilitary protocols come in andin speechesin the historiansHerodotos, , and . In theHerakleidai Euripides mentions "the customs of theGreeks" (oatv EXBNvxv voots, 1010)regarding the killingof prisoners.In the Suppli- antshe refersto customsregarding burial of enemysoldiers: the "customs 5. Ober1996. of thegods" (voCa 0rxv, 19),the "customs of allGreece" (voCa saqs 6. Ober1996, pp. 6>61. EXBaAos, 311),"the custom of all Greeks"(ov fIavrkANvxv vo,uov,526, 7. Hanson1995, p. 241. 671).In Herodotos,Xerxes refers to "thecustoms of allpeople" (a savv 8. Pritchett1985, IV, pp. 112-124. The 460s datefits the earliestinscrip- av0tozxv voCa, 7.136.2) aboutthe inviolabilityof heralds,and tionalevidence for the burialgames (IG Mardoniosdescribes the wayin whichhe heardthe Greekswere accus- I3523-525, the firstof which,however, tomed(r0ast, 7.9,3.1)to wagewar. In Thucydides, Archidamos says it is Lewisand Jeffery incline to putca. not"customary"(vo,ut,uov, 1.85.2) to attacksomeone prepared to make 479) andthe earliestinscribed casualty restitution,the Mytileniansrefer to "thecustom established among the list (IGI31144). Greeks"(o xa0roTos Tots EXBat vo,ut,uov,3.9.1)about those who revolt 9. On oaths,see Karavites1992. On heralds,"messengers of Zeusand men," duringa war,the Plataians cite the "common customs among the Greeks" seeII. 7.274-276and elsewhere; in the (la xotval(l)V 'ERYIV@Vvo,ut,ua, 3.59.1) regarding treatment of enemies ,the Laistrygoniansreveal their who surrender,and a Thebanherald (in Thucydides' summary) refers to inhumanityby eatingOdysseus's herald "thecustoms of the Greeks"(la vo,ut,uav 'EBYiV@V,4.97.2) regarding (10.110-117).On priests,note that invadersand sanctuaries. In Xenophon'ssummary of the Eleians'refusal Odysseusspares a sacredgrove of to let Agis prayfor victory in war,the Eleianscite "the old custom"(o ,along with the priest,Maron, andhis childand wife (Od.9.197-201; atoxatovvo,ut,uov, Hell. 3.2.22)that Greeks not consultan oracleabout a the troublesin the begin when waragainst other Greeks. Agamemnonmistreats , Claimsmade in the secondhalf of the ,however, do not anotherpriest of Apollo,by refusingto provethat the customswere really old. By the timeof the Peloponnesian acceptransom for his daughter,1.9- War,for example, Thucydides could describe the annualpublic burial of 100).On suppliantsin sanctuaries,see Parker1983, pp. 181-182,and Kara- Athenianwar dead as an "ancestral custom" (waptog vo,uos,2.34.2). Kimon vites1992, pp. 15s155. On burying probablybegan this practice when he broughtback the ashesof the men the dead,see II. 7.394-432,where the whodied at Eurymedon (Paus.1.43.3), and the law requiring public burial Greeksaccept the Trojan herald Idaios's athome probably goes back no furtherthan the mid-460s. So this"ances- requestfor a truceto burythe bodies. tralcustom" started only one generation before the PeloponnesianWar.8 Achilles'attempt to mutilateHektor's Somecustoms the onesin whichthe godstook an interest cer- bodyis the exceptionthat proves the rule.Apollo protects the body,and in tainlygo backto Homer:oaths, including oaths sworn as partof a nego- the end Zeushas Achilles grant 's tiated surrender,were respected;heralds, priests, and suppliantsin requestfor a truceto holdHektor's sanctuarieswere inviolable; the deadwere buried.9 What about the other funeral. FIGHTING BY THE RULES 25

allegedprotocols? Do the rulesapply to the fightingin theIliad? If not, whendo theyfirst appear? I will arguethat somepractices go backto Homer,that others are matters of tacticsrather than conventions, and that severalimportant new rules and practices appear only in the 5th century. I uZillpropose an alternative model below for the development of Greekwar- fare,agreeing with Hans van Wees' recent suggestion that the hoplite pha- lanxdid not reach its Classicalform until after the Persian Wars.l° A new, nostalgicideology of wardeveloped as fighting became more destructive.

A REVIEW OF MILITARY PROTOCOLS

Oberassumes rather than defends the existence of hisinformal rules, which he drawsfrom the works of otherscholars. Nevertheless, Ober's formula- tion of the rules(indicated by italics)will serveas a convenientfoil for discussion.I consider them not in descendingorder of formality,as Ober liststhem, but in the orderin whichthey would arise during a campaign.

Thestate of war should be oJf cially declared before commencing hostilities against an appropriatefoe.

In theirstudy of Greekdiplomacy, FrankAdcock and D.J. Mosley say that"although surprise attacks were made it wasthe habit of theGreeks to makea formaldeclaration of war.''1lSo it wouldcertainly seem from Herodotosand Polybios. Herodotos has the Persian Mardonios say (7.9,8.1, Waterfieldtrans.):

Besides,from all I hear,the Greeksusually wage war in an extremelystupid fashion, because they are ignorant and incom- petent.When they declare war on one anotherthey seek out thebest, most level piece of land,and that is wherethey go to fight.The upshotis thatthe victors leave the battlefield with massivelosses, not to mentionthe losers, who are completely wipedout.

AndPolybios, comparing the practices of his ownday to thoseof anear- lierera he admired,says (13.3.2-6, Patton trans.):

