Ancient Greek military terminology

thumb|upright=1.4|Sumerian phalanx-like formation , from detail of the victory stele of King Eannatum of Lagash over [[Umma, called the Stele of the Vultures]]

thumb|Bust of Pericles, statesman and general during the Golden Age of Athens; [[Hadrianic Roman copy of a Greek sculpture of BC]] Strategos (), also known by its Latinised form strategus, is a Greek term meaning 'military general'. In the Hellenistic world and in the Byzantine Empire, the term also described a military governor. In the modern Hellenic Army, it is the highest officer rank.

thumb|Historical reenactment of a Sasanian-era cataphract, complete with a full set of [[scale armour for the horse. The rider is covered by extensive mail armour.]]

thumb|upright=1.95|Macedonian phalanx

elite Ancient Macedonian cavalry

ancient infantry formation

right|thumb|220px|Ancient depiction of a Macedonian infantryman (right). He is equipped with an Argive shield, so probably is a Hypaspist. He also wears a linothorax cuirass and a [[Thracian helmet. Alexander Sarcophagus.]] thumb|upright=1.5|A Hypaspist|alt= A hypaspist ( "shield bearer" or "shield covered") is a squire, man at arms, or "shield carrier". In Homer's Iliad, Deiphobos advances "" () or under cover of his shield. By the time of Herodotus (426 BC), the word had come to mean a high status soldier as is strongly suggested by Herodotus in one of the earliest known uses:

thumb|right|Modern reconstruction of a Greek xiphos and scabbard. thumb|Actaeon holding a xiphos. Painted vase from [[Metaponto, c. 390–380 BC]] The xiphos ( ; plural xiphe, ) is a double-edged, one-handed Iron Age straight shortsword used by the ancient Greeks. It was a secondary battlefield weapon for the Greek armies after the dory or javelin. The classic blade was generally about long, although the Spartans supposedly preferred to use blades as short as around the era of the Greco-Persian Wars.

thumb|Greek hoplite (standing) fighting against a Persian archer. Both are using a kopis. Depiction in ancient kylix, 5th century BC, National Archaeological Museum of Athens. thumb|Greek kopis, 5th–4th centuries BC, iron, Metropolitan Museum of Art. thumb|Modern reproduction of a kopis

thumb|upright=1.37|Coin of Balacrus, somatophylax of Alexander the Great, as [[satrap of Cilicia, with letter "B" next to the shield, standing for B[AΛAKPOI]. Tarsos. 333–323 BC.]]

thumb|Hoplitodromos with aspis and full body [[armour depicted in a Greek vase dated to 550 BC.]] An aspis (; : aspides, ) or '''porpax shield''' was the heavy wooden shield used by the infantry in various periods of ancient Greece.

thumb|Datis fighting the polemarch of Athens Kallimachos at the [[Battle of Marathon, in the Stoa Poikile (reconstitution).]] A polemarch (, from , polémarchos) was a senior military title in various ancient Greek city states (poleis). The title is derived from the words polemos ('war') and archon ('ruler, leader') and translates as 'warleader' or 'warlord'. The name indicates that the polemarch's original function was to command the army; presumably the office was created to take over this function from the king. The title held a high position in Athenian society, alongside the archon eponymo

Helepolis (, meaning: "Taker of Cities") is the Greek name for a movable siege tower.

The Argyraspides () were elite Macedonian soldiers who carried silver-plated shields, hence their name. The original unit were hypaspists serving in the army of Alexander the Great. During the Wars of the Diadochi, they initially served Eumenes, but betrayed him to Antigonus I Monophthalmus at the Battle of Gabiene in 316. After their dispersal under Antigonus, later units of the Seleucid Empire and Roman Empire would be modeled after them.

thumb|A modern reconstruction of the Greek gastraphetes

right|thumb|300px|A Laconian black-figured cup by [[Rider Painter featuring a member of the hippeus.]] Hippeis (, singular ἱππεύς, hippeus) is a Greek term for cavalry. In ancient Athenian society, after the political reforms of Solon, the hippeus was the second highest of the four social classes. It was composed of men who had at least 300 medimnoi or their equivalent as yearly income. According to the Timocratic Constitution, the average citizen had a yearly income of less than 200 medimnoi. This gave the men who made 300 medimnoi the ability to purchase and maintain a war horse during their

type of weapon used by hoplites in Ancient Greece

Chiliarch is a military rank dating back to antiquity. Originally denoting the commander of a unit of about one thousand men (a chiliarchy) in the Macedonian army, it was subsequently used as a Greek translation of a Persian officer who functioned as a kind of vizier and of the Roman army's military tribunes. It has subsequently been used for other similar ranks and positions in other armed forces.

