Massaliote Hoplites

Description

Massalia finds itself in a difficult position. Being the only major Greek polis in Southern Gaul and being surrounded by various Celtic and Ligurian tribes, it must cement its influence over the strange lands it has colonised. The Massaliote aristocracy has strictly upheld its traditional Ionian laws over the centuries since the foundation of the city around 600 BC. The only way to become a respectable member of the ruling council of 600, the timouchoi, is to have children, thus securing the Greek future, and to be the son of someone who has been a citizen of Massalia for over three generations (Strab. IV.1.4). This conservative practice has made the well-off citizenry a small but proud class of men. Though Massalia’s hoplite force was never huge, possibly counting around 6,000 men at its high-point in the 1st century BC (Dietler, Archaeologies of Colonialism, p. 180), it is battle-hardened from constant fighting with the neighbouring tribes (Iust. 43.3). Demonstrating his traditional ways, the Massaliote hoplite is clad in a Linothorax cuirass, a bronze helmet, and greaves; equipped with a dory (a 2-3m/ 6-9 ft spear), and an aspis, a round shield bearing the Massaliote lion.