The ancientswould not evenconsent to get thebetter of their enemiesby fraud,[3] regardingno successas brilliant or secure unlessthey crushed the spiritof theiradversaries in openbattle. [4] Forthis reason they entered into a conventionamong them- selvesto useagainst each other neither secret missiles nor those dischargedfrom a distance,and considered that it wasonly a handto handbattle at closequarters which was truly decisive. [5] Hencethey preceded war by a declaration[ovs TcOks,UOV5 aBsIkotsT:pOuBsyov], and when they intended to do battlegave 10. Seevan Wees 2000, pp. 155- the spotto whichthey would proceed 156. noticeof the factand of 11.Adcock and Mosley 1975, andarray their army. [6] Butat the presentthey say it is a sign p.202. of poorgeneralship to do anythingopenly in war. PETERKRENTZ 26 war,however, is The earliestattested instance of a heralddeclaring fleetset sail in theCorinthian herald sent to Corfubefore the Corinthian the outbreakof the 435(Thuc. 1.29.1).12 In his detaileddescription of the Lakedaimonian PeloponnesianWara fewyears later, Thucydides has 1.85.2)to attack kingArchidamos say that it is not"customary" (vo,ut,uov, waron Ath- someoneprepared to makerestitution. Rather than declaring demands,which ens,the Lakedaimonians sent delegations making various willingto go to arbi- theAthenians rejected, though they said they were the Peloponnesians trationas required by treaty(Thuc. 1.145.1). Once (Thuc.2.12.1- wereonthe march, afinal ambassador was refused admission soundHomeric: 2).These delegations, sent to negotiatebefore an invasion, for300 sheepand ayoung went to Messeneto seekreparations 21.16-21), and theirshepherds that the Messenianshad taken(Od. returnof Helen(II. Menelaosand Odysseus went to Troyto demandthe fundamen- 3.205-224,11.138-142). Greek practice, therefore, remained normallysought tallythe samefrom Homer to Thucydides:Greek states but did not de- reparationsfor injuries before invading enemy territory, clarewar in the formalRoman manner. especiallythose declared Hostilitiesare sometimes inappropriate: sacred truces, observed. forthe celebration of the Olympisgames,should be sxsXsota,liter- Abundantevidence shows that Greeks observed an panhellenicfesti- a "hands-off,"for the EleusinianMysteries and the ally protected at Olympia,, Isthmia, and .13 These truces vals as well as the pilgrimsand contestants going to andfrom the festivals, warfare.Moreover, statesponsoring the festival.They did not prohibit all Peoplecelebrating tobe validthe truceshad to be declaredand accepted. In fact,as Aineias afestival were not necessarilyimmune from attack. an enemywas Taktikosnoted in the ,an idealtime to attack a festival(4.8).14 during not mention It is not certainwhen the custombegan. Homer does Olympictruce was anyof thesefestivals or the sacred truces for them. The historicalrefer- allegedto havebegun in the ,but the earliest 460,about the same enceappears in aninscription from Selinous dated ca.

shutthe gatesagainst the menof negative the 4th century,of a warso bitterthat 12.There is somepossible Smyrnawhen they were outside cele- centuryAigina the two sidesdid not communicate evidence:early in the 5th bratinga festivalof Dionysos(Hdt. withouta throughheralds. andAthens fought a "war 1.150);the Aiginetansattacked the Hdt. 13. See Baltrusch1994, pp. 117- herald"(wOk£,UoS axYipuxxoqX Atheniansduring a festivalat Sounion and 122,with literature cited. Herodotos 5.81.2),and the Lakedaimonians (Hdt.6.87); the Athenianshoped to later (6.106.3-107)mentions a rule(voFog) Messeniansare said, by much surprisethe Mytilenianswhile they earlier forbiddingthe Lakedaimoniansfrom writers,to havedone the same outsidethe citycelebrating a If marchingout beforethe fullmoon, but were still(Paus. 4.5.8, Plut. Pyrrh. 26.11). Apollo(Thuc. 3.3.3); and asPritchett notes (1971, I, p. 120),the festivalof thisexpression means"unannounced," Phoebidasseized the Theban Kadmeia impliesthat banapplied only to marching,not asMyres (1943) argued, it duringthe Thesmophoria (Xen. Hell. a warwould normally be announced.But fighting. Forexample, Kolophonian exiles 5.2.29). it maycarry the sense,well attestedin 14. FIGHTING BY THE RULES 27

timethe Eleusiniantruce first appears in an inscription.l5The trucesfor the festivalsat Delphi,Isthmia, and Nemea could not predate the found- ingofthe festivals in 582,581, and 563, respectively. Given the state of our evidence,it wouldbe rashto assertthat these truces began only in the5th century,but nothing puts them in the 7th centuryeither.

Waris an aJfairof ,thus noncombatants should not be primary targets of attack.

No one everclaims that civilians should not be attacked.In practice invadersdid not attack noncombatants because defenders got themout of theway, either behind city walls or offto a friendlystate or into the hills.l6 Forexample, when Agesilaos invaded Akarnania in 389,the Akarnanians fledinto walled cities and sent their cattle to the mountains(Xen. Hell. 4.6.4). Similarly,each time the Peloponnesiansinvaded during the ArchidamianWar, the Athenians brought their children, women, and pos- sessionsinto the city,and sent their sheep and cattle to Euboiaand other islands(Thuc. 2.14.1).This alleged protocol is thereforeno protocol at all, butrather a matterof militarytactics.

Battlesshould befought during the usual (summer) campaigning season.

