Lion.Kanzen Posted January 2, 2018 Report Share Posted January 2, 2018 (edited) Introduction. Ok, open topic in order have plenty of sources and visual reference that's preceding to art task. We started with Classical Greek and Persian around 650-450 BC. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Greek_military_personal_equipment Quote The primary weapon was used by Greek troops was a two-to-three meter spear with a leaf-shaped blade at one end and a short spike at the other known as the doru. The doru was used one-handed (the other hand supporting the soldier's shield).[5] Mounted cavalry were known to have used a thinner spear or very long lance (xyston) which provided a range advantage over shorter infantry spears.[6] Under Philip II of Macedon, hoplites were equipped with extremely long spears (up to 21 feet) called sarrisae. Used in conjunction with the phalanx formation, this made an impregnable wall of spears in front of the infantry; the enemy's shorter weaponry could not reach the phalanx because of the sarissae .[7] Quote https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dory_(spear) Quote The dory or doru (/dɒrʊ/; Greek: δόρυ) is a spear that was the chief armament of hoplites (heavy infantry) in Ancient Greece. The word "dory" was first attested by Homer with the meanings of "wood" and "spear". Homeric heroes hold two dorata (Il. 11,43, Od. 1, 256). In the Homeric epics and in the classical period the dory was a symbol of military power, possibly more important than the sword, as can be inferred from expressions like "Troy conquered by dory" (Il. 16,708) and words like "doryktetos" (spear-won) and "doryalotos" (spear-taken).[1] The dory was about 2 to 3 meters in length and had a handle with a diameter of 5 cm (two inches) made of wood, either cornel or ash weighing 2 to 4 lb. The flat leaf-shaped spearhead was composed of iron and its weight was counterbalanced by a bronze butt-spike Edited January 2, 2018 by Lion.Kanzen 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lion.Kanzen Posted January 2, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 2, 2018 Quote The rear of the spear was capped with a spike called a sauroter, Greek for "lizard killer". It functionally served as a counter-weight to give balance. This spike had several uses. It could be used to stand the spear up or used as a secondary weapon if the spearhead was broken off.[5] If the shaft of the dory was broken or if the iron point was lost, the remaining portion could still function.[6] Though its combat range would be reduced, the dory's complete length would have lessened the chance of a single break rendering it ineffective. Additionally, any enemies that had fallen could be dispatched by the warriors marching over them in the back ranks of the phalanx who were holding their spears in a vertical position.[ https://www.larp.com/hoplite/greekweapons.html My "alpha" spearhead is 11" long overall, and was hand-forged long ago by a fellow named Brock. The 4 little circles are his maker's mark, but some toy company copied them onto their Greek hoplite action figure's spear! My "beta" spearhead is ground down from an old Museum Replicas "Large Spearhead", originally a triangular 19-inch monster. I lopped 3" off the socket and 4" off the blade, so now it's under a foot long and looking quite nice. I thinned the blade some, and reduced the ugly weld lump where the blade met the socket Quote The BEST commercially available off-the-shelf spearhead is the "Small Spearhead" from Kult of Athena, item number 1823092900, http://www.kultofathena.com/product.asp?item=1823092900 . I bought 2. They are 9" long and weigh 8 ounces apiece, with a c. 1" socket. The socket is split, and you can see traces of the hand-forging process between socket and blade. Excellent price, too! My first buttspike is a "first generation" from Manning Imperial, which I found to be heavier than I wanted (though very nicely cast!). After some grinding, it weighs about 1-1/2 pounds, a good weight, and is c. 13" long. Manning now does some VERY nice sauroters, http://www.manningimperial.com/item.php?item_id=619&g_id=1&c_id=14 Also found at Olympia were a number of tubular sauroters, mostly bronze but at least one made of iron. The smaller one was very easy to grind out of a modern chrome-plated brass flagpole buttspike! But it's not heavy enough to serve as a counterweight. The larger one started as a door handle, 1" diameter solid bronze (an unused one shown at right). Grinding the outside to shape was no problem, but lacking a 3/4" drill bit suitable for metal I had to try boring the socket out with a series of smaller bits, breaking a half-dozen in the process and dulling several more. (So that other door handle can darn well stay a door handle for now!) But now it's a nice 1-pound sauroter. This sauroter I built from some sort of bronze socket thingy mated to a ground-down piece of round-section door handle. It's also based on an example from Olympia, though again most have longer sockets than this one. This one I use on the upper section of my Macedonian sarissa to convert it to a handy 8-foot spear when needed. So the socket inner diameter is 1-1/8" and the pin is removable. Quote It is surprisingly (and frustratingly) difficult to find a good spear. There is no commercially-made Greek spear available with decent shaft, head, and buttspike, so you either need to have one custom made, or modify an existing spear, or build your own from purchased parts. Reproduction spearheads are frequently too large, and shafts are often too thick. Ancient spears were thinner and lighter than many people realize! A shaft thickness of about an inch was about the maximum. As impressive as a thick spear with a large head can be, a smaller