Ancient Greek Reenacting
Matt Amt in his Greek Hopelite Impression!
From his website gestolen ;-Þ
"Sing goddess, of the anger of Achilleus, son of Peleus, the accursed anger which brought uncounted anguish on the Achaians and hurled down to Hades many mighty souls of heroes, making their bodies the prey to dogs and the birds' feasting.." the ILIAD
Greek warfare from the Trojan War to Alexander the Great covers over a thousand years and has some of the world's best known warrior heros, real and fictional. Achilles, Hector, Ajax, Odysseus, as well as Miltiades, Socrates, the Spartans at Thermopolae and the Athenians at Marathon.
The debate over what was 'Greek' rages on. The city-states on the Peloponesian peninsula had widely varied politics and economies. But Greeks shared a common language, shared gods and heroes, and came together as Greeks on the occasions of the great events and games such as the Olympics.
Because of their use of bronze and the images on their pottery a lot more is known about Greek armor than Roman. Greek armor styles influenced the Italians, and shows up in early Etruscan and Roman depictions. The Greeks settled widely around the Mediterranean, but other than Alexander, did not conquer much outside their homeland. Perhaps because of that Greek military reenactment is much less common than Roman.
Greek Reenactor and Historical Websites
| Matthew Amt's Greek Hoplite page -- |
| Greek Army Talk -- Greek Army Talk, the Web's newest forum for serious discussion of ancient Greek and Hellenistic military history and archaeology. This is run by the same group who does the famous Roman Army Talk (RAT) board. |
| Ekdromoi -- |
| The Hoplite Association, UK--A hoplite reenactment group, and they look good! http://www.hoplites.co.uk http://www.hoplites.btinternet.co.uk |
| Sydney Ancients--Hoplites and other ancient types in Australia. Mark Kelly 0412 007 445 ancient1@ozemail.com.au http://www.geocities.com/sydneyancients/ |
| Kevin Hendryx's Hoplite panoply --http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~sparta/topics/panoply.htm |
| JOIN THE PHALANX EMAIL DISCUSSION LIST!! http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~sparta/phalanx/ |
| Allen Pittman's Hoplite Dance--Part of his website on mind, body, spirit, etc., but planning an event at the Parthenon in Memphis, Tennessee. http://www.apittman.com/fire.htm |
| "Everything Spartan, Lakonian, and Messenian"--Check out the LINKS on this site! http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Aegean/7849/ |
| Sparta: Her People, Her Culture, Her Legacy--by Kevin Marshall and Kevin Hendryx, still under construction but GREAT book list. http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~sparta/ |
| Greek Arms and Armor in the Shefton Museum, University of Newcastle http://www.ncl.ac.uk/shefton-museum/arms/armsindex.html |
| Thaden Armory--Photos of artifacts in several museums http://www.thadenarmory.com/greekandstuff |
| Greek Helmets (in French, but some good photos) http://perso.wanadoo.fr/samuel/pages/grece.htm For a translation, try http://babelfish.altavista.com/ |
| Nauplion Museum, Greece http://www.culture.gr/2/21/211/21104m/e211dm04.html |
| Hermann Historica Munchen--Antiquities Auction house, browse through for photos of helmets, armor, etc. http://www.hermann-historica.de/gb/index.htm |
| Ancient Greek Costume by Paul Andersen http://home.pacific.net.au/~chrisandpeter/radical/snorri/greek_clothing.htm |
| Dress Like an Ancient Athenian http://www.cobblestonepub.com/pages/AthenianDress.html |
| "Lloydian Armour: Hoplite" --Another fellow with info on how he built his kit. I disagree with him about the linothorax, but otherwise he's done a great job. http://www.staff.ncl.ac.uk/nikolas.lloyd/ |
| Ancient Greek (Hellenic) Sites on the World-Wide Web http://www.webcom.com/shownet/medea/grklink.html |
| Ancient Thrace, the Thracians, and Thracology--I didn't know anyone knew this much about Thrace! The author is working on a new Osprey volume. http://www.the-thracians.com/ |
| "Der Salzherr von Hallstatt"--Reconstruction of a Hallstatt-era Warrior. GORGEOUS stuff! http://www.hallstattzeit.de/ |
| Slinging.org--Stone Age Ballistics--A number of great articles on slings and slinging, links, etc. http://www.slinging.org |
| University of Pennsylvania Museum --Used to have a Virtual Exhibit, but it seems to be gone. http://www.museum.upenn.edu/ |
| Ariadne Hellenic Museums Page http://www.greekcivil.ariadne-t.gr/HELLENIC_CIVILIZATION/Museums/Museums.html |
| Greek Philosophy: Know Thyself! http://greekphilosophy.com/ |
| Ancient Greek World -- |
Suppliers of Greek Armor and Kit
Suppliers of Greek armor are few. And although "back when" Matt Amt created his own linen cuirass (and gives instructions at his site), nowadays companies like Deepeeka do make Greek kit. :-)
Books on the Greeks
Most books on Greek warfare tend to depict the classical ages around the Peloponesian wars, but accurate depictions of Greeks in earlier Mycenean and other times are beginning to show up.
There are several good books with illustrations recreating Greek armor from the Trojan War and the Archaic period to Classical Greece and Alexander. Osprey books has several in this series.