In the4th century, remarked that the Lakedaimonians, likeeveryone else, used to campaignonly during the fouror fivesummer months(9.48). But no sourceturns this factinto a should,into a ruleof properconduct. Battles in theArchaic period were fought during the sum- merbecause for Greece'sfarmer-soldiers, fighting at othertimes of the yearwas impractical if not impossible. When increased economic resources in the5th centurymade pay for military service the norm, at least in Ath- 15. Forthe referenceto the ens, campaignsoccurred at othertimes of the yeartoo. The timingof Olympictruce, see Jameson, Jordan, campaignswas another matter of militarytactics rather than military con- andKotansky 1993: side A, line 7. For ventions. the Eleusiniantruce, see IG I36 B 8- 47. The storyof the Olympictruce's ofthe challenge. originappears in Phlegon,FGrHist 257 A battleisproperlyprefaced bya ritualchallenge and acceptance F 1, Plut.Lyc. 1.1-2, andPaus. 5.4.5-6, 20.1.The "discusof Iphitos,"appar- The title of Pritchett'schapter on this subject,"The Challenge to entlyseen by ,contained an Battle,"does not includethe word "ritual," and even so it suggestssome- inscribedversion of the truce,but was thingmore formal than what he describes.17 Despite Polybios 13.3.5 (quoted probablymade to justifyEleian control above),there is no knowncase in Archaicor Classicalhistory of a Greek of the games(Lammer 1982-1983, heraldissuing a challengeto battleat a particulartime and place though Pp-49-50). 16.Muller (1975) catalogues the a Persianherald challenges the Lakedaimonians atPlataia to a singlecom- occasionson whichGreeks sent chil- batbetween equal numbers of Persiansand Lakedaimonians (Hdt. 9.48). dren,women, and possessions away for Pritchetttakes the deploymentof an armyin battleformation as a safety.Pritchett (1991, V, pp. 35(}351) challengeto fight:"phalanx battles normally began when both sides were notessome additions, mostly from after 350. ready.They were, to use Polybios'sphrase, yocxocL £g oMoXoyov" (battles 17. Pritchett1974, II, pp. 147-155. by agreement).18In this sense,each of the fourdays of fightingin the 18. Pritchett1974, II, p. 148. Iliad beginswith a "challengeto battle":both sides arm and go outto fight PETERKRENTZ 28 mentionedby (3.1,8.53-59, 11.15-66,20.1-4). The formallanguage doesit firstoccur? Pritchett,however, does not appearin Homer.When in Polybios(1.87.9, Thephrase "by agreement" (£g oMoXoyov) iS common theClassical histo- 2.66.4,3.90.5,4.8.11,11.32.7,F 144), but absent from is also commonin rians.Another term for pitchedbattle, socpocTocEts, ratherall but ab- Polybiosand absent from the Classicalhistorians-or that the battleof sent,for Thucydidesdoes use it once,when he says 5.11.2).19 Amphipolisin 422 was not a pitchedbattle (yN £X GIOCpaTi£Xg, andXenophon, Theverb socpocTocoox occurs frequently in Thucydides I wonderwhether butonly three times in Herodotos(8.95.1,9.31.2,32.2). thanthey are in the Archaictroops were ever deployed more specifically menin fivesections under Iliad,where the heroes sometimes arrange their placesthe chariots in fivenamed leaders (4.293-296,16.171-198). in themiddle (4.297- front,the brave at the back, and the cowards a moreformal deploy- 3OO).20The linguistic evidence, therefore, points to onlyafter the PersianWars. ment terminology. The main issue,however, does not revolvearound yet Herodotos'sMar- Homericwarriors happily deceived their enemies, Greeksfought doniosand Polybios(quoted above) assert that Archaic do not applyto openbattles when both sides were ready. Their assertions truethat Greeks de- Classicalwarfare, which is fullof deceptions.2lIt is or sprangan ambush ployedin a plainrarely attacked an enemy'scamp into a plain a battle.Commanders who broughttheir armies out during thosecir- thattheir troops were a matchfor the enemy.Under believed maneuvers.A cumstances,they generally hesitated to tryrisky deceptive in 546, attack desperate,or daring, commander might, like Peisistratos riskscould be mini- duringthe afternoonsiesta (Hdt. 1.63). And if the campduring a meal. mized,even a Lakedaimonianking might attack a observedthat they Whenthe Argivesput off battlein 494, Kleomenes men attackafter the wereobeying his herald'scommands, and had his Theseexamples from heraldgave the orderfor breakfast (Hdt. 6.77-78). fromwhat Homer theArchaic period suggest that practice had not changed describes. to battleif they Greeksdid not feel obligatedto accepta challenge of about outnumbered.Most battles took place between armies wereheavily must samesize.22 If thedefending army was heavily outnumbered-as the the Greek havebeen the case,given the variationsin size among often refusalto the leadersusually declined a battle.Perikles' famous poleis Warwas leadthe Athenians out to fighta landbattle in thePeloponnesian 431.23 nota strategydevised on the spurof the momentin he wasambushed on his way 21. See Krentz2000. though 19. Forthe termsapaTaE,Tc,, see the unsuccessfulAthenian 22. Hanson1995, p. 277. home); Isoc.10.53, Dem. 9.49,Aeschin. 3.88, in 454 (Thuc.1.111.3); the In additionto the Greekswho of Oiniadai 2.18.2,2.21.5, 2.26.8, 2.51.3, 23. takePharsalos in Polyb. citiesin the faceof the Athenians'failure to 15.12.3,30.4.2. abandonedtheir theThes- 2.70.6,6.26.11, andChalkedo- 454 (Thuc.1.111.1), when describesthe Persians(Byzantines their (Mor. 231E) Hdt. 6.96; saliancavalry kept them pinned to out afterthe "Battleof nians,Hdt. 6.33.2;Naxians, Sic. battlethat broke the Athenians camp,and similarly in 457 (Diod. as a ,uaXr£X Phokians,Hdt 8.32;and Champions"(Hdt. 1.82) of 11.83.3-4);the unopposedLakedai- doesnot. themselves,Hdt. 8.41),we know satoaTai£Xg, butHerodotos burningof treesin the Megarid manyinvasions before 431 thatdid not monian 20. Xenophon'sSokrates also (Thuc.1.108.2); the Phokian culminatein a battle:' capture in 457 recommendsputting the bestmen in of Dorisin 457,when the Chaironeiain 447 (Thuc.1.113, invasion the frontand the back(Mem. 3.1.7-8). of FIGHTING BY THE RULES 29

Useof nonhoplitearms should be limited.

DespitePolybios's claim (quoted above) that"the ancients" agreed not to useunseen missiles or missiles shot from a distance,the only such agree- mentknown is theone Strabo says was inscribed on a columnin thesanc- tuaryof ArtemisAmarynthia, prohibiting missiles in the LelantineWar (10.1.12).Polybios and Strabo probably drew on the 4th-centuryhisto- rianEphoros for this pact, and Everett L. Wheeler has argued that Ephoros inventedit aspart of a protestagainst the ,a frighteningnew dis- tanceweapon in his day.24 Buteven if the agreementis historical,it is the exceptionrather than the rule.Archaic battles included many projectile weapons, with light- armedmen -and stone-throwers, slingers, and archers fighting in the phalanx,not in separateunits or behindthe .25The 7th- centurypoet Tyrtaios, for example, advises (F 11.35-38,West trans.):

Youlight-armed men, wherever you can aim fromthe shield-cover,pelt them with great rocks andhurl at themyour smooth-shaved , helpingthe armouredtroops with close support.

In theArchaic period, the distinction between "light-armed" and "hoplite" wasnot alwayssharp, as a few exampleswill demonstrate. Athenian red- figurevases sometimes depict archers with greaves, , and shields, anda mid-6th-centurybronze statuette of Heraklesas an archer,found nearAmphipolis, wears a bronzecuirass. A 6th-centurymolded pithos foundat Spartashows a slingerwith a crestedhelmet. The northfrieze of the 6th-centurySiphnian Treasury at Delphihas two , armed with helmetsand shields, throwing stones. The interiorof a 6th-centurycup foundin theAthenian shows a runningwarrior wearing an Orien- talleather cap and greaves, carrying a hopliteshield and two .26 The Chigivase from , ca. 640, showsfully armed hoplites with two spears,one a javelin.27Athenian vases continue into the 5th centuryto showsome hoplites with javelins, and burials excavated at Sindos, in north- ernGreece, regularly include a largerand a smallerspear until the late 5th century.28

