The Hoplite Of The Old Greek In The Age Of City-State And Its Warfare

War was a common phenomenon of old civilization, and the army was main actor inwar. Army and its system are important parts of the old civilization. The old Greek hoplitein the age of city-state was different from the pre-polis' and Hellenistic military. It hadprominent characteristics, and it was a citizen-army-system connected with polis' rise andfall. Hoplite raised from an outer factor—the foundation of near-east civilization, and ainner factor—the foundation of polis system. With the development of city-statecivilization, hoplite developed and perfected gradually. Whether military equipments or itstactics; whether its scales or discipline; whether its procedure or methods, they all formedsystems of their own with obvious characteristics. The city-state was the raising base ofthis military system, meanwhile it was a potential factor that limited the furtherdevelopment of the later. As the coming of city-state crisis, the hoplite system was tendingdownwards, meanwhile a new military which suited new civilization condition appeared inthe old Greek. Although the hoplites as amateur soldiers declined with the city-state crisis,and were taken the place by the condottieri system, they had certain historical position asthey defended the city-state firmly for centuries. Studies on the hoplite in the age ofcity-state contributed to understand the special feature of old Greek polis-system.