I also believe that single combat happened more often than most care to admit, of course the phalanx was the primary force, but at some point one side or the other would collapse resulting in a melee/rout/slaughter and at this point there would have been pockets of fighting between smaller groups and (gasp!) single combat. It would be quite difficult to "fence" with a 7'-9' spear, especially held in one hand, I have one and have determined that very little finesse is possible while also carrying a 16-20 lb shield on the left arm (thrust and withdraw is about all one can manage), however, with both hands the hoplite spear may can be handled quite easily and parries, blocks etc become easy to perform. The weighted butt-spike is certainly interesting, I agree that the purpose for such would likely be balance, but it would also seem plausible that it could be used as a "mace" in the event of the spear being broken (I am in the camp that believes this happened often, especially for the front rankers during and shortly after the initial clash, resulting in front rankers fighting primarily with swords while the second and third ranks stabbed with spears over hand). Thearos Colonel Posts: 1311 Joined: 10:16 And one consequence is the phalanx fight did involve real "spear fencing", and the spear was not a discardable weapon. In any case, thought and trouble has been taken. I assume the point (no pun intended) is to balance the spear for fighting, one-handed, in (I assume) overhand positions- to allow the fighter to seize the spear further back, to get that extra reach, or to make his moves quicker ? To give the thrusts with the butt spike more weight or even armour-piercing energy ? To be wieldable as a blunt weapon ? Note the spike on the right of the photograph: it's a "square" type, big and beautiful example and someone has taken the trouble to add on a big ball of lead, which is quite refined (its shape is not a sphere, but nicely modulated, and it's got fins or stripes, so that this was cast in a mould- cast on the bronze spike ?). Nick Sekunda's recent Osprey on hoplites). (Victor Hanson has very blood-thirsty, pornography-of-violence pages on this).Īll this is well known (e.g. Plutarch, Life of Aristeides, on the death of the Persian cavalry commander at Plataia or Plutarch on the death of Machanidas, killed by Philopoimen), the butt-spike was also used as a secondary weapon. For, as attested by literary sources (e.g. It probably is responsible for round holes surrounded by depressed fractures in skulls, as attested at Chaironeia. The second type ("chair leg) is a tapering cylinder, with a flaring ring just before a long spike.
There are two types of spikes: one is square in section and pyramidal in shape it may be responsible for square holes in armour found at Olympia (if those holes are not left by nails). The spear point is iron, but the butt-spike is bronze (it serves to stick the spear in the ground, so must be rust proof). 2.5 m long spear used by the ancient Greek "kitted out" fighter, the hoplite (the spear and the big shield are the main components of this style of fighting all the rest, helmet, armour, greaves, can be progressively lightened or dropped). These are the spikes that go on the bottom (butt) end of the ca. The picture is from the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, the new section on bronzes on the ground floor this particular case no longer exists, because the material was transported to the new Akropolis museum. Here's a selection of ancient Greek butt-spikes.
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