Phokianscaptured one citybefore the (Hdt.3.47,54-56);the siegeof Kirrha Boston 98.657 in the Museum of Fine Lakedaimoniansarrived and compelled or Krisain the early6th century(Isoc. Arts, Boston; for the molded pithos, see themto leave(Thuc. 1.107.2); Mil- 14.33,Aeschin.3.107-113, Diod. Sic. Wace 1905-1906, p. 292 and pl. 9; for tiades'unsuccessful siege of Parosin 9.16, Paus.10.37.4-8).Campaigns the SiphnianTreasury stone-throwers, 489 (Hdt.6.133-135); the Phokians' withoutbattles surely go underreported see FdD IV.2, pp. 84, 89. The Agora cup flightto the mountainsbefore their in oursources. For an argumentthat is publishedin AgoraXXIII, pp. 299- nightassault on the invadingThes- the Athenianshad devised their Pelo- 300, no. 1678 and pl. 109. salians,probably in the (Hdt. ponnesianWar strategy by the , 27. For the Chigi vase,see van Wees 8.27);Histiaios's siege of Thasosin 494 whenthe longwalls were built, see 2000,pp. 136-137. [See alsofigs. 1 and9 (Hdt.6.27); Hippokrates' of Krentz1997. in J. M. Hurwit's article"Reading the Kallipolis,Leontinoi, , and 24. Wheeler1987. Chigi Vase"in this issue of Hesperia.-Ed.] Zanklein the (Hdt.7.154.2); 25. Seevan Wees 2000, pp.146-156. 28. Sindos(1985), a museum exhi- 'siege of Myrinaon 26. Fora list of armedarchers on bition catalogue,documents the Sindos in the 490s (Hdt.6.140.2); the Lake- Athenianvases, see Lissarrague1990, finds. daimoniansiege of Samosin ca.523 p.129; the statuetteof Heraklesis 3o PETER KRENTZ

This mixof warriorsand weapons sounds very Homeric.29 By Thu- cydides'time, hoplites and light-armed troops normally fought in separate units.Before the hoplitesengaged at the battleof Syracusein 415, for example,the stone-throwers,slingers, and archers routed each other re- peatedly,"as was likely for light-armed troops" (Thuc.6.69.2). When did the Greeksexclude nonhoplite troops from the phalanx?There may have beena smallcavalry force at Athens in the ,but only after 479 didthe Athenians establish what I. G. Spencecalls a "proper corps," increasedto 1,000plus 200 mountedarchers by 431.3° True horsemen, as opposedto mountedhoplites, do not appearin Peloponnesiancities until the late5th or early4th century.31The Atheniancontingent of infantry archersfirst appearsat Plataiain 479.32As for light-armedsoldiers, Thucydidessays that at the time of thebattle of Delion(424), Athens had no organizedlight-armed troops (WRoL £X saQoaax£vYIg,4.94.1). Little morethan a dozenyears later, however, Athens did haveits ownlight- armedmen, and no longerhad to dependon Thraciansor allies.33The Thebanshad their hamippoi, infantry fast enough to servewith cavalry, by 418 (Thuc.5.57;Xen. Hell. 7.5.23).

Pursuitof defeatedand retreating opponents should be limited in duration.

No suchrule is attestedfor Greeksin general.Thucydides says that the Lakedaimoniansfought stubbornly until they routed the enemy,but thenpursued them neither far nor for a longtime (5.73.4). He doesnot explaintheir reasoning, and the fact that he makesthe point at all suggests thatother Greeks pursued their opponents long and hard. Seven hundred yearslater Plutarch explained that the Lakedaimonians thought it ignoble for Greeksto kill menwho hadfled, and added that the policyhad the practicalbenefit of makingenemies more inclined to run(Lyc. 22.9-10; Mor.228F). Perhaps the cautiousLakedaimonians thought more about notexposing their troops to a reverseif theyscattered in pursuit.After the battleof Haliartosin 395,the Thebans pursued the Lakedaimoniansinto thehills, where they rallied, first with javelins and stones, and killed more than200 Thebans. Lakedaimonian practice avoided such a reverse.

29. In the Iliadspears are more individualswho seemto havebows and (,Aineias, Aias, Dio- oftenthrown (87 times)than thrust otherweapons in the samefight, such medes,Hektor, Patroklos, and Peiros- (79 times),arrows outnumber as Pandaros( and bow, 5.171-216, a realroster of champions)fight else- asweapons (21:19), and warriors throw 238-285),Meriones (spear and bow, wherewith otherweapons (Pritchett stones12 times(van Wees 1994, 13.159,65(}652), andHelenos ( l991,V,pp.4-5). p. 144).Some contingents specialize in andbow, 13.576-595). The Lokrians 30.Thuc. 2.13.8; Spence 1993, archery Paionians(2.848,10.428) on fightwell with bows and slings, without pp.9-19; Bugh1988, p. 39. theTrojan side and Lokrians (13.712- helmets,shields, or spears(13.712- 31. Spence1993, pp. 1-9. 718) andPhiloktetes' men (2.718-720) 718),but otherarchers, such as - 32. Hdt. 9.22, 60;archers on ships on the Greek butthere are also indi- daros,do havearmor (5.294-295), and appearat the battleof Salamisa vidualslike Alexandros and Teukros the Catalogueof Shipsdescribes the earlier,Aesch. Pers. 454-464. See who fightnow with a bow(11.369- Lokrianleader Aias as an expertwith Plassart1913. 378, 8.266-272),now with a spear the spear(2.527-530). All sevenof the 33.Thuc. 8.71.2; Xen. Hell. 1.1.33- (3.330-339,15.478-483),and even namedwarriors who throwstones 34. See Best 1969. FIGHTING BY THE RULES 3 I

Whenthey had the opportunityto do so safely,Greeks showed little hesitationin slaughteringtheir enemies. In a fragmentarypoem found on papyrus,Tyrtaios seems to imaginethat the Messenians"will kill every Spartanthat they catch fleeing the battle"(F 23a.20-22,West trans.). In 510,the Krotoniatesrouted the invadingSybarites and did kill every one theycaught (Diod. Sic. 12.10.1). Fleeing from the Atheniansafter a de- featin 460, someCorinthians became trapped in a fieldsurrounded by a ditch,with no exit.The Atheniansblocked the frontwith hoplites,sur- roundedthe Corinthianswith light-armed troops, and stoned them all to death(Thuc. 1.106.1-2). After the battle of Delionin 424,the Boiotians andespecially the Boiotianand Lokrian cavalry chased and killed Athe- niansuntil darkness stopped the pursuit(Thuc. 4.96.7-8). In 392, at the battlebetween the Corinthianlong walls, the Lakedaimonianskilled so manyCorinthians, Xenophon says, that "men used to seeingmounds of grain,wood, and stones now sawmounds of corpses"(Hell. 4.4.12).In 368,the Lakedaimonianskilled more than 10,000 Arkadians without los- ing a singleman in whatwas called fromthe Lakedaimonianpoint of view the"Tearless Battle" (Xen. Hell. 7.2.31;Diod. Sic.15.72.3). The extentof a pursuittherefore appears to be anothermatter of mili- tarytactics rather than military protocols.