and lighter one is much easier to carry and maneuver! Might fit in your car better, too, eh? Kult of Athena offers a Small Spear Head which is excellent, http://www.kultofathena.com/product.asp?item=1823092900 Split socket and forged construction! --Spearhead 1823092800 looks good, seems a bit large to me --Arms and Armor Greek Javelin AA227, very nice, can be ordered as just the point without the shaft. Deepeeka's buttspike actually looks reasonable! Best to grind or cut off the ring at the open end of the socket, and blunt the point just a little or it will bend over when it hits pavement. (Should have only 1 or 2 holes, not 3, but that's harder to fix.) Armae in France sometimes offers this buttspike separately in their Specials section, though most places only offer it as a set with either their steel spearhead or a bronze one. The steel spearhead looks good in photos but is HUGE. Cut it down by at least a third, lop a couple inches off the socket, and grind the blade to a third its original thickness, and it might work... The shaft it comes with makes a great telephone pole, and is probably some tropical dark wood. The bronze spearhead is too angular, and will need some grinding to be acceptable, but would not have been common in the Iron Age. Deepeeka also has a NEW spearhead and buttspike coming soon, both very nice. As usual, Windlass/MRL has nothing usable. Spearheads can be made from old socketed chisels, or from solid steel pavement scrapers/choppers. Certain brass lighting rod tips have been used for buttspikes, as well. Some hardware or lumber stores may carry ash or hardwood tool or brush handles, an inch or 1-1/8" diameter and 6 or 8 feet long. Sand off the lacquer finish, rasp to size if necessary, and add your hardware. Peavey Manufacturing carries ash poles of various sizes, and will even produce custom dowels (not tapered) for spear or pike shafts: http://www.peaveymfg.com/ However, I got excellent results by having a local custom woodshop (World of Hardwoods) slice me off a length of "eight quarter" ash, meaning eight quarters of an inch (2 inches) thick. Anything an inch or more thick is sufficient. I drew the taper I wanted with tacks, string, and a straightedge, and cut out a square-section shaft of the desired dimensions with a power saw. Then I used an electric hand planer (same one you need for your aspis!) to remove the corners, making the piece octagonal in section, then one more light run down each corner to make it nearly round. Finishing with a rasp and sandpaper was easy. The whole job was much simpler than it would have been to reduce and taper a round-section pole, since I could draw the taper I wanted directly on the flat faces of the wood. A one-inch-wide slice of 8-quarter ash will actually fit TWO tapered spearshafts side-by-side (nose to tail, as it were), and should cost you less than twenty bucks. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lion.Kanzen Posted January 2, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 2, 2018 https://www.quora.com/Why-did-ancient-Greek-soldiers-come-to-use-spears-so-much-instead-of-swords Spoiler On the left, you see a wealthy citizen hoplite, whose expensive panoply made him a member of a the important club in the city. On the right, you see rather a no-nonsense mercenary hoplite with lighter textile armour and helmet with maximum vision, just like the Spartans. Source: THE WARGAMING SITE: What's one of them A spear armed close formation behind large heavy shields was the best equipped force for massed clashes in vincinity as the Persian Wars are testimony. Being a member of this formation was social prestige and prior to the Persian Wars costs and splendor of equipment were rising in all large poleis, to keep membership in this influential club limited. Sparta and the small poleis went the other direction to field larger numbers of their population. This phalanx of zeugitai was the politically and military decisive body. Skirmishes take long to settle isues with much devastation, so in Greece a codex had been developed to mass in a few suitable spots, repeatedly the same sites over the centeries and celebrate a pitched battle. Insead of years of skirmishes, the issue was settled within a day, the wealthy retained control of the city and disturbances to the economy were minimized. The best military formation for this mode of war is a large and dense array of sharp points on long poles, spears, a truth found by more than one people and age. Originally, it was the dory (2.1 to 2.7 m/7 to 9ft), at the time of Xenophon some were tinkering with more slender points, a shifted balance and a longer reach for the spear. It evolved via contact with other nations such as Thrace and Egypt, becoming longer and two handed as mega dory (3.6m/12ft by Iphicrates of Athens) and later the sarissa (4.2m/14ft by Philip of Macedon to later 6m/20ft under the diadochi, successor kings). Each and every hoplite carried a blade, the double edged xiphos or single edged machaira or kopis. These weapons were meant to be used as spears break in the phalanx fighting style in mainland Greece. In Magna Graecia (Greater Greece, after the colonization), that is Southern Italy and Sicily, the situation was probably very different as was the land. Syracusian hoplites prided themselves in defeating Carthage's nobility hoplites with their better swordplay. Hoplites were not limited to the Greeks, you find them among the Phoenicians Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lion.Kanzen Posted January 2, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 2, 2018 https://forums.totalwar.com/discussion/129010/spear-infantry 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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