The xyston ( "spear, javelin; pointed or spiked stick, goad), was a type of a long thrusting spear in ancient Greece. It measured about long and was probably held by the cavalryman with both hands. It had a wooden shaft and a spear-point at both ends. Possible reasons for the secondary spear-tip were that it acted partly as a counterweight and also served as a backup in case the xyston was broken in action. The xyston is usually mentioned in context with the hetairoi (), the cavalry forces of ancient Macedon. After Alexander the Great's death, the hetairoi were named xystophoroi (, "spear-bear

cavalry officer in ancient Greece

thumb|300px|Reconstructions of Mycenaean Greece|Mycenaean swords, the bottom one a makhaira-type sword The makhaira is a type of Ancient Greek bladed weapon and tool, generally a large knife or sword, similar in appearance to the modern-day machete, with a single cutting edge.

thumb|Achilles heals [[Patroclus, since he learned the arts of medicine from his tutor, Chiron. Both men are believed to be wearing linothoraxes. attic red-figure kylix, signed by Sosias, BC, Antikensammlung Berlin (F 2278)]] The linothorax (, from the , ) is a type of upper body armor that was used throughout the ancient Mediterranean world. The term linothorax is a modern term based on the Greek , which means "wearing a breastplate of linen"; a number of ancient Greek and Latin texts from the 6th century BC to the third century AD mention () (Greek) or (Latin) which means 'linen body armour'

thumb|upright=1.5|Scythian golden gorytos, Melitopol kurgan, 340-320 BCE thumb|upright=1.5|Gorytos from tomb of Philip II of Macedon, Vergina, Greece. A gorytos (, ) is a type of leather bow-case for a short composite bow used by the Scythians in classical antiquity. They are a combination of bow case and quiver in one, and are worn on the archer's left hip with the opening tilted rearward. Many gorytoi were highly decorated, and at least one surviving specimen was determined via SEM examination to be made of human skin.

Agema (), plural agemata (αγήματα) is a term to describe a military detachment, used for a special purpose, such as guarding high valued targets. Due to its nature the agema most probably comprises elite troops.

An '''''' (; plural ) in ancient Greece was any sort of superintendent or overseer. In the Hellenistic kingdoms generally, an is always connected with a subject district (a regional assembly), where the , as resident representative of the king, exercised control and collected taxes.

The word taxiarch ( ; ) is used in the Greek language to mean "brigadier". The term derives , in military context meaning 'an ordered formation'. It is cognate with the scientific term taxonomy. In turn, the rank has given rise to the Greek term for brigade, taxiarchia. In Greek Orthodox Church usage, the term is also applied to the archangels Michael and Gabriel, as leaders of the heavenly host, and several locations in Greece are named after them.

thumb|Oxybeles The oxybeles () was a weapon used by the Ancient Greeks starting in 375 BC. The word is derived from Ancient Greek: οξύς (oxys = sharp, pointed) and βέλος (belos = arrow). The weapon was basically an oversized gastraphetes, a composite bow placed on a stand with a stock and a trigger. It was supplanted by the scientifically engineered ballista. The difference between the two is the use of torsion power by the ballista. The most notable use of the oxybeles was under Alexander the Great's rule.

thumb|right|200px|Alexander the Great in battle. Pteruges of leather or stiffened linen are depicted at the shoulders and hips, emerging from beneath his [[cuirass. Detail of the Alexander Mosaic, a Roman copy of a Hellenistic painting.]]

ancient Spartan military unit

In ancient Greece, the prodromoi (singular: prodromos) were skirmisher light cavalry. Their name (ancient Greek: πρόδρομοι, prοdromoi, lit. "pre-cursors," "runners-before," or "runners-ahead") implies that these cavalry 'moved before the rest of the army' and were therefore intended for scouting and screening missions. They were usually equipped with javelins, and a sword. Sometimes they wore either linen or leather armour, as well as bronze helmets.

thumb|upright|Fresco of an Macedonia (ancient kingdom)|ancient Macedonian soldier bearing a thyreos shield. Archeological museum in Istanbul. A thyreos or thureos () was a large oval shield which was commonly used in Hellenistic armies from the 3rd century BC onwards. It was adopted from the Galatians, probably first by the Illyrians, then by the Thracians before becoming common in ancient Greece. Troops who carried it were known as thyreophoroi. It was made of wood covered with leather and had a spined boss. It was carried using a central handgrip. Some variants of the shield were nearly rect

324x324px|thumbnail|Heracles wielding a bow and club.

Semaphore systems using water-based mechanisms

A lochos, plural lochoi (; pl. ), is a tactical sub unit of Classical Greece and of the modern Greek army. The term derived from the ancient Greek for ambush and the men carrying out the ambush, but in practice, its meaning was essentially that of "war-band", a body of armed men. This translation has been used traditionally, e.g. for the Sacred Band of Thebes.

Chalkaspides () is a poetic term used by writers of Koine Greek to refer to a Macedonian phalanx. The most notable group called chalkaspides was the main phalanx force of the Antigonid Macedonian army in the Hellenistic period. The group were hoplites who fought in phalanx formation using long sarissas and bronze shields, either a pelta or an aspis. They may have been supplemented by another Antigonid force called the Leukaspides ("White Shields") when more manpower was necessary, although the leukaspides are less well-attested to in ancient sources. The leukaspides may have been very similar

The Leukaspides () were a group in the Antigonid Macedonian army. Scholars suggest two main possibilities for what precisely they were. The first is that they were equipped in the style of the Macedonian phalanx and were a counterpart to the Chalkaspides ("Bronze Shields"), a group uncontroversially known to be sarissa-wielding hoplites with bronze shields (the pelta and aspis). In this possibility, they were probably only mustered when the Macedonians needed more manpower as a supplemental corps. The second possibility is that the Leukaspides referred to ethnically non-Macedonian troops hired

thumb|Possible reconstruction of a late Ptolemaic máchimos (around mid–1st century BCE) The term máchimoi (, plural of μάχιμος, máchimos, meaning "pugnacious") commonly refers to a broad category of ancient Egyptian low-ranked soldiers which rose during the Late Period of Egypt (664–332 BCE) and, more prominently, during the Ptolemaic dynasty (323–30 BCE).