Punishmentof surrenderedopponents should be restrained.

In Euripides'Herakleidai (961-966,1009-1011), "the customs of the Greeks"forbid later killing a prisonertaken on thebattlefield, but do not saythat a soldieroffering to surrendermust be spared.Warriors never spareindividuals who tryto surrenderduring combat in the Iliad:when Menelaoswas once about to showmercy, Agamemnon told him not to spareanyone, not even the unborn child (6.37-65). Other rejected appeals include11.122-147, where Agamemnon cuts off Hippolochos'sarms and sendshim spinningaway like a log,and 21.64-135, where Achilles feeds Lykaon'scorpse to thefish. For an example of mercygranted during fight- ing,we haveto go to Odysseus'sCretan tale at Od.14.276-284, where the Egyptianking spares him as he graspsthe king's knees. In hisrecent study of supplication,Fred S. Naidensuggests that Greek soldiers did not spare battlefieldsuppliants either because they might fight again, or because, on the principleof reciprocity,they deserve no mercy.34The samerationale appliesto citiestaken by storm:Homeric heroes kill the menand enslave the women.That's what Achilles did at Lyrnessos(II. 2.691),Lesbos (II. 9.665-666),Slyros (II. 9.667-668), andSenedos (II. 11.623-626). It's what Odysseusdoes to theKikonians (Od. 9.39-61). And it's what Hektor imag- ineswill be doneto (II. 6.447-465). Theevidence for later warfare shows little change. When a cityfell, by siege or assault,the defeatedmight be killedor sold into slavery.As 34. Naiden2000, pp. 71-72. Xenophon'sCyrus says,"it is a customestablished for all timeamong all 35. Forsimilar sentiments, see yato £V sastv av0tosotSaBtog] that when a cityis taken Herakleitos,FVorsoAr F 53;DissoiLogoi, people[vo,uog FVorsoArvol. 2, p. 410;P1. Resp. 468a, in war,the persons and the property of theinhabitants belong to the cap- Leg. 626b;Arist. Pol. 1255a. tors"(Cyr. 7.5.73).35 e b

32 PETER KRENTZ

Erectinga battlefieldtrophy indicates victory; such trophies should be respected.

Thisrule applies verywellto the fighting inThucydides andXenophon, as Pritchett'scatalogue of examplesshows.36 Pritchett finds a trophyin II. 10.465-468,where Odysseus dedicates Dolon's equipment to Athenaand putsit on a bush.But he putsit on thebush only in orderto findit later, whenhe recoversit andplans to offerit elsewhere(10.570-571). When did the customof erectingtrophies begin? Herodotos never mentionsthem, nor does he mentionthe epinikia, the victory sacrifice that accompaniedthe erection of a trophy.37The earliest literary reference prob- ablycomes from the mock-epicBatrachomyomachia, tentatively dated to thefirst half of the5th century.38 More securely dated are the references to trophiesin lines277 and954 of 'sSeven against Thebes, pro- ducedin 468. The earliestphysical remains of trophiesbelong to monumentsfrom the PersianWars: the marblecolumns erected, probably in the 460s,at Marathonand Salamis.39 Battlefield trophies ofthe simplesort mentioned in Thucydidesand Xenophon piecesof capturedarmor and weapons hungon a postor tree-do notappear in vasepainting until the middle of the 5th century,as John Beazley observed.40 Trophies appear in otherart forms(relief sculpture, coins, and gems) later still.4l The latertrophies differfrom the monumentsof thePersian Wars in severalways: they were erectedimmediately, constructed of perishablematerials, and placed where the enemyturned to flee,rather than where most of the enemydied.42

Aftera battle,it is rightto returnenemy dead ishen asked; to requestthe return of one'sdead is tantamountto admittingdefeat.

Greekstook no unwrittenlaw more seriously than the obligationto allowdefeated enemies to retrieveand burytheir dead.43Pritchett's exhaustivestudy of theburial of Greekwar dead details the conventions. A heraldregularly asks for a truce,and Justin says that the Greeksconsid- eredthe sendingof thisherald as a concessionof defeat(6.6.10). The last

36. Pritchett1974, I, pp.246-275. examples,one Boiotianblack-figure, mound,or soros. The monument 37. Pritchettnotes that none of the andone Campanianred-figure, in apparentlystood near the ancient 96 occurrencesof Ovxin Herodotos Caskeyand Beazley 1963, pp. 66-67. marsh,where the largestnumber of refersto a post-battlesacrifice (1979, The Boiotianblack-figure fragment was Persiansdied. III, p. 186). originallypublished as late6th century 43.The Thebanscame closest to 38. Batrachomyomachia159: OOO£V (Kabirenheiligtumbei ThebenI, p. 123 violatingthe rule,first when they re- zV0V,Ux5To,uvoxTovov (J0£ oowaLov. andpl. 19.7),but fits better in the late fusedto returnthe Atheniandead at The datedepends on the poem's 5th century(Kabirenheiligtum bei Delionuntil they recovered the temple attribution(by Plutarch and the Suda) ThebenIV, pp.5-7). the Athenianshad fortified, on the to Pigres,the son (Plut.Mor. 873F)or 41.Woelckel911;Janssen 1957. groundsthat the Athenianshad vio- the brother(Suda s.v. Pigres) of the 42. Often,of course,most of the latedthe rulesof the Greeksregarding CarianArtemisia famous from her casualtieswould fall near where they sanctuaries(Thuc. 4.97-101), and participationin Xerxes'invasion of firstturned and fled. But the findspot againwhen they attached conditions Greece,in whichPigres also partici- of the fragmentsexcavated by Vander- to the truceat Haliartosin 395 (Xen. pated(Hdt. 7.98.1). poolat Marathondoes not, paceWest Hell. 3.5.24).On the firstoccasion, the 39. ForMarathon, see Vanderpool 1969,p. 7, fit "thetopographical Thebancase had some plausibility, 1966.For Salamis, Wallace 1969. requirementsfor the trophy."According sinceAthenians and other Greeks 40. Beazleymade the observation to laterpractice, we wouldexpect to regularlydenied burial to temple- afterlisting eleven Attic red-figure finda trophynearer the Athenianburial robbers. FIGHTING BY THE RULES 33

sentenceof Xenophon'sHellenika comments on the odd result ofthe battle of Mantineiain 362,when "both sides returned the deadunder a truceas thoughvictorious, and both received back their dead under a truceas though defeated"(7.5.26). The Lakedaimonianscondemned their king to deathin 395partly because he opted to retrievethe corpses of Lysandros andothers under a truce,rather than try to recoverthem by fighting (Xen. Hell.3.5.22-25). The rightto burythe deadalso appears in Homer(see note 9), but an importantchange occurs. The Iliad has a burialtruce after the first dayof battle,but not afterthe second,third, and fourth, so it doesnot appearto be standardpractice. When the Trojanherald Idaios makes the requestthat first day,not only does he not concedethe victory, he promisesto fightagain (7.396).44 By Thucydides' time, the losers're- questfor permissionto retrievetheir dead has become as regularas the erectionof trophies in fact,Pritchett notes that "the context in which historiansrefer to the oevocLpecwLSv vexpxv (retrieval of corpses)is re- peatedlythat of justification for erection of thetrophy."45 "" here doesnot include Herodotos, who no morementions burial truces than he doestrophies.

