The Life of a Greek Hoplite Essay Example
My life as a Spartan hoplite
Good morning everyone my names is Kaiser, I’m a Spartan hoplite, today I would like to tell you a bit about my life. I was, in a way, automatically chosen since I am a free person and my family is quite wealthy. Meaning they could send me to boarding school they could buy me armor, weapons and all the things needed to be a hoplite.
At age 7 I was sent to boarding school. We weren’t given much food while we were there, so we had to steal food from the other kids. We weren’t punished for this but if we were caught while stealing then we would be punished.
We would practice fighting and phalanx formation with our wooden spears and shields.
Phalanx formation is when we carry large shields and march towards the opposing army. The shield was big enough to defend me and the person next to me from about our necks to our knees. Then the person next to me, whom I was defending, would carry a 3 meter long spear pointing straight out in front. The next 3 or 4 rows would be the same then from then on they would point upward at a 45° angle ready to throw them
But we didn’t use these shields and spears until we were older because we were not strong enough to hold a shield that big or a spear that long.
To get stronger and fitter we competed in athletic competitions for our age. We would win prizes in these competitions and they represented honor rather than financial gain a common prize was an olive wreath which is know symbol o victory.
There was about 9000 of us wealthy children chosen to be hoplites. The 1000 wealthiest of us were chosen to ride horses in battle. This made us faster and higher off the ground. I was chosen to ride a horse as I was very wealthy.
I was 22 I became a hoplite. As a hoplite we were honored with political power. Other people looked up to us and respected us because we represented strength and power. Also when I turned 30 like all other hoplites I received an equal share in agricultural land.
We
Good morning everyone my names is Kaiser, I’m a Spartan hoplite, today I would like to tell you a bit about my life. I was, in a way, automatically chosen since I am a free person and my family is quite wealthy. Meaning they could send me to boarding school they could buy me armor, weapons and all the things needed to be a hoplite.
At age 7 I was sent to boarding school. We weren’t given much food while we were there, so we had to steal food from the other kids. We weren’t punished for this but if we were caught while stealing then we would be punished.
We would practice fighting and phalanx formation with our wooden spears and shields.
Phalanx formation is when we carry large shields and march towards the opposing army. The shield was big enough to defend me and the person next to me from about our necks to our knees. Then the person next to me, whom I was defending, would carry a 3 meter long spear pointing straight out in front. The next 3 or 4 rows would be the same then from then on they would point upward at a 45° angle ready to throw them
But we didn’t use these shields and spears until we were older because we were not strong enough to hold a shield that big or a spear that long.
To get stronger and fitter we competed in athletic competitions for our age. We would win prizes in these competitions and they represented honor rather than financial gain a common prize was an olive wreath which is know symbol o victory.
There was about 9000 of us wealthy children chosen to be hoplites. The 1000 wealthiest of us were chosen to ride horses in battle. This made us faster and higher off the ground. I was chosen to ride a horse as I was very wealthy.
I was 22 I became a hoplite. As a hoplite we were honored with political power. Other people looked up to us and respected us because we represented strength and power. Also when I turned 30 like all other hoplites I received an equal share in agricultural land.
We