Prisonersof ivarshould be oJferedfor ransom, not summarily executed or muti- lated.

As discussedabove, Greeks never felt a moralobligation to takepris- oneran opponentbegging for mercyduring a fight.But both Homeric andClassical ethics dictated that prisoners taken in anothercontext should be spared.46In theIliadAchilles is saidto havereleased for ransom Priam's sons,Isos and Antiphos, whom he caughton Mt. Ida(11.104-106), and to havesold at least one other, Lykaon, whom he caughtin Priam'sgarden one night(21.35-41), and probably more, given the pluralreferences at 21.102and 22.45. Achilles' sacrifice of twelveTrojans on Patroklos'sfu- neralpyre (23.175-176) indicates not that killing prisoners was acceptable behavior,but thathis angerstill raged out of control.In Thucydides,as wellas in Euripides'Herakleidai (quoted above), we findthe claimthat by Greekcustom captors should not executeprisoners who hadsurrendered (3.58,3.66.1). An incidentearly in the PeloponnesianWar shows that othercaptives ought not to bekilled either. In 430the Athenians executed a half-dozenPeloponnesian ambassadors intercepted on theirway to the Persianking. They threw the bodies into a pit,thinking they were justified sincethe Lakedaimonianshad begun acting this way at the beginningof 44. Similarly,when Priam asks the war,when they had killed and thrown into pits all the Athenianand Achillesto returnHektor's body for onmerchant ships around the (Thuc. burial,Priam too promisesto fight alliedtraders they caught again(II. 24.666). 2.67.4).This phrasing suggests that the Athenians were retaliating against 45. Pritchett1985, IV, p.247. For whatthey perceived as improper behavior. examples,see Thuc. 1.63.3; 2.79.7, 82, Sparingprisoners did not necessarilymean releasing them for ran- 92.4;4.72.4, 101.4; 5.10.12-11.2, 74.2; som.They might be soldinto slavery or forcedinto exile. After an exten- 6.70.3-71.1,97.5, 103.1;7.5.3, 72.1-2; sivesurvey of captives'fate, Pritchett concludes that ransoming was rela- 8.106.4;Xen. Hell. 4.3.21;6.2.24, 4.14- 15;7.1.19, 4.25, 5.13,5.26. tivelyinfrequent and done for financial, not humanitarian,reasons.47 The 46. See Ducrey1999. onlyreal evidence for better treatment of prisonersin the Archaicperiod 47. Pritchett1991, V, pp.245-312. is the4th-century orator Aischines' reference to anoath supposedly sworn 34 PETER KRENTZ by the Amphiktyonsat the timeof the FirstSacred War (early 6th cen- tury?)not to depopulateany Amphiktyonic (2.115). The authentic- ityof thisoath is tiedup with the knotty question of thehistoricity of the FirstSacred War itself, which John Davies pronounced "a plausible hy- pothesis,but no more."48Because the Amphiktyonicoath inscribedat Athensin 380 makesno referenceto thisclause (CID I 10,lines 4-10), it seemssafer to concludewith Pritchett that Greeks treated captives simi- larlyfrom Homer's time through the Classicalperiod.

FIFTH-CENTURY CHANGES

The precedinganalysis suggests that the list of customarypractices trace- ableto Homerincludes demands for satisfaction prior to aninvasion. Treat- mentof surrenderedopponents and prisoners of wardoes not changein the Archaicperiod, and does not deservethe term"convention." Other allegedmilitary protocols turn out to be a matterof militarytactics rather thanof formalconventions designed to amelioratewarfare: noncombat- antswere not attackedbecause cities got themout of theway; campaigns usuallytook place in the summerbecause the weatherwas most reliable thenand farmers could afford to leavetheir fields, trees, and vines; victors sometimesrefrained from vigorous pursuit of a defeatedarmy because scat- teringin pursuitmight make them susceptible to a counterattack. Someimportant changes remain. Nonhoplite arms began to be ex- 48. Davies1994, p.206. 49. I passover here the trucesfor cludedfrom the phalanx about the time of thePersian Wars, when cavalry festivalsthat appear about 460, be- andlight-armed troops started to fightin theirown distinct units. Only causethey may have started earlier. In thereafterdo we findthe wordsocpocTocELS for a . Regular seekingto explainthe Olympic claimsof victory,in the formof battlefieldtrophies, and concessions of officials'change in namefrom 8taTaqp defeat,in the formof requestsfor the retrievalof corpses,appeared in the to 'EEavo8exas ca.480, Siewert(1992, 460s.49Trophies placed at the "turning"only make sense when the first p. 115) suggeststhat, because of the Olympictruce, the Eleianswere named turngenerally became a rout,as it didin Classicalhoplite battles, but not the guardiansof the panhellenictruce in Homericfighting.50 Hoplite warfare, therefore, did not breakdown agreedupon in 481 forthe defense graduallyin the 5th century,but quite the opposite.New militaryproto- againstthe Persians.Alternatively, the colsdeveloped not in the ,but only after 480. truceof 481 mayhave prompted the Otherrelevant military practices also developed in the 5th century Olympictruce. 50.The battleof Solygeiain 425, ratherthan the 7th.The paeansung before joining battle first appears in wherethe Corinthianleft wing Aeschylus'saccount of the battleof Salamisin 480 (Pers.393).51 In the retreatedto a hill,regrouped, and Iliadthe Greekssing paeans to appeasethe god who sent a plague(1.472- chargedagain (Thuc. 4.43.2-3), resem- 474) andto celebratea victory (22.391-394), but they advance into battle blesthe fightingin the Iliad morethan in silence(3.8-9, 4.427-432).The Doriansby the time of Thucydides, it doesother Classical battles. 51. Pritchett(1971, I, pp. 105-108) andthe Athenians by the timeof Xenophon,also advanced to fightsing- hascollected the evidence. ing the songthat brought courage to friendsand dispelled fear of the en- 52. Pritchett1971, I, p. 105.For emy(Aesch. Sept. 270). As Pritchettpoints out, Greekswho advanced instance,at the NemeaRiver in 394 the singingthe paeangave up anyattempt to achievesurprise.52 Lakedaimoniansdid not realizethe Second,Herodotos mentions aristeia, the awardsfor individual alliedtroops were advancing until they braveryin battle,for sixteen individuals, while Thucydides and Xenophon heardthe paean,whereupon they immediatelydeployed for battle (Xen. mentionno suchawards, since individual exploits mattered less in Classi- Hell. 4.2.19). calbattles than they had in Archaicwarfare.53 A change in shielddevices 53. Pritchett(1974, II, pp.276-290) alsoemphasizes the egalitarianismof the Classicalphalanx. Apparently a hasassembled the evidencefor aristeia. FIGHTING BY THE RULES 35

matterof individualchoice in the Archaicperiod, shield devices tended to becomestandardized in the 5th and4th :a lambia for the Lakedaimonians,a sigma for the Sikyonians,a mu for the Messenians, the clubof Heraklesfor the Thebans, the tridentof Poseidonfor the Manti- neians.54Thisstress on the similarity of hoplitesgoes ideologicallyhand in handwith the exclusionof othertroops from the phalanx. Third,dedications of armorat panhellenic sanctuaries, extremely com- monin theArchaic period, decline in the5th century.At Isthmiaexcava- torshave found none after the destruction of ca.470-450, at Olympiafew afterthe , at Delphifew after the spoilssent by and Mantineia in 423.55This changein offeringpatterns anticipates 's advice that Greeksshould not dedicatearmor and weapons if theywant to preserve goodrelations among Greeks (Resp. 469e-470a).56 We havehere a new militaryprotocol designed to amelioratewarfare. Finally,in Xenophon's summary ofthe Eleians'refilsal to letAgis pray forvictory in war,the Eleians cite an "old custom" (ocpxatov vo,uL,uov, Hell. 3.2.22)that Greeks not consult an oracle about a war against other Greeks. Thisalleged protocol does not appearon Ober'slist, presumably because the assertionis so flagrantlyuntrue for Archaic warfare. Herodotos, for instance,relates that the Lakedaimoniansonce misinterpreted a Delphic oracleand ended up confinedin the chainsthey had brought for their intendedTegean prisoners (1.66).57 The Eleiansare not necessarilyin- ventingthe prohibition they cite. It fitswith the previous decline in pano- ply offeringsat panhellenicsites. But "old" cannot mean more than one generation,since the Lakedaimoniansconsulted Delphi in 432 aboutgo- ing to warwith Athens (Thuc. 1.118.3). It is of coursetrue that we haveless-much, much less-information aboutArchaic than about Classical warfare. The factthat extant literary sourcesdo not attesta practiceuntil the 5th centurydoes not disproveits 54. Anderson1970, pp.17-20. 55. Jackson1991, pp.246-247, and existenceearlier. But the materialevidence supports the conclusionthat 1992.His volumeon the armsand somemilitary protocols came late rather than early. If we canfind a coher- armorfound at Isthmiais in prepara- ent theoryto explainthis late development, we oughtto acceptit. tion. 56. Hanson(1995, p.344 note) dismissesthe declinein panoplydedi- TH E D EVELO PM ENT O F G REEK WARFARE cationsby suggestingthat hoplite battlesbecame less common.But Connor(1988, pp.6-8) arguesthat I suggestthe followingalternative model for the developmentof hoplite scholarshave overestimated the fre- warfare.Although they improved their equipment, Archaic Greeks con- quencyof Archaicwars. For a plausible tinuedto fightin theway Homer describes. The fighting was "mass" fight- argumentthat a specificdedication at ing,but not "massed" fighting.58 That is, battles were not simply fought by Olympialed to a ruthlessreprisal at Sepeiain 494, seeJackson 2000. championsin frontof nameless,and unimportant, followers. The massof 57. Connor(1988, p. 9) includesthe men mattered.But theydid not deployin a tightformation, massed to- consultationof an oraclein his descrip- gether.Rather, they advanced, retreated, and advanced again in a forma- tion of a typicalArchaic military cam- tionloose enough to allowhorses, perhaps even chariots, to approachthe paign. killingzone andwithdraw again. Brave men moved forward; tired men, 58. On fightingin Homer,see frightenedmen, wounded men moved back. In exceptionalcircumstances, Snodgrass1993 andvan Wees 1994 againstPritchett (1985, IV, pp. 7-44), suchas a struggleover a fallenwarrior or a breakin a wall,a groupof men who acceptsLatacz's 1977 argument mightbunch together. Stones, javelins, and arrows flew, thrown and shot thatHomer describes phalanx warfare. by someof the samemen who dared to advanceand fight hand-to-hand, 36 PETER KRENTZ aswell as by less courageous men who hung back. This kind of fluidbattle hadno singleturning point. Thenthe Mede came. At Marathonin 490,the Athenians confronted a largerPersian force.59 They knew how the Persiansfought, from their experienceduring the IonianRevolt a few yearsearlier when they were routedin a battleat Ephesos(Hdt.5.102). They knew the Persiansliked to softenthe enemywith abarrage of arrowsbefore closing. AtThermopylai tenyears later, the Greeks were told that the Persians shot so manyarrows thatthe shaftshid the sun leadingto Deinekes'famous remark that this newswas goodbecause the battlewould take place in the shade(Hdt. 7.226.2).The Athenians decided to armentirelywith hand-to-hand weap- ons(Herodotos says they had no cavalryor archers,6.112.2) and at a run(Herodotos also reports that theywere the first Greeks to runagainst theenemy,6.112.3). The effectmust have been something like what hap- penedin Cilicia,when arranged his Greek mercenaries fourdeep for a paradeand had them charge, wearing their helmets, crimsonchitons, greaves, and shields. They went faster and faster, finally breakinginto a runtoward the camp,and frightened away the Cilician queenand the peoplein the market,who left everythingbehind as they fled(Xen. Cyr. 1.2.16-18). So, at Marathon,the Athenian charge routed the Persianwings, once and for all. The experienceencouraged the Athenians to behavemore like foxes thanhedgehogs. They realized the physicaland psychological power of a massedinfantry charge, and continued to excludenonhoplite forces from theirphalanx. But theyalso appreciated the valueof organizedcontin- 59. Marathoncontinues to produce gentsof horsemenand archers. They soon established a larger cavalry force controversy.For two good recent stud- andstarted an archerycontingent, with some success at Plataia,where an ies, see Evans1993 and (even better) archerkilled the Persiancavalry commander Masistios (Hdt. 9.22.1). By Lazenby1993, pp. 45-80. 431 theyeven had Persian-style mounted archers, a remarkableinstance 60. See Miller1997 for a studyof howprofoundly Persian culture in- of "Perserie."60 fluencedthe Greeks,who professedto Athenianhoplites, on theother hand, especially after Salamis and the despiseoriental luxury. growthof the Atheniannavy, remembered Marathon as the essence,the 61. On the paradigmaticfunction of model,of whatwarfare should be.61 "We know," writes Nicole Loraux, Marathonin Athenianideology, see "thatin the5th centurya wholeideological structure was built up around Prost1999 with literature cited. On the Marathonat the expenseof Salamis,the victory of theoarsmen people."62 hopliteideal, see alsoHanson's excel- lentbrief summary (2000a, pp. 219- In his LaczvsPlato argued not onlythat the infantrybattle of Marathon 222). Of the sixteenpassages Hanson beganthe salvationof Greeceand that of Plataiafinished it, butalso that cites(p. 229, n. 32) denigratingcavalry thesebattles made the Greeks better, while the naval battles of Artemision andlight-armed troops, only one, andSalamis made them worse (707c). We cantrace this idealizationof II. 11.385-387,was written before the Marathonback to the420s, when spoke of theMarathono- secondhalf of the 5th century. 62. Loraux1986, p. 161. machai(Ach. 182, Nub. 689), to the 450s,when Aeschylus's epitaph men- 63. Aeschylus,the greatAthenian tionedhis courageat Marathon,and to the 460s,when the Athenians poetwho foughtin the battleof erecteda marblemonument at the battlesite.63 Perhaps it wasalso in the Salamisand described it in his Persians 460s,at the instigation of Miltiades'son Kimon, that a fewlines honoring (472),wrote an epitaphfor himself that the Marathonfighters were added to an inscribedepigram honoring the mentionedneither tragedy nor Salamis, menwho foughtat Salamis.64Hoplites made sure that Salamisdid not but saidthat the groveat Marathon andthe Persianswho landedthere eclipsethe memoryof Marathon. witnessedhis courage(Paus. 1.14.5). As forthe Lakedaimonians,they visited the battlefieldat Marathon 64. ML no.26, withAmandry and,no doubt, asked the Athenians how they did it. To judge by Herodotos's 1960. FIGHTING BY THE RULES 37

accountof Thermopylaiin 480, the Lakedaimonianscontinued to use a fluidfighting style effectively. They repeatedly pretended to flee,only to turnon the when they pursued in disorder(7.211.3). The struggle overLeonidas's body sounds truly Homeric, with the Greeksrouting the Persiansfour times before theywere able to dragthe corpse away (7.225.1). Butat Plataiain 479 it is clearthat the Lakedaimonians admired Athens' wayof fighting,for the Lakedaimonianking Pausanias asked the Athe- niansto switchplaces with the Lakedaimoniansand oppose the Persians, sincethe Athenians had the experience of Marathon(Hdt.9.46.2-3). Later he askedfor the aid of theAthenian archers (Hdt.9.60). In thebattle, the Persianarchers shot from behind a fenceof wickershields until the Greeks charged.Unable to get away probablythere were too manyof themtoo closetogethethe Persiansthrew away their bows and tried to fighthand- to-hand,rushing out individually orin smallgroups (Hdt.9.62).The Greeks won,then, by chargingen masseto closequarters, just as the Athenians had done at Marathon.fi5These great victories, Marathon and Plataia, wonby hard hand-to-hand fighting, loomed large in the collectivemem- oryof hoplites. 65. In describingthe Greekfor- AfterXerxes' retreat, the Greekssoon launched counterattacks as far mation,Herodotos says that 35,000 light-armedhelots protected the 5,000 awayas Cyprusand Byzantion (Thuc. 1.94.2). With the growthof the ,seven stationed with each Athenianempire, war became much more destructive than it hadbeen in man(z£pt av8pa £'xasTou £zTa the Archaicperiod. Earlier, as Thucydidespoints out (1.15),neighbors ay,u£wot,9.28.2), and that the other foughtmost wars without coalitions of alliedforces, except in the shad- Greekshad one light-armedsoldier for owyLelantine War. As ClassicalAthens accumulated a monetary surplus eachhoplite. These troops all foughtin allies,the natureof the battle(9.61.2), and since Herod- throughcampaigns against enemies and taxes from otos sayslack of armorhurt the warfarechanged. Athens sent out expeditionaryforces that remained in Persiansbecause they were fighting the fieldmuch longer than Archaic campaigns had lasted. As earlyas the againsthoplites (9.63.2), Hunt (1997) 460s,the Athenians sustained the siege of Thasosfor more than two hasplausibly suggested that the (Thuc.1.101.3). Spartiatesformed only the frontline, Bythe time Herodotos wrote Mardonios's speech, hoplites had ideal- with the less heavilyequipped behindthem, making the phalanx izedthe Archaicway of waras a ritualizedagon, or contest.The storyof eight-deep. themantis Tisamenos makes it unlikelythat the term agon was in general 66. Pritchettasserts that"the usefor "battle" before the Persianinvasions. When Tisamenos asked the extensionof the word[agon] from Delphicoracle about a child,the Pythiapredicted that he wouldwin five 'agora'(Homer) to eitheran athletic agones.So he trainedfor the pentathlon, and almost won at the Olympics contestor a militaryone seemsto have developedmore or less simultaneously" (he lost in wrestling).The Lakedaimoniansthen realized that the oracle (1974,II, p.284, n.28), andfinds the meantfive battles,and persuaded Tisamenos to becometheir seer. He oracle'sambiguity in the numeralfive. thenhelped the Lakedaimonianswin fivevictories, beginning with the Butthe earliestevidence he canfind of battleof Plataiain 479.fi6The earliesttext to use agon in the senseof agonin a militarysense is Aesch.Pers. "battle,"Aeschylus's Eumenides (914), dates to 458.fi7 405, datedto 472. TheArchaic way of warwas not a single,head-on collision of hoplite 67. Harrison(1971) argues per- suasivelythat the wordin the "Kalli- ,excluding cavalry and projectile weapons, commemorated by a machosepigram" (IG I3 784 = ML battlefieldtrophy. The ideaof agonisticwarfare matters it helpsto ex- no.18), inscribedbefore 480, refersto plainwhy the ClassicalGreeks fought big battlessuch as Mantineia, an agonisticvictory rather than to the Koroneia,and Leuktra. But we shouldnot treatthe Classicalagon as a battleof Marathon.Korres (1994, debasedform of anArchaic way of warthat never existed. Despite changes p.174) givesa reconstructiondrawing of this monument,including the base, in armorand weapons, Archaic Greeks fought according to the conven- the Ioniccapital, and the Nike statue tionsfound in Homer.Greeks invented the hopliteagon in the mid-5th (Acr.690) thatstood atop the column. century. .

38 PETER KRENTZ

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